Vacation, the drive up

We began our vacation to Utah this year by taking our time driving up.  We took two days, and instead of heading straight up (relatively speaking), we took a more meandering route.  After Flagstaff, we headed NE towards Monument Valley.  We stopped for lunch and a driving tour of the valley, which had some very rough road at points.

After Monument Valley, we headed north into Utah.  On our way to Moab, we decided to drive straight up a cliff.  No the road does not turn, it zig-zags its way up that rather sheer cliff face.

there's the road

We camped that night, this time remembering the tent!  We took the seats out and the kids slept on the floor of the van, in their sleeping bags too.  Maddie would have none of that, and spent the night either sleeping with Eric on one of the van seats reclined outside, or snuggled next to me.  Still, a better night sleep than the last camping trip :)

 We headed straight over to Moab (under an hour away) for breakfast and hikes.  We figured that if the kids could hike, than so could I with my knee.  I loved every minute of it, we managed to get so much in before it really got hot.

everyone got to hike further up into Double Arch

but not me, I kept an eye on our water.

For you Julie, it was AWESOME!!

After three short hikes it was hot, and my knee was done.  So after a brief stop at the visitors' center, we bid farewell to Arches National Park, and headed on up to Huntsville.  We made it there by dinner, and were we ever glad to be out of the car.