We woke up with about an hour before sunrise, though it was starting to get light outside.  Once everyone was awake, we got everyone out on the “porch” and snuggled under blankets and sleeping bags to watch the sunrise, which was directly outside our tent.  I got some hot chocolate from the lobby “tent” for the girls.  After enjoying the sunrise, we went back into the tent, opened up the canvas to let the sunlight in, and laid around in the bed for a while.  After a while, we started packing up, as unfortunately I was only able to get one night there, and would have to move on to another hotel for the next night.

We got everything in the car and got some more hot chocolate for the girls and coffee for myself for the road.   We were all sad to leave, as we really enjoyed our night there.  We headed south into Moab to check out a hotel I’d looked out online and get some food for lunch.  I was able to talk to the desk agent at the Aarchways hotel and get us a room on the main floor near the door to the pool and playground.  I’d looked online and chosen the hotel for all the kid friendly amenities.  After that, we headed out to find food for later.  After a couple of frustrating stops at an overpriced health food store and lackluster corner store, we finally got some Lunchables for the girls, and some deviled eggs for Laura and I to have with the remainder of the wraps we’d had for lunch the day before.  After a long morning of relaxing, packing, finding a new hotel, and finding food, we were finally on the way to Canyonlands.

The drive to Canyonlands National Park was about 45 minutes.  We stopped at the entry sign for our obligatory National Park sign picture, though had trouble because it was windy, and the stand for taking pictures required a tripod, and we had no other way to prop up a phone without it blowing over.  The fact that the girls were cranky didn’t help.   Luckily, just as we were about to give up, a couple from New Jersey pulled us up and helped us out.   We stopped at the visitor center for a restroom break, and by that time it was time for lunch.  We ate in the car by the visitor center, with the girls splitting a ham/cheese/crackers and a pizza Lunchable, and me and Laura finishing the wraps from the day before with deviled eggs.

After finally getting some cranky girls to finish their lunch, we set off into the park.  I soon realized that I’d meant to fill the gas tank before leaving Moab and had forgotten to do so.  We were at a quarter of a tank, which I later realized would have been more than enough to go through the park and get back to a gas station, but I didn’t want to venture too far.  With that on top of the girls not being in the mood for getting in and out of the car, we didn’t end up doing much.  We stopped at a couple of spots and got pictures of the canyon, and planned on hiking at Grand View Point, though decided against with the mood everyone was in.  We considered it a wash for visiting the park that day, and headed out, with a quick stop at the visitor center, where I ran in to get stamps on paper for the girls National Park passport.

We got back to the hotel just before check-in time, 3pm, though luckily, the room the woman had set us up for earlier in the way was ready.  We checked in and got everyone out of the car, all of which had napped for part of our time in the park and the 45 minute drive back.  So while mom and dad were ready to take a nap after the challenging day, they wanted to watch TV and make lots of noise.  Laura and I managed to get a nap of an hour or so, and felt better from that.  We spent a bit after that lying around and looking on Yelp for a good place to eat.

Luckily, the evening was better than the bulk of the day had been.  We made our way to Moab Brewing, where even though it wasn’t quite 6pm, was pretty packed on this lovely Friday evening.  We waited about 15 minutes before being seated, and got drinks and dinner quickly.  Laura got a burger and onion rings, partly to try to make up for the somewhat lackluster burger form the day before.  I got a green chili pork burrito, cause ya gotta get the green chili while you can.  It came with rice and what seemed to be veggies and beans in an almost chili-like consistency, which was delicious.  I had it with a 22oz bottle of their Belgian Tripel.  The girls had of course seen the gelato case positioned strategically right inside the door, and having spent the entire 15 minutes waiting for a table staring at the gelato, they had to have some.  So we got a couple of small containers for them, and I picked up a beer to go, and we were on our way.

We headed back into Arches, only a few minutes outside of Moab.  The sun was less than 30 minutes from setting, so we were racing against the clock a bit to get to a nice spot to enjoy the sunset.  We pulled into the parking lot for Balanced Rock, seeing how the girls really enjoyed the hike around it the day before.  We had a couple get a couple of pictures of us in front of the rock formation, while the sun was casting a beautiful light on it.  I popped open the Moab Brewing Hopped Rye, as I’ve always loved the intersection of National Parks, craft beer, beauty, and family.  We again did the hike around Balanced Rock while watching the sun set over the rock formations and distant mountains.  Right before the sun went down, everyone took turns of “holding the rock” while Laura and I got pictures.

Very soon, the sun was past the horizon, so we headed back out of the park and to the hotel.  The girls were still pretty awake, so we got suited up and went to test the water in the heated pool.  Unfortunately, no heating was taking place, and the night was cooling off quickly, so we had to go back to the room and get back into our clothes.  We did, however, have the distraction of a nearby firepit and playground that was populated by a couple of related families with kids around the ages of ours.  The girls definitely needed and deserved some running around time after a lot of time in the car and getting in and out of the car the last couple days.  We spent a good hour down there before retiring for the night.

The morning started early for me, at about 630am.  I got up so I’d be able to get to the airport, a few minutes away, at 7:30 when the rental counter opened.  I was there at 7:10, so spent a few minutes walking to the small park adjacent to the airport that had a few life-size model aircraft.  I got a few decent pictures of the planes with the mountains and tower in the background.  Once the counter opened, I traded our full-size car in for a mid-size SUV (Ford Focus).

After spending a bit of time getting everyone ready at the hotel, we were off and on our way to Utah.  The weather was partly cloudy, breezy, and in the high 50s (my perfect weather).  There was a “we’ll laugh about it later moments” of accidentally leaving the trunk door open because the automatic function failed, driving away from the hotel hearing the noise of shifting bags in the back (actually the stroller falling out of the car), and a mile later realizing there was a bit more of a breeze than there should be because the back was open, we high tailed it back to the hotel to find the stroller that had fallen out had been placed on the sidewalk by someone.  After a frustrating start to the day, we were laughing about it later!

The next stop was to a grocery store to pick up muffins, bananas, and apples for breakfast, along with a tray of turkey wraps and sun chips for lunch.  Some robust coffee and a white mocha for Laura and we were on our way.  After just a leisurely hour and a half drive on a mostly deserted I-70 and then a state highway, we were at the entrance to Arches National Park.  The first stop was the visitor center, where even though we’d forgotten the girl’s National Park Passports, we had each girl stamp a cancellation to staple in their passports later.  Glad we thought to do that!  After a quick perusal of the displays, we made our way back to the car and up the steep switchbacks that took us up in altitude quickly and into the park.

The weather had turned cloudy by then, and the temperate dropped into the low 50s with a strong breeze once inside the park.  The landscape was really unique on the initial drive in.  We made the first stop in the parking lot for Balanced Rock, where we had our wraps and chips.  The girls sat in the truck while Laura and I stood…which has been come a national park tradition for us.  We got bundled up in our coats and hats pretty quickly after getting out of the car.  After lunch, we ventured to the Balanced Rock trail.  We took the stroller part way and the girls walked the rest.  They were really fascinated with this part of the park.

After that, we ventured on to The Windows, where we hiked first to North Window.  All three girls did a pretty good job on this hike.  They wanted us to carry them, but after some encouragement and pushing, they made it to the North Window.   We then made our way to the South Window viewpoint, and then on to Turret Arch before heading back to the car.  For it being a decent climb, the girls did pretty well.

We then made our way to the Delicate Arch.  Because the girls were pretty worn out from the last two hikes, we only went to the viewpoint, which was much further from the arch than we anticipated.  The hike is a decent climb and has some tricky terrain, so it’ll be on our list to visit when the girls are older.  The girls were nearing the end of their rope from being in the car and hiking, so we decided it was time to head into Moab for an early dinner.

After a drive through town looking for food and stopping at a small store to pick up some small gifts for the youngest daughter’s birthday, we turned back to the north and decided upon Atomic Burger, where we were some of the only people there, and the only ones on the patio.  It was a bit cool and breezy, but with our jackets and propane heaters, it was nice to enjoy the nice patio and the fresh air.  Laura and I split a burger and BBQ sandwich, while the girls split mac & cheese and a quesadilla.  We told the waitress that it was the youngest girl’s 2^nd birthday, so after our meal, the staff came out singing happy birthday (though we hadn’t told them her name!) and presented her with a large bowl of chocolate ice cream with two candles.  We were really impressed with the service, and could tell the patio was probably a great place to hang on a busy night.  Highly recommended!

At long last, we finally made our way to the place I’d been looking forward to seeing ever since hearing about it, Under Canvas Moab.  It’s a “hotel,” though would be considered “glamping,” as it’s tents with beds and cots, some with bathrooms, and some with teepees for the kids.  We drove in and checked in with one of the most enthusiastic people I’ve ever encountered in hospitatlity.  She got us checked in, and offered to have us follow her to our tent.  She drove a golf cart to the parking area for it, helped us load our bags onto the cart, and we all piled in for the short ride to our tent.  She showed us inside, where she showed us the operation of the wood fireplace with a wood stack outside, along with the small bathroom with a sink, adjacent shower, and separate toilet.  They were separated from the main area by canvas that could be drawn back.  We got settled in, and headed out to the back porch to watch the sunset and enjoy a couple beers (just me).  It was cool and breezy, so we got into our cozy pajamas and sat on the porch under blankets and in sleeping bags.  The 2 year old opened a bag full of Disney princess goodies that we’d picked up for her birthday.  The sun was setting behind our tent, but the colors the sun cast on the nearby rock formations and mountains was incredible.

We then made our way to the community campfire, where just as we were arriving, the staff was announcing to the approximately dozen guests gathered that it was a staff member’s 22^nd birthday, and a guest’s 2^nd birthday, ours!  They had bought mini cupcakes for everyone to enjoy, and put candles on them for the ladies to blow out, and sang happy birthday to them.  The staff hung out with us and the other guests at the fire and we talked for a while.  The girls were ready to crash, so I helped get them to the tent and into bed.  I was still wide awake and can’t resist a good fire and conversation, so I headed back to the fire.  I talked to several people there, and somehow the conversation turned to John Denver, and then turned into a John Denver sing-along.  Laura came back to check on me after a couple hours, at which point the night auditor shut us down for being up too late and being too loud!  By this point the stars were showing quite well, so Laura and I enjoyed that before putting some wood on the fire and snuggling up in our tent for the night.

 

 

We started this trip a bit later in the day than usual, as Laura worked late the day before, and seats looked good enough.  So, we hopped on an 11am flight to Dallas.  This was the youngest’s last couple flights as a lap child, as she’d turn two during the trip.  We were able to get two seats together in one aisle, and two the aisle behind, which is really nice when traveling with small children.  Once arriving in DFW, the girls had nachos and BBQ, while I had a delicious Vietnamese inspired bowl with a tofu spring roll from Bahn Shop on D Concourse.  Both were delicious, and will be a go-to anytime I’m at DFW from now on.  We were able to get a similar seating situation on the way two Grand Junction, and were on our way after a 2 hour layover.

Because we weren’t able to book day-of hotels and cars on my travel rewards credit card, we booked a full size car for the first night, and a hotel adjacent to the Grand Junction airport.  We’d like to have booked the car for the full 4 days, but it ended up working out just fine, as the car seats fit just fine, and we found plenty to keep us entertained in Grand Junction.  After checking into the hotel, I looked around online for something fun to do.  Within a few minutes, we adventured out to drive through the Colorado National Monument, a picturesque canyon just a few minutes away from town.  After getting the obligatory National Park Service sign family picture, we drove the length of Rimrock Drive, the road passing along the edge of the canyon.  We made several stops along the way to get out and get pictures.  The girls especially loved going through the tunnels, and we carried on the tradition of singing “John Henry” (which started at Tunnel View in Yosemite) from Disney’s short features as we passed through.

Toward the end of the drive (it took close to 2 hours with multiple stops), the youngest was getting antsy.  After two flights of two hours each and putting up with a ride in the car to see the canyon, it was time to let the wee ones run around a bit.  Through the magic of Yelp, I was able to find Kannah Creek Brewing’s Edgewater Brewery, which I could tell from pictures would be kid friendly and have room for them to stretch their legs.  We headed there where the girls were able to run around in the grass and play on a stage that was set up.  There were a couple other families, so plenty of other kids to play with.  Laura and I each got a salad, and I had some pork green chili, a must when in Colorado.

After some time running around and eating, the girls were either falling asleep (the oldest), or running around trying to keep themselves awake.  We headed back to the hotel, and after a long day of constant movement, everyone was ready to crash.  Now that we’d made it to our destination and no longer had to worry about getting seats, I booked a mid-size SUV for the remaining days, and booked our lodging for the next day, though was unable to book it for Friday night also as I had hoped, as it was full that night.  We at least got to experience it one night, which was so much fun.  More on that later…