Arches and Canyonlands

We were in the boondocks over the weekend with hardly any cell or wifi service so I haven't been able to update you on our travels!  At the end of last week we went to Arches NP and Canyonlands NP.  We actually ended up doing them both in one day which worked out well.  Glad we chose to do Arches first because when we left they had closed the park because it was too full!  And I understand why.  Arches is definitely one of my top favorites.  It was beautiful! I will try to do it justice with some pictures.  

To be honest, Canyonlands was not much to write home about in our opinion.  The canyons were cool and some of us did do a little hike up Whale Rock.  It was difficult to capture the canyons on camera so we definitely took some pictures in our head.  My favorite part was the short hike we took to see the Mesa Arch.  I guess I am partial to the Arches! 

Balanced Rock.  Such creative names, right?

The double window was definitely a highlight. 

Those are my people up there! 

One of my favorite views.  So amazing.

It was like a hunt to find all the arches big and small within the park.  

There are over 2,000 of them so we definitely didn't find them all!  

A couple of times we have seen some painters at the parks.  So cool to see 

them using their gifts to capture the beauty in front of them. 

Caleb went across the way to take this picture of Dave and I.  The sun 

was tough to capture what we wanted but I will take what I can get! 

Here is where he was! Good thing these kids love to climb!

Love these girls! 

It was fun capturing them in all the different crevices everywhere.  

Then it was off the Canyonlands...

Josiah was the token picture man at the moment apparently! 

This boy has been taking pictures like crazy on this trip.  He wants to capture EVERYTHING and I love watching him take it all in.  If I think I missed something, I am sure I can just get a hold of his memory card!  He's got it all! 

My and my girl.  This little monkey couldn't always do the walking. 

Grateful she still fits in this carrier! 

Those are my boys on top of Whale Rock for some great views.  

The girls and I didn't make it that far...

Not too much wildlife to see in these two parks.  So much different from Yellowstone.  

The most we saw were some lizards which were still fun to see! 

Mesa Arch - it was quite the canyon drop behind that arch.

Me and my man. 

This was a really cool view when you first entered the park.  As you can see, it is actually hard to capture the canyon itself.  Tough to see the actual depth in a picture.  

After these two parks, we headed back to our hotel for a swim and to get ready for our next leg of the journey.  Tomorrow we have a day to just be.  We are at a great house this week and planned a day to NOT GO ANYWHERE!  Shocking, I know! It will be good to not get in the van for a day and I am planning on catching up some more here so stay tuned...