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Landscape Arch
Landscape Arch

Arches National Park

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After a full day’s drive over the Rocky Mountains we arrived on September 3rd at Bureau of Land Management 378 off Willow Springs Road near Moab, Utah. Tons of wide open camping spaces for free! The next day we planned to visit Arches National Park.

Boondocking in the National Forest near Arches National Park

Boondocking near Arches National Park

The cost for the park and other parks we were planning to visit would have been more than the annual park pass cost, so we got one for $80. We decided to start the day with the most famous arch that Natalie remembers visiting as a child – Delicate Arch. It was a three mile roundtrip hike.

At the top the wind was blowing

At the top the wind was blowing

Delicate Arch

Family photo at Delicate Arch

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Look who we ran into on the trail down from Delicate Arch! Jasmine!

Look who we ran into on the trail down from Delicate Arch! Jasmine!

Jasmine's Mom, Lisa, is Sully's new best hiking friend

Jasmine’s Mom, Lisa, is Sully’s new best hiking friend

What we didn’t expect was to run in to some people we know at one of the arches. We had just visited Delicate Arch and were walking down the trail. We saw two ladies and Natalie was like, “Is that?” and I was like, “Yeah, it is!” So I said, “Hey! Jasmine?!” Our hunch was right, it was one of Natalie’s sister Nicole’s friends. Jasmine came down to San Diego to visit when Nicole came to see us after Sully was born, and she sailed aboard Astraea with us. It was cool to meet up at the arches. We spent the rest of the day hiking together.

Hiking around and Sully says he's tired, so up on the shoulders he goes

Hiking around and Sully says he’s tired, so he hitches a ride on my shoulders to see petroglyphs

Riding around like a little prince with his shades

Riding around like a little prince with his shades

The trail rabbit

The trail rabbit

Sully has lots of energy in the shade

Sully has lots of energy in the shade

Landscape Arch

Landscape Arch

Natalie and I at Landscape Arch

Natalie and I at Landscape Arch

On the trail to Landscape Arch

On the trail to Landscape Arch

The view from Panorama Point

The view from Panorama Point

The view from Panorama Point

The view from Panorama Point

The view from Panorama Point

The view from Panorama Point

Break time by Astraea Mobile

Break time by Astraea Mobile

Sully on our walk to The Windows

Sully on our walk to The Windows

The windows

The windows

The next day we decided to visit Dead Horse Point State Park on our way to Bryce Canyon. We stopped to see the views of the canyon since we were bypassing Canyonlands National Park.

Dead Horse Ranch DSCN3589

It's like a little Grand Canyon

It’s like a little Grand Canyon

Sully at Dead Horse Ranch

Sully at Dead Horse Point

Sully was a good boy and got his first ring pop

Sully was a good boy and got his first ring pop

The drive from Dead Horse Point to Tropic, UT was beautiful. We’d have traveled more slowly, but had hiking plans with Natalie’s Dad and his wife, Pam for Labor Day weekend. The landscape changed from red rock desert to white and grey rock desert, then it looked like we were on the moon. As we climbed in elevation trees began to appear. Our route took us up and down through the mountains of Dixie National Forest overlooking Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It was a beautifully scenic drive and we’re glad we went the slow route instead of more highway driving.

We stopped at Capitol Reef National Park on our scenic drive to Bryce Canyon

We stopped at Capitol Reef National Park on our scenic drive to Bryce Canyon

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A beautiful panoramic viewpoint

A beautiful panoramic viewpoint

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