Carlsen Family Weblog

For only being a six hour trip away, I'm shocked that our family has never been to Moab. I didn't want to go in the summer because it's the desert and HOT. Spring break is out because of tax season. Fall break we usually go somewhere else fun but this year we made it happen! it felt so good to be outside everyday and we lucked out on weather. It was 60/70 during the day and the chilly temperatures overnight just made us enjoy our nightly fire while camping and staying in our sleeping bags as long as possible in the morning.

We left home Sunday after church and enjoyed the drive through the beautiful Colorado mountains and even saw some fall colors on the western slopes. Our early snow/freeze seemed to kill most of the leaves before they even had a chance to turn or fall off the tree. We stayed in a hotel the first night since it would be late and all the available campsites were first come/first serve. Monday morning first thing we secured our campsite at a campground along the Colorado River just outside of town. It was a beautiful setting and conveniently situated for all of our sightseeing adventures. The only downside was the highway close by and even though it was right outside of town there was no Wifi or cell service (a blessing and a curse).

After we pitched our tent and a few things we headed over to Arches National Park a couple miles down the road. The line to get in was about a half hour long but once you got in the park it didn't seem too crowded. We secured our permits to hike the Fiery Furnace on Wednesday and then headed up to Delicate Arch, the iconic arch on Utah's car plates. We did the three mile round trip hike to get close up and once we got to the arch, there were a steady stream of tourists getting pictures underneath so it felt like we would never get a picture without anyone in it. Luckily some groups cleared out and we did and we tried to keep our distance out of respect for other photographers. It really is bigger that you would think.

I thought it would be funny to wear my CO gear in from of this UT iconic place.

We took a break for lunch and then napped in the car at the parking lot to landscape arch. This one is really big and you can only view it from a distance but it was cool to see, even if I had to drag the girls an extra quarter mile from their stopping place.

A full day walking and adventuring meant back to camp for dinner and relaxation. Since it's fall and sunset is earlier, I was actually able to stay awake to see the stars. It was just past a full moon so as soon as that came up it was goodbye to the stars but they were still very pretty. Also every night as we sat in our campsite, a river cruise chugged up the Colorado river and then came back down and on the way down a car followed along on the highway shining light up on the canyon wall. We couldn't figure out what was happening that first night and then we were pros keeping an eye out the other two nights.

Tuesday we rented a Jeep and went off-roading. Eric had so much fun driving and we just got some good tunes and enjoyed going slow and steady on some back roads over toe Deadhorse State Park and Canyonlands. On the way we stopped at Gemini land bridges where my anxiety of heights ramped up over the drop-offs and my girls wanting to go right up to the edge.

See? Legs dangling over an abyss. I just kept thinking, it will be my fault if one of my daughters dies.

This is Deadhorse State Park. It was pretty cool. We stopped and had lunch here and enjoyed the views.

Couldn't resist the dead tree picture.

Over in Canyonlands we saw more arches and vistas. Red rock with little vegetation does have its own beauty.

After fun turns and drop-offs we stopped to see the river a little closer up. I'm sure Rachel is saying, when I grow up I'm going to get a Jeep.

Lots of quality time in the car tuckered us out so back to the campground, dinner, waiting for the nightly river cruise, and fire before the next day's adventure.

Wednesday we went in to the Fiery Furnace. During the summer months they have a ranger led hike through the fins but in the off season you're on your own to try and find the markers that help you not get so lost. The girls had a great adventure climbing rocks to their hearts content and kind of making a "choose your own adventure" path. We did find all the markers but some we were either blind or it just took a while to see.

Taking a little rest before heading out. The sun felt good!

After eating lunch I wanted to explore a couple more arches before heading out of the park for good so we went over to Double Arch and The Windows. It was so cool to go right up in them for not much walking.

It was fun exploring Arches but my girls can only have so much fun in one day. Back to town then camp. Rachel insisted on playing the badly out of tune piano they had along main street.

Thursday we saved our paid excursion for last. Also, the tour guide kind of lost our reservation so when I had phone service the day before I was able to finalize plans. Our rappelling fun didn't start until late afternoon so we took our time taking down camp (waiting for the sun to come out and warm us up) and then we went for an early lunch at Milt's burger and then hiked up Mills Creek. We crossed the stream five or so times and got our shoes a little wet but it was fun and very pretty/lush up to the falls. I can see how this would make a good swimming hole in the summer. Too cold to venture in for us.

For our rappelling adventure we hiked in a mile or so to Ephedra's Grotto and took turns rappelling down about 100 feet. Evelyn was nervous for the first one but went down like a champ. With a rope attached, my fear of heights abated a little bit. You're really just walking down a cliff.

Rachel was the guinea pig who really wanted to go first.

On the second rappel, you free rappel about halfway down which was cool. There was a spring of potable water

Our hike out was gorgeous as the sun was setting and we followed a creek down. Some of the leaves were changing colors and these rock formations reminded me of Jabba the Hut's palace in Star Wars.

The sun set while we hiked out and at the other end the van was not there to pick us up. Luckily one person in our group had cell service so we were able to call for a ride. We actually ended up about a mile or two up the highway from where our campsite had been. A fun adventure for sure. We went out for dinner and settled in to our hotel room for the last night. Rachel and Evelyn had fun at the pool and man was everything packed. We timed things just right as all Utah schools got out for a long week right as we were leaving town.

Thank you Moab and surrounding areas for a very memorable fall break!

Every year it seems like my girls become more and more photogenic and beautiful while I just start to look older. Here are some of our favorites.

Evelyn, now 11! She loves playing with her legos, fairy garden, and watching videos on her Kindle. She picked up the clarinet this year in middle school and is doing really well with that and still loves playing soccer but also tried track this fall.

Rachel (14 in a couple weeks) loves playing sudoku on her phone (she thinks she's so sneaky) and plays the trumpet and piano. It's fun to listen to all the music in our house. She still plays soccer and also enjoyed middle school track and the hurdles this fall.

Elizabeth (just about 16 - AAAH!) is truly rocking high school! She enjoyed working as a lifeguard this summer and making some moolah and did cross country this fall. It's fun to see her grow her circle of friends and try new things.