Pivot-cation: Arches!

 We left Bryce Canyon and headed to Arches National Park via Capitol Reef National Park. We'd planned this wisely, as a cold front was predicted through Utah that would make Bryce (at its higher altitude) downright chilly, while leaving Arches almost hospitable (as opposed to oven-like, which is the usual summer temp). 

Capitol Reef looked like it was straight out of the movie Cars. Which is silly, since the scenery in Cars is actually based on Route 66, which is nowhere near Capitol Reef!

Also, the landscape came before Cars. Everyone knows that.

Shockingly, some kids were really annoyed that we made them get out and explore the cool rock formations. 

They were not very impressed that we made them take pictures with the family.

Ah, well. They mostly got over it!

Capitol Reef has a cool boardwalk where you can view some petroglyphs.

Can you see the petroglyphs in the picture above? It was really cool to see some ancient art and think about the people who lived here long ago.

We would absolutely love to explore Capitol Reef in the future!

We didn't linger too long in Capitol Reef, as it's a pretty solid drive in to Arches.

While picking up dinner, the kids thought this Mater was AWESOME!

We were able to stay in a hotel room with 3 Queen beds. It was so nice to have a little extra space to spread out in! We had another regular room, but this one was cool.

We enjoyed some Forced Family Fun in the hotel pool. Even the reluctant participants got into the spirit with races and lap competitions. It was the perfect was to wrap up a long day of travelling. 

We spent one day in Arches, so we needed to pack in the fun!
We decided to hit the hike for Delicate Arch before it got too hot out. 

The first third of the hike was up slick rock. It was hot and we were grateful for the Gatorade we made everyone pack along. This part was hard for several of the kids. And Tyler ended up toting Eliza in the backpack, so it was a definite workout for him.

The rest of the hike was more varied, with a little more shade and a little less uphill.

This view was the motivation we needed to keep heading to Delicate Arch!

It was really, really pretty. It was also very different terrain than I'd imagined. Delicate Arch sits at the top of a slick rock bowl and it made me nervous to have Micah on the loose around there!

But we got there! And it was totally worth it!

5 stars, would definitely recommend this hike! It's not short, and the kids totally whined about it, but coming down was pretty quick and easy (compared to going up).Definitely do it as early in the day as you can get there! I would not recommend going in the summer, unless there's an unseasonably cool cold front coming through. This was HOT at 80* and I wouldn't want to hit it on 90* or 100* day.

We also heard that Landscape Arch was a great family hike. It was about a mile in, and totally do-able even after Delicate Arch.

Ok, maybe Micah and Eliza ran out of steam really quickly...

But Jack was a champ and schlepped Eliza around. Tyler continued hiking with weights.

You can't get right under Landscape Arch, but it was pretty! Not quite as dramatic as Delicate Arch, but what is?
Cole begged to hike a little off-shoot trail to Pine Tree Arch and Tunnel Arch. Most of the kids were DONE hiking and didn't even want to do .2 miles further, but Henry was a good sport and joined us.

We really thought Pine Tree Arch was worth the detour! We could walk right under it and it was so big!

This looked like a little monster petroglyph, which the boys thought was so cool

Tunnel arch was super high up, and we couldn't get close to it. 

Don't care, it was still cool.

We wrapped up our adventure with a short little hike to Sand Dune Arch. Several friends said this was a great one for kids--and they were RIGHT!

The teens declared they were DONE hiking and refused to go. They totally missed out! It was like being at the beach with no ocean! 

Cute "little" arch you could go right under!

The kids were so stoked to dive right in.

The boys climbed the rocks around the arch and explored the nooks and crannies.

Henry and Micah

Cole

The girls were all about the sand. 

They seriously could not get enough!

It was a moment that felt bittersweet. Eliza's enthusiasm for the sand made me realize how much she would have LOVED the beach...and we should have been at the beach then!

But, I took a few deep breaths and appreciated that our cancelled trip to Jersey gave us this awesome gift of being able to explore our state.
We had so much fun in Arches!

We headed home to get ready for the next leg of our adventure!