We could hear them, and Randy even made bird calls and talked to some of them (!), but we didn’t see very many that Tyler could photograph.
We got back to where we were going to stay and put our things in our unit (Ingrid and family would also stay there),
and let Tyler put his things in his unit (where Heidi, Jordan, Dylan and Callie would also stay). Heidi, Jordan and Dylan arrived (Heidi and Jordan brought their dog, Yaegar, so they had to set up his kennel in their bedroom and Callie had to work, so she drove down the next day) and we went and grabbed something to eat.
After dinner, Ingrid, Jeff, Kalvin, Talynn, Artisan, Draven, Navia and their 3 dogs (Rusty, Ginger,and Ruby) had arrived and they set up their dogs’ kennel in their room.
We went over to the swimming pool and swam for a couple of hours.
Some of the guys played basketball and some sat in the hot tub for awhile.
It was refreshing and felt good. Then, we all went back to our various units for the night.
Meanwhile, Jesse, Amanda, Quinn and their 2 dogs (Mr. Dudes and Lil Brudder) had left from Austin, Texas and were going to meet us in Moab. Jesse was driving a Durango and was pulling their refurbished 1973 Airstream Argosy (which is real nice inside). They ended up having a LOT of trouble with the Durango. They stopped in Lubbock one night, and then stopped the next night in Albuquerque. After several harrowing days, they gave up trying to make it to Moab and they are still in Albuquerque as of this writing. Jesse has written day-by-day posts telling how it is funny/sad - you can see them if you’re his friend on Facebook.
On Sunday, we were up early, so we decided to attend one of the 9am Sacrament Meetings (rather than wait until 11am). Tyler, Dylan, and Ingrid’s family joined us. After lunch we decided to split up and Tyler, Heidi, Jordan and Dylan went to Canyonlands where they saw a lot of land forms including Corona Arch, Ruby Arch and the Balancing Rock.
Randy, Ingrid, Jeff, kids and I went to see some of the dinosaur imprints . . .
and to a wonderful dinosaur park. There was a dinosaur head that the kids could crawl into, a place where they could dig for dinosaur bones, a playground (with dinosaur theme, obviously), dinosaurs they could sit on, etc.
There was a walk that had models of dinosaurs from different eras and in some of the areas you could take pictures by them.
They had a 10 minute movie about dinosaurs and there was also an aquarium - we couldn’t go into these because there was some kind of power surge, so no one was allowed in them.
We all met back at one of the condo’s and Dylan and Callie (she had arrived by then) cooked hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner. Then we all went to Arches National Park and hiked up to see Delicate Arch. It was only about 1.6 miles to the arch, but it was mostly uphill. I am SO out of shape!! Randy and I were the last 2 of our party to get up there, but we did it! It was definitely worth it. The view was spectacular.
It started turning dark by the time we had started descending and was totally dark by the time we reached the cars.
Once again, Randy and I were the last ones back and Jordan and Heidi were wonderful to walk with us and use their flashlights on their phones. Tyler was great to walk with Kalvin and Talynn on the way down.
We had cake for dessert to celebrate Jesse’s birthday, and sang to him and sent it in a message. I had bought one where the frosting had melted because it sat in a hot car for too long (but tasted good) and Callie brought part of a chocolate cake that was left over from a wedding that she had made dessert for - it was also very tasty.
We took Ingrid and Jeff’s kids back to our condo and they fell alseep quickly. I stayed there and everyone else went to the other condo and sat in the private hot tub for awhile.
Monday morning was spent showering, cleaning the condo, packing the vehicles, etc so we could check out. We all split up - Jeff, Ingrid, kids and dogs left and stopped by Negro Bill Canyon for a family hike with their dogs.
Heidi and Jordan went to Dead Horse Point with their dog. They actually saw us going into the canyon as they were coming out.
Tyler, Dylan, Callie, Randy and I grabbed a bite to eat, then Dylan and Callie left us. They were going shopping, fishing, etc, and spending another night camping there.
Tyler, Randy and I went to Dead Horse Point and looked at the view from there. It’s like a mini-Grand Canyon.
Then, we hit the road for home. We got back in time to get something to eat and then hit the sack. I have been really tired today - it’s amazing how little vacations can make me feel like I need a vacation!!
