Day 6 - Moab/Arches National Park
Did you ever have a time when you didn't know you really wanted something until you actually experienced it? Well, I think that was the consensus for our group on this day.
We got up early and had breakfast at the restaurant at the Red Cliffs Lodge. It was served buffet style, and there was a good selection of food options. I mistakenly set myself up for round 2 of digestive issues.
After eating we jumped on the bus and headed out. We picked up Preston, our step-on guide, along the way. Casey set us up for the worst "prank" on Preston. Yeah, like he hadn't been through that joke a bunch of times prior. Preston was awesome. He had so much knowledge, told us a funny story about the filming of Thelma and Louise, and made sure we had plenty of water to drink. Loved his sense of humor!
Once we got to Arches National Park, our group split. The grandparents and the mother from the duo stayed on the bus with Preston, and they did a tour through the park. The rest of us went with Casey to hike to Delicate Arch. Now I was getting excited because it was at this point I realized how much I wanted to do this. Time for me to share another personal story. Fifteen months prior to this trip I was the heaviest weight I had ever been in my life (spent most of my life overweight/obese). I worked with a dietician and stepped up my workouts and lost over 120 lbs. in a year. I was in good physical shape now, and I was ready for this hike.
We made it up the first incline, and my body just said No. I could not believe it was happening. The effect of breakfast plus the sudden change in temperature from an air-conditioned bus to the warm temperature outside got to me. I stopped and told my husband I had to go back to use the restroom (aka long drop--a fancy brick outhouse). Casey got concerned that I needed medical attention, but I reassured her this was a normal thing for me. My husband wanted to go with me, and I told him that he had to keep going for both of us. I headed back down the path to wait on the long line for the restroom (boy, that was brutal) while they began their ascent.
When I finally finished, I thought about how much I wanted to do this hike. Then I got mad. And that drove me to do the hike on my own. I had a bottle of water in each hand and took off. I asked a few people on the path whether there was more than one way to come back down because I didn't want to miss my group in case they finished before I met up with them. I kept moving forward. I took one quick break to have some water, I followed a family on the path that had us going the wrong way (had to climb down rocks to get back on path), and I kept going. The path is pretty well defined, and there are signs along the way so you really cannot get lost.
When I reached the top and came around the bend, there was my group! I noticed my husband first because he was wearing his bright blue DVC hat. I casually walked up and surprised them. Casey asked me if I had run uphill because they had only arrived there shortly before I did. Before I got there, she had them pose for some pictures. She had my husband try and imitate the arch (I thought he was doing the downward dog pose):
Your determined hiker:
Both of us under the Delicate Arch. (Note that there is a drop off on your right as you are walking to stand under the arch--it's a bowl formation. My husband, the one afraid of heights, was fine with this.)
We hiked back as a group to meet up with the grandparents, the mother, Preston, and Courtney. There is a small path that leads to some Native carvings:
Once back on the bus, we headed to the place where we would have lunch and take a jet boat ride. Neither of us can recall the name of the place, but I believe there was also a small hotel on the premises.
Casey told us that this place served the best French fries and cookies. We'll give her a half point for that statement. Those fries were the best we've ever had, but the cookies were not. They were GOOD, but not the BEST.
After lunch we headed out the back of the restaurant to the dock where we were met by Andrew (different than Grand Canyon Andrew). He was our jet boat captain, and he had as much of a warped sense of humor as we do. The guy played the theme to Deliverance as we were riding along. His narration of the area was factual, but his sense of humor was incorporated as needed. Here are some of the photos from that ride:
(More arches from the boat)
This was not the end of our day. Casey had a surprise for us after our jet boat ride. She had given a couple of us a heads up right after our Delicate Arch hike. The male triplet had been asking about dinosaurs pretty much from the start of the adventure, and he was about to get a treat.