On the way to Moab, we stopped at Fisher Towers to get out and look and let N2 have their first hiking/climbing experience. They also had their first exposure to sandstone and grinding rocks together. I think this was the start of them being filthy and sandy the entire trip! I know their socks will never be the same.
Unfortunately the sun was not in a good position for me to get pictures of Fisher Towers but I could other good pictures! (Well actually the third picture is of Fisher Towers so the sun must have gone behind a cloud).
When we got to Arches we stopped at the visitor's center to find out about several things and to get junior ranger books. They had metal statues of animals out front and N2 thought these were great fun! Natalie would kiss the lizard good bye and said "Bye! I love you!" to it almost every time we stopped by.
We arrived in Arches just in time for lunch. We ate at a picnic site that overlooked Balanced Rock. If you asked Natalie what she liked best about Arches she said Balanced Rock but that was only until she saw Landscape Arch. Every time we would pass it, she would call out "Balanced Rock!"
After lunch we went to Double Arch and the Parade of Elephants. N2 climbed all the way up to the arch with Brian's help! Brian would take one part ways up and then have them sit and wait while he got the other one up. I did not go all the way up-I was too concerned with my camera!
We then headed over to see the Windows and Turret Arch. Here's our hiking troupe.
While we were hiking we found cubby holes for the kids to climb in.
There were 2 more arches that we saw while we were hiking to the Windows. Grandpa went to the wall where the arch of the right is to make sure he could see sky. I think he said he had to lean against the wall to see any sky.
Here are the Windows from behind Turret Arch.
N2 climbed into the first one and we just walked over to see the second one.
While we were walking to Turret Arch Noah fell and skinned his knee so I had to walk back to the car with him (well carry him part way) and get a bandaid (I'm not sure if we put bandaids in Brian's backpack or not after that but we should have!) so Brian, Natalie, Grandma and Grandpa walked over to the arch. Natalie and Brian spent quite a bit of time exploring on the other side of Turret Arch. By the time Noah and I got over there, everyone was heading back. We convinced Brian, Natalie and Grandpa to go exploring again.
Here's a neat view of one of the windows from behind Turret Arch.
It was really fun for the kids to explore back here. There was a lower pit with sides that we walked along and could climb up to the top of the sides to get views of other parts of the park. Here is where Natalie tore a seam in her pants. There was a lot of butt scooting that they did. That was about the end of day one in Arches. I'm not sure I'll have part 2 up tomorrow since this post took me the majority of the day as I'm still sorting through over 900 pictures (I've already deleted over 400 pictures)!
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