Sittin In the Morning Sun

After a night filled with flash backs of mouse traps snapping, seeing a tiny twitchy body lying on my motel room floor, we had a harried morning gathering up items we wanted and doing our best to pack up and head out by our appointed hour of 7:00 a.m.

This being UEA weekend which as we all know stands for Utahns Entering Arches we were in a hurry to get a parking spot in the limited lot at the Delicate Arch Trailhead. We planned to hike this first thing and with the WHOLE family, everyone.

Mom and Dad pooped out after a restless night (but not because of rodents). Ryan and Penny were a no-show at the gourmet breakfast offered by Super 8. We called and texted them where they claimed not to know we had plans to leave early. We hurried them along and they did make it out with the rest of the group.

We left the Super 8 only 40 minutes later than planned which is actually pretty good when you are a group of just under a million. We arrived the Arches Park entrance just at quarter to 8:00 a.m. and found no ranger waiting at the booth to take our $10. Note to self. Always enter park before 8:00 a.m. or after 6:00 p.m.

You might think the best part of entering the park early is the free entrance, you’d be wrong though….The real reason is because you get to experience the MORNING SUNLIGHT.


I won’t lie. It was one of the most breathtaking scenes I have ever experienced. It rivals even the best sunset in Maui. Seriously incredible.
Photos to prove it. Although they don’t do it justice.

It was so wonderful that no one even cared when we arrived to a completely empty parking lot. We had told everyone we’d be lucky to get a spot even that early (that’s what the visitor’s info said about UEA weekend).
I thought everyone would gripe at us for making them leave so early, but they also were overwhelmed with the beauty of the morning sun on the red rocks. Several family members including the ones who seemed most opposed to the early start told me after the hike that they were glad we had began early and they wanted to do it again the next day.


We really enjoyed being together on this hike. It was so fun to watch the cute cousins hike together and discover new things together. All the cute little conversations and quips were priceless.
It was also fun for me to spend several hours with my brothers and wives chatting and joking and generally having fun together. It’s been a long time.


Here are some fun photos.



You might not know it by looking at this kid...but his dad is a Statistition

Read his T-shirt.


The hike was a little strenuous for some, but the air was very crisp and cool which kept everyone comfortable as they hiked, plus the scenery was breathtaking.

We got a sneak preview by climbing up this sandstone steep incline.
You could peer through an arch and see THE arch of all arches.

What a view. Whoa!!!

As you near Delicate Arch you scurry along a narrowish cliff. We kept the kids really close at this point.
My nephew Hayden, a master manipulator spent the entire time trying to convince the group that he didn’t need any adult help and could walk this part independently. He finally settled for holding an adult hand as long as it wasn’t one of his own parents.
He is so cute and has an amazing mind and vocabulary.

Since we were the first ones to arrive, we mainly had the Arch to ourselves.
This my brother Scott and his two oldest. We each got photos of our families there and no one else. Last time we were there it was with dozens and dozens of others. No way to get an unobstructed shot.

Like this one (okay, I photoshopped one extra shadow out of this shot).
The Arch illuminated by morning sunlight was nothing less the spec-freaking-tacular!

With crescent moon still visible.


We each took advantage of this marvelous sight.





We also took more time to explore around the arch and see it from different points of view.

From its left side, which I have never seen before, doesn’t it look just like a pair of pants standing up by themselves?

How crazy does that look!


We spent close to an hour marveling at the Delicate Arch before we decided we’d had enough and turned back.

On the way down, we passed hundreds of people making their way toward the arch. Many of which marveled at the sheer amounts of children we were herding.


One woman seemed particularly stunned and asked us if this was a daycare group? We all got a real kick out of this. As if anyone would put that much effort into getting someone else’s kid to the top of the Delicate Arch. I can only barely justify the effort it took to bring my own (actually it was pretty easy this time. They were both good sports). Anyway…that was really funny to us. Daycare kids.

This is a photo of my nephew affectionately named Double D. For Dare-Devil.

There is no challenge to great or too small for this kid to mount. He always wanted to walk independently and with NO jacket. He didn't need any artificial aide to complete this adventure. Expect to see him in future seasons of Man v.s. Wild.


Everyone remarked on the way down about how wonderful and worthwhile this adventure turned out to be which made me really happy.
Sunny pooped out before we were really finished, but was content to ride on my shoulders.
With about a quarter mile to go that was no longer good enough and I had to carry her, but it wasn’t so bad.
I've been taking this weight lifting class which I think enabled me to carry her longer and farther than I really expected to. Steve was more than willing to share the burden of carrying our youngest child, she just wouldn't allow herself to be assisted by anyone other than her Mom. Some of the other wee one’s fell asleep in their baby backpacks which was really cute too.

We all made it down together and had one more group photo to prove it.


The parking lot was overflowing upon our return and anyone who wasn’t convinced that leaving early was the right thing was convinced now.

As we packed up and out, we found a note on our van from my parents telling us where they would be. Genius idea because phones did NOT work. We were able to meet up with them and we all caravanned over to a “picnic” area by Balanced Rock.


We actually had a really nice lunch if you don’t count the severely smelly restrooms or the low-laying tree branch that hovered over our table that we each took several turns a piece hitting our heads on.

After our lunch, we headed over to the nearby Windows area and saw those and the Turret. Each time we always intend to go across and see Double Arch too, but I don’t believe I ever have. Note to self: Next time start with Double Arch. I’ve still never been in it.



We had a good time, especially the kids.






Some of the adults were starting to feel the effects of gravity after hiking around all day. We all mustered the strength to see what there was to see there and take some priceless photos before heading back to the cars.

Next on the agenda was a quick refueling stop and then take the Around Moab Audio Tour which is now available at Aroundmoab.com and other fine Moab area retailers. I wrote the audio tour and it took me most of the last half of 2010 to research and write. The producer of the tour, my former neighbor and now friend Mitch White, a 5th generation Moab-ite hired me to do the job. I really enjoyed this project and have really come to LOVE Moab after spending so much time enveloped in the area.

I was beyond excited to be able to take the tour and hear the words I wrote read by professional voices and set to music and sound effects. I was also really excited to be able to do it with much of my family in tow.

The first stop on the tour is Matrimony Springs, which is a natural spring that pops right out of the rock wall on the side of the road.
It’s pristine water and totally safe to drink untreated. Everyone LOVED this stop. The kids fill their bottles, took a sip, dumped the rest and filled it again. They were totally impressed. Even the adults loved this stop. In fact, we stopped at the springs several other times during the trip.
No one wanted to drink water from any other source. I even caught Randy opening a new bottled water, dumping its contents and filling with Matrimony Springs water. Funny.

If you want to know why it’s called Matrimony Springs, it’s a rather interesting story. You’ll have to come to Moab and take the tour to find out.

We had a great time on the tour. You get to see a side of this area you’d probably miss entirely. Only locals know Moab in this way.
Beauty, rock walls, beautiful canyons, free range cattle, breath taking views. Just a taste of what you see on this tour.


It might not be more fun than you can ever imagine, but it certainly is interesting, entertaining, memorable and picturesque.
The tour is capped off by taking up into the La Sal Mountains to what we call The Grand View.

Everyone was stunned by what and how far you could see.
It really was amazing. It was my first time seeing it. The one time I took the tour before I began my writing was with Mitch, but it was totally foggy and you couldn’t even see 10 feet in front of the car. To actually see it, was simply amazing. What a world we live in.


I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. I was pretty happy to have had a part in putting this album out. I hope a lot of people get use out of it and enjoy it. And I hope Mitch makes millions off of this.

We all headed back to the cars after admiring the Grand View for a good long while.

We began this day at sunrise in Arches National Park, and ended it with a beautiful 25 mile drive down from the beautiful La Sal Mountains at sunset.

Why can't everyday be like this one?



And, as a by the way...after a 60 mile round trip on the La Sal Mountain Loop Road which runs on winding mountain and valley narrow roadways, not one of the many many children barfed on this trip. Bonus!

We were pretty ragged after the full day of hiking and touring around. Here is our little trio of girls showing off their dirty bums after scooting around on red rocks all day. I asked the girls to turn around and show me their dirty bums so I could take a pic to prove they had hiked all day. As I was fiddling with the camera, they all posed for me. Even Sunny, who mis-understood my intent and had given me more than I asked for and was standing there hunched over giving me a full moon. It was so funny.
Steve and I both busted a gut as we rushed to get her pants up while we were in the Super 8 parking lot.

The rest of the evening was spent in the motel eating our pre-prepared spaghetti and meatballs which I was glad to have. We were entirely too ragged to go to a restaurant, decide what to eat, order it, wait for it, eat it and pay for it.
We simply warmed up what we brought and scarfed it down. As I was warming the food Steve noticed that our microwave timer dial went all the way up to 35 minutes.
What do you think would happen if you microwaved something…anything for 35 whole minutes?
Something bad, that’s what. Anyway...We planned for the next day, swam in the motel pool (a childhood right of passage, but not my idea of fun) showered and went to sleep.