Gotta See It To Believe It

Moab, Utah

What a place.

Doug and the boys have been coming here for years.

They come every May

and ride Slick Rock

and Porcupine Rim 

and rough it at night.

I was fine with staying in a condo

with showers and a 

king size bed.

On Sunday we took advantage of the grill

and Doug cooked up some chicken

for our Easter dinner.

Someday I might be interested in camping

while we visit Moab.

But I sure was glad to be in a house

when I heard the coyotes howling

during the night!

Here's the thing:

I could show you one picture a day

for the next 239 days

(because that's how many Moab pictures I have--and I haven't even looked through Doug's pictures...)

but I think that might be overkill.

It is all so incredible.

These are real, straight-out-of-the-camera, colors.

The stories are fascinating.

This is Landscape Arch.

It is over a football field in length.

In 1991 a HUGE chunk of it fell off

and some tourists actually had their video camera going

and caught the whole thing on film.

Now, at the thinnest part, it is only 6 feet thick.

They say that if you come to Arches National Park

be sure to hike up to Landscape Arch

because they don't know how much longer

it will be there.

wow.

Saturday morning we drove the Manti-LaSal loop

up through the mountains

where there is still plenty of snow.

How crazy is this to be up in the mountains with snow

and be able to look out over the red rocks?

Abbie convinced us to stop at the Sand Dune Arch

before we left for our 4 hour drive home.

It was an easy walk to the arch

and only supposed to take 15 minutes.

We ended up being there for over an hour.

Shoes off. Toes in the sand.

Absolutely beautiful.

We talked with a photographer

who lives in Yellowstone.

He works as a guide there.

He was blown away with what he was seeing 

at Arches and was planning on spending

10 days there, taking pictures.

That says something, for a

Yellowstonian

to be so amazed at Arches.

One last shot of 

Delicate Arch

with Jake, Abbie and their friends at the base,

keeping their balance so they don't tumble off

either side and into the natural-made amphitheaters below.

Doug and the boys will go back next month

fat tires and water bottles in hand.