After the morning’s excitement, Lee and I just HAD to get back to our hotel room to access Wifi on our iPhones/laptops and tell everyone about the hummer tour. It’s like I was a giddy, high school girl or something. Cher and Al went to go get sandwiches for lunch and the plan was that we were going to drive out to Arches National Park and do the 2 hour hike to one of Utah’s most recognized landmarks: The Delicate Arch (pictured below). By the time we got to the trailhead I was famished and not feeling so high school girly anymore. I wanted to eat. I was ready to eat right there in the parking lot but NO we had to pack up ALL the styrofoam packed food including beer and wine and lug it to the most picturesque part of the trail. So we started off, me mumbling curses to myself, and got about 10 minutes in when Al decided to do one of his little jaunts off the trail to a “more secluded spot”. As most hikers/nature lovers in National Parks know the trails are there for a reason and are not meant to be deviated from for not only one’s own safety but for the sanctity of nature too. By that point, I had had enough, I was not going along any further and plopped myself down took out my sammy and started mowing down. Actually, noone decided to join Al on his quest for the perfect spot and about 10 minutes later he returned none too happy. I won’t get into the details of what happened next but suffice it to say we didn’t see Big Al again until we gazed upon the famous landmark that adorns both Utah’s license plates and stamps. The hike itself was not terribly difficuly though there were some midly challenging parts. It felt good to finally be out of a car and taking in the natural beauty by foot.
The Arch itself is definitely something to behold. You cannot see it until the very end of the hike but as you round the last corner there it is… appearing out of nowhere as if someone had placed this oddly shaped rock loop there as a prize for completing the hike. Breathtaking. By this time, Al had regained his composure and was sitting admiring the Arch which we joined in on for the next 20-30 minutes. Serenity now! It really was… completely serene, quiet and even slightly dreamy around the Arch. People spoke in hushed tones (well at least everyone but my family) respecting the surrounding beauty. After a few hundred snaps it was time to go back. The hike down was inconsequential. All I can remember from that was Lee and I trying to figure out the chorus to Phish’s “Colonel Forbin’s Ascent” but I digress……
One more thing to do while at Arches. Hike to “The Windows” (pictured below). From my understanding, our cousin Claire (insert shout out here), played a part in constructing part of this trail: Claire explaining. And after re-watching that video I just realized that we did NOT actually do that part of the trail (Sorry Claire!). Despite that, we did make it out to the Windows and I sat in one of them and enjoyed it very much. Did I mention Lee slept this one out in the back of the van? Go LeeBee!
Arches National Park
This day isn’t over yet. My family is notorious for travel itineraries and packing in as much in a day as humanly possible. We are up before 7 a.m. and in bed before 10 p.m. every night…. but not a second of that time is wasted. We may value quantity over quality, not absorb everything to it’s maximum potential, and not actually relax while on vacation, but noone can accuse the Boros’ of being lazy. No sir-ee.
True to form, we decided we just had to fit in one more national park before the day was done. Not only that but we had to be there for sunset to take the BEST photos. So off we rushed to the next one on the list: The Canyonlands. Honestly, I was so tired at this point I could barely get out of the car to snap some photos. But when I did I was suitably impressed with what I saw…for some reason the only words to describe it for me is like Hell bubbling to the surface of the earth. Just the whole thing was so immense and red. I dunno.. maybe I was tired out of my gourd. We drove back to the hotel in near silence (a first), grabbed some pizza pie to take out and passed out in a stupor.
Canyonlands
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