Eckert, CO via Colorado Nat'l Monument: July 2-3

July 2

Lillian looking over Canyonlands

All - We couldn't leave the Moab, UT area without going to see Canyonlands NP.  This grand park was carved by the Green and Colorado Rivers.  We drove through the parked and stopped at a few of the overlooks.  Francis and the kids took a mile loop to see another arch through which we could see a butte called "Washer Woman."

After leaving Canyonlands, we set out for Western Colorado driving along the Colorado River.  Here are some of our thoughts about the journey:

We stopped along the Colorado River where we swam, skipped rocks, collected rocks and played a new game we called "rock skeet" (one would throw a big rock in the air, while the others tried to hit it with a smaller rock).

We had a good time at Betty Kendrick’s house (with Betty and her daughter, Tricia) the first night playing cards, Phase 10 dice and soccer pk’s in the yard with the chair and the mop as posts.  Elliot and Adrian stayed up until the wee hours of the night playing double solitaire in their bed.  It was nice to have a bed!  

Francis - The drive from Arches to Eckert started out following the Colorado River (hwy 128).  The drive was beautiful with great rocks, mesas, and buttes.  Then it opened up in to arid, hot semi-flat grey nowhere.  Colorado National Monument was incredibly steep sided canyons, through which we drove right along the edge.  Celinda did not enjoy the view too well - a little too severe a drop off!

July 3 Eckert, CO, Grand Mesa, Pioneer Village in Cedaredge

Francis & Celinda - We really enjoyed visiting with Betty and Tricia. It was a bittersweet reunion, as we mourned the loss of Betty's husband, Max, who was a seminary classmate of Francis'.  Max died unexpectedly this past January.  It was nice to see the resemblance of Max in his brother, Jim.  We appreciated Jim's family letting us crash their 4th of July gathering at their cabin on Grand Mesa. 

Elliot -We played more soccer and Lillian kicked the ball off of a concrete wall and in to a tree.  When she tried to get it out she got stung by a bee.  We went up to the Grand Mesa to a lake and we played rock skeet over the lake.

Adrian - It was interesting to learn about Betty’s ancestors in Pioneer Village.  We had a fun time in the saloon and sheriff’s office, especially the saloon!  We had good ice cream.  We went up to the top of the Mesa to Betty's family member’s cabin next to a lake.  We skipped rocks and played rock skeet again.  Then we had really good sloppy Joe’s for a very late dinner.

Lillian - We played back yard soccer.  I kicked the ball off of the wall, to the roof of the house and then in to the tree where it stayed.  I shook the tree and proceeded to get stung by a bee!  Playing at the Pioneer Village pretending we were cowboys at the saloon drinking, smoking, playing poker and spitooning.  I liked seeing all the fossilized things and the dinosaur footprints too.  It was really cool to learn that Betty’s great, great grandma had to push a cart with her  5 children across the country from St. Louis to Salt Lake!  The view from the mesa was very, very pretty.  We had fun playing at the lake skipping rocks and playing rock skeet. 

Arches National Park: June 30 - July 1

Petroglyphs  - Capitol Reef

 As we drove from Bryce Canyon to Arches, we passed through Capitol Reef National Park.  We only had time to drive through the park.  We took one half mile hike to see the river "gooseneck" through the valley.  We also viewed some petroglyphs that were close to the roadside.  Pretty cool!
Here are the kids' impressions of what we did in Arches NP.
  

O-H-I-O - Landscape Arch

Lillian - I liked hiking to see Landscape Arch and to scramble up the rocks to see Partition Arch.  I also like walking up to Sand Dune Arch, because you got to walk between some fins that were close together.  There was lots of sand and you could see animal tracks.  I also liked watching the video at the Visitor’s Center that described the formation of Canyonlands and Arches National Parks.  It was amazing to see video footage of rocks falling off of Landscape Arch - which left it have a width of only 6 feet in the middle of it.  It was really cool seeing the sunset while we were hiking to see Delicate Arch.  Seeing the colors of the rocks, and the sunset was beautiful.  It was nice to spot arches on our own, without the aid of a professional having to show them to us.

The Windows

Elliot - I liked seeing the arches and learning how they formed.  It was neat to see pictures of pieces falling off of Landscape Arch.  I liked Balanced Rock - it was cool how it was still on top of a rock, but balanced.  I liked how we got to sit in Partition Arch.  It was fun to see different kinds of lizards on the hikes.  I also liked seeing the Windows arches and being able to stand in the North one.  I enjoyed sharing a couple of the arches with my stuffed bear, Cheeny.  It was really fun to play in the pool at the campground because it cooled us off ALOT, because it was so hot.

Balanced Rock 

Adrian - The first night we got to Arches, we set up camp and it was incredibly hot.  All we wanted to do was set it up and get to the pool.  Kind of a gross campsite, but the pool was great.  The next day we went on a loop hike to see a bunch of different arches.   We had a fun scrambling on the “path” to some of the lesser-visited arches.  We then went to Zax Restaurant to watch the Euro Cup final match pitting Spain vs. Italy.  Spain won 4-0.  (Lillian correctly predicted Spain would win the tournament.)  After that we went back to the pool, because it was 105oF.  We had a good time playing “Pool-qwan-do.”  We did a driving tour back in the park and saw a lot of arches and formations.  We enjoyed watching the sunset on our hike to the overlook of Delicate Arch.

Delicate Arch