Vacation Day 7: Arches National Park

I found myself in the middle of an interesting emotional dilemma. 1. My twin babies had miscarried at 11 weeks the day before. 2. I was in the middle of Arches National Park. This was the where Brandon and I had originally planned to go on our vacation this year. We'd decided to expand it into our epic road trip through Southern Utah, but Arches was something that we both wanted to see. I had a choice. I could either stay in my tent all day and be sad, or I could get up and have a great time exploring the park with my husband. I don't know what you would have chosen, but I chose to get up and have a fun day.

The first thing we did was go on a hike from our campsite. Months before, when we made our reservations we had decided to stay in the Devils Garden Campground for two nights. We figured we would be sick of packing up our tent every day. Thank goodness we decided to do that, because we were not in the mood to pack up and leave. So we cleaned up the campsite and headed out to see some arches.
We passed Tapestry Arch and went on a quick detour to go stand under it.
Then the trail took us under Broken Arch. It only looks broken. It is really intact.
And finally we headed into the secluded area that houses Sand Dune Arch.
Brandon had never been to Sand Dune Arch and he enjoyed hiking the short path through the fins.
Then we were there. I told Brandon he wasn't truly part of the Loveless Family until he had been to Sand Dune Arch. I have so many great memories of playing in the deep sand as a kid.
Brandon and I sat in the cold sand and dug small holes. We ate Butterscotch pudding which happened to be almost the same color as the sand. I told Brandon about my dad digging deep holes that would fit us kids and then burying us in them when I was seven. I also told Brandon about another trip to Arches with my Aunt Vera when I was 14. Us kids figured out how to climb on top of the arch.
We stayed and played around in that area for a while. Then we hiked back to the campground.
Our jeep and tent are in the middle of this picture. This is what we could see from the trail.
We got back to camp and drove over to the Devil's Garden hiking area. We hiked and saw Tunnel Arch.
And Pine Tree Arch. Brandon remembers this arch from when he was a kid and came to Arches.
And finally Landscape Arch. Both of us had heard rumors that this arch had completely fallen down. It hadn't, but back in 1991, when both of us came to Arches as kids, a huge slab had fallen. The thinnest point is only 6 feet thick, but it's still standing. This is partition arch. We could have hiked closer to it, but the trail got kind of crazy and neither of us were up for an intense hike.
We hiked back to the parking area and came up with one of our best jokes ever. We made up a parody of This Old House called "This Old Dwelling" It's hosted by Bob Kiva and he shows off an old Pueblo that was being reconstructed by ancient Indians. Jokes include, "we used to live in this dwelling 50 years ago, but the herds moved on. Now their back and so are we. We are trying to fix this place up. In the past 50 years we've learned some new construction techniques." The parody includes lots of sayings like, "this is going to cost a little bit for per square foot, but it will hold up for a lot longer" and other common This Old House sayings. We laughed the whole way down the trail.
This is a common sign in Arches. It talks about how the soil crust is alive and so you should be careful where you step. I love the little drawing. It is understandable in any language. Speaking of language, Southern Utah is full of foreign people this time of year. I think Brandon spoke more French to other people then he did English. (He even was told to apply as a tour guide for one company) It was fun to say hi to other hikers and then try to guess what country they were from.
We drove over to the Window Area and hiked to North and South Windows. Here is a picture of both of them. I think they look like eyes with a big nose between them.
This is Turret Arch.
This is a cave that we think was used in Indian Jones and the Last Crusade.
And here is Double Arch which we know was filmed in that movie.
We were able to hike right up under most of the Arches (except Landscape with is considered too unstable.)
We went on a quick walk around Balanced Rock.
Here is Park Avenue. We didn't hike down this because we didn't want to hike back up. Still it was pretty just to look at.
And here are the three gossips. (When I was little I was told these were the Three Wise Men. I think that is a better name.)
Skyline Arch. As a kid I LOVED this arch. I don't know why, but it fascinated me. I was so happy to see it again.
After our long day of hiking we went back to camp and made taco salad. It was so nice to have fresh lettuce and tomatoes.
And it was really nice that we didn't have to set up the tent. It was waiting for us.
Here is what we called "The Jeep Commercial" Our jeep worked great the entire trip. It is such a good car to us. It was our first baby and we love it.
We burned up the last of our wood and made s'mores. For some reason I can only eat one s'more before I get sick. This isn't pregnancy related either. It has been going on for years. So Brandon makes like 5 s'mores and I spend all my time making one perfect s'more. It works out.

I bought Brandon this hatchet for Christmas and he uses it every chance he gets. We played a game called Commercials. (Actually we made it up) one person names something that the other person has to make up an advertisement for. The ultimate one of the night was when Brandon told me to make a commercial for an RV. I immediatly said, "Is your life not inconvenient enough? Buy an RV." Brandon then chimed in with, "Is navigating a parking lot just not the challenge it used to be? Buy an RV." We laughed and laughed.
We paid $20 a night to stay at the Devils Garden Campground. We got hot and cold running water, and totally cool scenery. In my opionon it was worth it. We went to bed much happier than we had the night before.