The Quinn's Awesome Journey: 9/17/08 Arches National Park

Waking up well rested it was time to get out and do something. Today we are going to Arches National Park.

We got on the road around eleven. I know, I know, we should have been on the road long before this but there is a reason. You see, we have our morning computer time that neither one of us likes to give up. We both have other blogs that we follow, forums to read, email to read/answer/forward and its part of our morning routine.

We stopped at the office on the way out to pay for our site for a few more days. When we arrived I had the lady block out a few more days after the original three we paid for. I usually do this because in the beginning of our adventure we would pay for a week and find after two days we hated the place. Doing it this way we leave the option open and I've never had a problem with doing this. Until today. I was informed that our site would not be available to us as it was already given out with a reservation. I told the lady behind the counter that the site was supposed to have been blocked out for an additional three days but she couldn't find where that was done. The campground is full and the new arrivals couldn't be put anywhere else and there was no place for us move to. We didn't know this is the "high season" for this area. Oh well, we'll have to cram all our sightseeing into today.

We hit the road....

Our view as we drive through town.

I don't know what its like where you live, but in Delaware our roadside view is billboards for the most part. I would much rather have this to look at.

It didn't take us long at all to get to the park.

Our view as we drove up into the park.

Here we are in the park.

Our first stop was the Park Avenue Trail. LaVon, I thought of you as soon as we got out of the truck and I saw this! Here's your dead tree for the day.

At some point in time there had to be some kind of seismic activity that caused this rock formation to crack, move and position itself like this. Just amazing!

We walked the short walkway to the end of Park Avenue Trail and gazed out at this beautiful sight.

After doing some research as to why this is called Park Avenue I found that it is called this because it mimics the skyline of that famous street. Personally, I don't see it but then again I've never been on Park Avenue if they are referring to the one in New York City.

Have you ever noticed when you go on vacation and its picture taking time in front of a monument or pretty scenery that one of the couple or one of the group takes the picture of the other(s) and therefore they aren't in the picture with their companion or group? Well, that's something that really bothers me. You may have noticed that there are a lot more pictures of Bob on this blog than me, that's because I'm the one with camera most of the time. For the most part, that's fine with me because I ~~hate having my picture taken~~ enjoy taking the pictures and I love my camera! Well, we got to the end of the trail and there was this lady taking a picture of her husband and I asked if she wanted to be in the picture too. She enthusiastically took me up on the offer to use her camera to record this moment in their history. In return, she took ours.

More views from the road as we travel through the park.

Some rock formations have been given names. Some I get, some I don't. Here's one called THE SHEEP. I get this one!

I also understand the next one. Its called THREE GOSSIPS.

I'm thoroughly confused by the next one. I don't see an ORGAN on the right of the formation or THE TOWER OF BABEL on the left side. Do YOU see it? (the far right formation in the picture)

We were back on the road again.

Our first look at the natural arches. (center of picture)

BALANCING ROCK from a distance.

The balanced rock looks as if it was carefully placed on the stand, but in reality, the sandstone around it wore away. It will fall down eventually.

Bob posing on the rocks.

One of me, but I think if the truth be told Bob wanted a picture of "his" truck.

We finally made our way to the Balancing Rock. This formation is 128 feet tall and rock on top is 55 feet! Pictures can be deceiving can't they?

A closer view.

Views from the road again...

The next area we visited is called THE WINDOWS.

The North Window from a good distance away.

Closer.

And closer yet.

One B I G rock!

Walkway to the Turret Arch in the same area.

The South Window.

Both the North and South Windows in one shot.

Here is the Double Arch. We thought about walking to it but then thought again so you'll have to settle for this picture of it.

LaVon, I couldn't pass up this dead tree for you.

This next picture is of Delicate Arch. It was a three mile round trip to and from and ~~our time in the park did not permit us to walk to it~~ and there was no freakin' way we were walking that far! Uphill no less! The arch has a five foot thick top and the opening is 45 feet high and 33 feet wide. I'm sure it was something to see up close.

These next two pictures are of The Wall. I don't know how far it goes on but it seemed like it was outside my window for a long time. It seemed to go on forever!

There were several more arches to see in the park but we ran out of time since there was something else we wanted to do. Maybe someday we'll get back this way and will visit to see the rest. I hope so because these arches are not going to be here forever. Gravity and erosion will undoubtedly take their toll. In fact, just recently one of the most photographed arches fell. It was located in Devil's Garden and was the 12th largest arch in the park measuring in at 33 feet tall and 71 feet wide. Since 1970, 43 arches have fallen.

So we cut our trip through the park and decided we would get something to eat and then continue on with our plans.

We passed the Elks Lodge (# 2021) of Moab and stopped in to see if they were serving anything or at least to get a beer and a Pepsi. They were closed due to being in the middle of a state audit so we moved on.

Next stop was Smitty's Golden Steak Restaurant. I bet you are thinking your day wouldn't be complete if I didn't add at picture of at least the sign where we ate.

Smitty's is your typical small town diner, nothing fancy, but the food sure was good! This is probably where the "locals" come to eat. In fact, I'm sure that's true because our waitress called everyone by name when they came through the door.

Bellies full, we took off for our ride down Rt. 128. This is suppose to be one of those scenic byways. Its over a hundred miles for the round trip so we decided we would drive 35 - 40 miles and turn back. This would at least give us a chance to see the scenery. We weren't disappointed!