Moab Area Vacation

We started off our trip with a long drive to Moab.  We stopped in Price for a break and to play at the "Castle" playground.  We have pictures of that later as we also stopped there on our way back.

We started the trip with a visit to Dead Horse Point State Park.

The view is amazing there.  The blue water you see in the distance is evaporation ponds for a company harvesting different elements.  They dye the water blue to make it evaporate faster.  It looks really cool though.

Bradley and Daniel wanted to make sure Kitty had a good view.

Here is the view from the other end of the park.  It is amazing how far you can see.  It doesn't even seem real when you try to take it all in.

The boys and Kitty enjoyed their time here.

The next day we went to Arches National Park.  Here we are at balance rock.

 

Here we are at double arch.  It was a pretty short hike in but the arches are just massive!

 

Here the kids and Lesa are climbing around under the arches.

The boys loved how they were allowed to climb around and explore.

On our way walking back you can see both arches.

Here is Delicate arch, the one on Utah license plates.  The only way to get near it is to go on a hike the boys wouldn't have made as it is a little too long and hard for them at their age.

Here is Skyline arch.  The boys and Molly had fallen asleep so Lesa walked to this one alone. 

For our last arch of the day we went to Sand Dune arch.  We had heard it was fun for kids as under the arch it is just sand.  It would also be a place to hide from the hot sun.  But as we found out when we were leaving if the wind picks up you end up getting a lot of sand in your face!

There was this boulder near the start of the trail and the boys got distracted by it for awhile.

After we pulled the boys away from the boulder here is the entrance into the sand.

Working our way back to the arch.

Cute Molly in her camo hat!

This is looking back towards the entrance.

Here is Sand Dune arch.

Here we are looking out of the arch.

On our way out of the park we stopped to take a few more pictures.  Arches is one of my favorite places.  We will have to come back when the kids are older so we can go on some of the hikes.

For the first three nights we stayed at the Castle Valley Inn Bed and Breakfast in Castle Valley.  It is about 20 miles up the canyon from Moab.  It was the perfect place for us as having the separate cabin made it so we didn't have to worry about bothering anyone if the kids were bad.

We wanted a kitchen so we could make lunches for our adventures during the day and to have a couple of home cooked meals.

Bradley and Daniel loved their bunk beds.

Here you can see the cabin and some of the other buildings.

I guess Molly has watch the boys playing on the ipad enough to understand the basics!

Here is Bradley enjoying all the space at the cabin.  They loved that they could just run around and play.  The Inn has a lot of space for them to run and play.  The owners are a couple about Lesa and my age.  They have a 7 month year old boy and thought our kids were fun and friendly.  The boys loved that the owners had a dog and cat that liked to hang around our cabin.

They had a disk golf hole and we happened to still have some discs in the car so we got to get in some practice.

Here we are on Wednesday visiting Canyon Lands National Park.  As you can see Daniel got easily distracted with the sand.

Small break on the hike.

Here is Bradley taking in the view.  You can see Mesa arch in the distance.

Here is Daniel checking out the view.  Our advice for anyone if they take small children on this hike to stay close to them as there is no fence and a very far drop. 

There were some crazy people who actually walked on the arch even though it is over hanging a 500 foot cliff.  Bradley wanted to go up there as he saw others before us going up there but Lesa and I told him no way!  Lesa let him go up near the side for a picture and then we got out of there as the cliff was making Lesa and I very nervous. 

Here is the view looking under the arch.

We went to lunch and then drove around taking pictures from some of the view points.  This isn't a very good park for young kids, at least the Island in the Sky section as the hikes are too long.

Here are the boys watching a move as we drive.

I tried to get a picture of Molly but I had to hold the camera out without being able to look through the view finder so this is what you get of Molly traveling.

The boys were sad to leave the cabin but on Thursday we had a new place to go and explore.  Here we are Thursday afternoon at Goblin Valley.

What a crazy place and heaven on hearth for the boys!  They loved climbing around and sliding down the rocks.  Just don't have any thoughts on keeping kids clothes clean at this place!

Here is Daniel running around and exploring.

Here is a view of more of the Hoodoos.  I have been told this is a very cool place to play capture the flag at night!

I wouldn't want to visit here in the hotter months of the summer though as you would cook in here.

Sliding down the dirt.

It is kind of hard to see but Lesa is sitting on a rock jutting out and making a perfect seat.

Lesa stole the camera from me so I could end up in a few pictures.

Bradley kept finding places like this and calling them his houses.  He and Daniel would explore them until they know every spot to climb and slide.

Goblin Valley is a great place for kids to get their energy out.

We didn't want to have to bring a tent just for one night so we rented one of two yurts.  You have to book them in advance and I would recommend yurt #1.  It is set back from the road and perfect to give the kids room to explore.  Yurt #2 as you can see below is right up by the road.

Here is the view from our yurt's deck.

Inside you can sleep 5.  Two on the bottom bunk, one on top and two on the futon.

They had a fold out stand for luggage.  Bradley wore it like suspenders and of course Daniel wanted a try.  What was funny here is Daniel put it on and then told us he was sponge bob.

Here is a view of our yurt.  If you click on the picture to make it larger see if you can find Bradley off in the distance.  He is wearing his blue jacket.

Can you see him now that I zoomed in?

Here he is!  Lesa, Molly, Daniel and Bradley went exploring and found a trail.

Here is the view looking back.

Molly and Lesa exploring some more.

Here is the slide Bradley and Daniel liked to go down.

Daniel climbing up the slide.

Here are the boys asleep.  The yurts had a little bit of electricity powered by solar panels and batteries.  You have some light in there and a few outlets.  There is even a small gas fireplace you can set on a thermostat to keep it warm during the night.

In the morning Bradley and Daniel like playing with rocks.  They made a slide for them and was calling them their babies.

We spent some more time in the hoodoos area again before leaving.  The sun was out today and it was hotter today.

Friday we went to Cleveland and visited Grandpa Sherman.  That night we stayed in a hotel in Price and the boys were able to swim.  On Saturday we went back to the Castle playground.

We had lunch there and gave the boys a chance to play.

Even Molly got into the action as best she could.

So that pretty much sums up the vacation.  We drove home on Saturday and the kids proved once again that they are great travelers.  It was a very fun vacation and one we will do again for sure when they are older.  I would like to explore the areas more in the future.