In July of 2015 we set out on a grand vacation through the southwest. We traveled for 21 days and over 6,000 miles, visiting 5 states and 9 National Parks. We explored new places and met up with old friends. Overall, it was an amazing journey and everyone learned so much. I highly recommend the Foder’s guide to National Parks of the West, we used it when planning our trip and it was a great resource. You can see all my posts about the trip by clicking here.
Day 8 – Arches National Park
Day 8 was actually overcast and surprisingly cool when we woke up. Someone told us it was the coolest day in July that Moab had seen in the last 20 years. This was awesome for us because I was worried about we were going to be hot. We began our day by heading up to Landscape Arch. The hike was great, nice and cool.
After Landscape Arch, we headed over to the Delicate Arch viewpoint. I had originally planned for us to hike to Delicate, but since we had booked a Fiery Furnace hike for our last day I didn’t want to overdo it. After the Delicate Arch viewpoint we found a place to eat a little lunch.
Our after lunch adventure was my favorite for the day. We hiked up to Double Arch where you can climb around under the arch and explore a little in the rocks. The kids really enjoyed this one and the fact that there is quiet a bit of shade under the Arch helped. The clouds had cleared by this point and it was starting to get hot.
On our way back down to the Visitor Center we stopped at Balancing Rock because Cole was dying to take this picture. Then it was time for another Junior Ranger badge and back to the hotel for some swimming. While in Moab we stayed at the Gonzo Inn. My friend Andy recommend it and it was AMAZING. We had a suite so the kids had their own room and we had a small kitchen and living room area. Since this stay was half way through our traveling to the parks it was a nice break to not be on top of each other in a small hotel room.
