It happened again...

Before we left Natural Bridges National Park we stopped at a campround and registered for a site. We put our receipt on the poll and left because it was pouring. We figured we would set up our tent when we got back. Then we drove about 20 or so miles away to Blanding to get groceries. We also stopped at a hardware store to get a tarp and then to the visitor's center. Then we traveled back to the campground. Just as we were getting closer to our site Quent was like, "Oh no! Not again!" And there, at OUR campsite, someone had their RV truck and a tent set up. *scowl* Quent got out, talked to the campers who claimed, "We didn't think anyone was coming to this site because there wasn't a tent, blah, blah, blah..." It all worked out though and they were super super nice people. The campers next to the site weren't using their tent pad, so we set up our tent there and we were able to use the picnic table on OUR site. It makes us laugh knowing that this happened to us twice. (If you are reading this and I haven't posted about Sedona yet...stay tuned)


Here's the cook!

What does one eat while camping? Spaghetti! And...

Green beans! Ha!

After dinner we drove around the park. It was getting dark fast, so we didn't get to see too much. We stood at this overlook and I couldn't see the natural bridge at first. How about you? Can you see it?

Leaving Camp

Our tent, before packing it up. It was a beautiful morning! It rained just a little bit during the night. We were so glad to see sunshine!

We didn't really need the tarp, but we were ready just in case.

Quent laughing. I can't remember the particulars of what was so funny, but I have a few guesses.

A Trail of Two Bridges

There is a 2-mile trail that goes from one natural bridge to another. This was the beginning of our quest.

This picture makes me laugh.

Do you see the bridge?

Ok, I admit, this kinda scared me. I'm definitely not a mountain climber. It was bad enough with a ladder. It wasn't that bad though. Ha!

Bridge #1

Quent, the civil engineer loves bridges...peace to the world!

I never ever want to be here during a flash flood.

We never found out what these were, but we kept on seeing them on the trail. So pretty!

Pueblo

Quent crossed over a stream, up the rock and checked out the native ruins. He tried to come back another way, but he said that it was too scary, so he came back the same way.

This sandstone was really soft and you could break parts off of it easily...not that I tried doing that or anything.

The end of the bridges

I remember when we were walking I kept on wondering when we would see the second natural bridge. It was only a couple of miles of walking, but we kept on stopping to take pictures, play in the water, eat, etc.

Here is that bridge! It was HUGE! Can you spot me?

Do you see Quent? "Don't do it, Quent!"

Newspaper Rock

This was really neat! Back in the day the natives carved into this rock. It's one of those things you have to see in person to get the full effect.

Quent loves taking pictures of me coming out of outhouses. A-hem...

Canyon Lands

Our next stop was Canyon Lands. The guy at the visitor's center said that it was the most people they've had in a long time. It was Memorial Weekend. We realized at this point that we wouldn't be able to find a campsite in the park, so we ended up finding a BLM site down the road more, which worked out perfect.

The campsite. Quent is grilling brats.

Arches National Park

Arches! Super neat place. Wish we would have spent more time and did more hiking, but it was HOT in the sun!


Oh yeah! I wish we saw more of this in Wrangell.

Hold it up, Quent!

This is as close as we got to Delicate Arch. Some of us (cough) weren't feeling up to hiking 3 miles to view an arch and then to turn back and walk another 3 miles. Maybe someday...

Leaving Moab

Moab is such a neat place! I wish we could have spent more time there. There's so much recreational stuff to do. I could spend a few days there, for sure!


A lizard we saw just before leaving Arches National Park.

A tourist attraction that didn't attract us.

I can't say enough about the abundance of awesome cloud formations we saw on this trip! This was a storm that looked like was headed toward our campsite, but it never actually came. I think it just missed us and we only ended up with a few sprinkles.

Writing in my dad's birthday card.

Nature Walk

After dinner we took a walk around the nature trail right next to our campground. There was an interpretive pamphlet, so we learned about some of the plants and trees along the trail. It's not something I'm normally into, but we enjoyed it. Then Quent would test me to see if I would remember what different plants were called. Let's just say we both had short-term memories that evening. Ha!