Road Trip 2009 - Day 1

My husband is a helicopter pilot. We live in Idaho and his job is in Louisiana. Every 2 weeks, he leaves us and goes and flies in the Gulf of Mexico for 2 weeks. His job is to transport the "roughnecks" to and from the oil platforms in the Gulf. 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. He usually flies back and forth when he goes, but he has also made the 2,200 mile drive (one way) several times. Each time he has driven it, he tells us that we need to make that drive with him to see the beautiful sights. Plus, he wanted to show us where he works in Louisiana. I'm an Idaho girl, born and raised. I've been to the surrounding states, and even to a few foreign countries. But I've never toured America. And I've always wanted to. So, we decided to take a family trip and see some places that we've never seen before. We both had 2 weeks vacation and planned a tentative road trip. But nothing was set in stone. We wanted it to be enjoyable and relaxed and not be rushed to get somewhere at a certain time. We made a plan, but took it one day at a time. The most important thing was that we were going to tour America as a family and enjoy our time together doing it. So, on July 9th, at 11:00 pm, we set off on our adventure. We left at night so we would be near Moab, Utah during the daylight. Arches National Park is right before you get to Moab and he talked and talked about how much we needed to see it. Flyboy knew how long it would take to get to certain places. And he planned it perfectly. The crack of dawn we were there.

About 8:30 am, maybe 10 miles away from Arches Park. We stopped at a rest stop so we could brush our teeth, change our clothes (us girls slept all night while Flyboy drove) and have a bite to eat.

Driving into the park. I've never seen anything like it. It was so beautiful. The colors and the texture of the sandstone was nothing I've ever seen before. And they were so huge!

Right inside the park entrance was a "lookout" area. It had a trail you could walk so we decided to do that and get right up close and personal with these magnificant rocks.

At the top of the trail. It took about an hour and a half to walk it. Of course we had to stop and look at everything. Our family loves geology and trying to figure out how the earth was made and what was going on when the mountains and rocks were created. It's all very fascinating.

Flyboy and I before our walk. Beautiful scenery.

On the path through the canyon.

Some of the different textures.

Emily

Jessica

Sarabeth

Flyboy and the girls.

I couldn't get over how huge these formations were.

Balanced rock.

I believe this was Devils Garden.

What the park is named for. There are "arches" all over the park.

The famous Delicate Arch

Close up of Delicate Arch.

We spent about 3 hours touring the park and didn't even see half of it. There was so much to see, but we were just passing through. It was definitely worth the trip. If you're ever in the area, it is worth the stop.

We headed south toward Albequerque. That's where we stayed for the night. On our way, we passed through part of Arizona and drove by Shiprock. It was huge, but this is as close as we got to it. A storm was brewing which is why it's so hazy.

Perfect ending to a perfect day. I love beautiful sunsets.

Same sunset about 2 minutes later. It was magnificant to drive into. Our day one tally: Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Total miles logged for the day.....996. Flyboy drove that with no sleep. He is such a trooper.