We'll always have Moab...

Sunday morning we decided to go out to breakfast.  We weighed our options, read the reviews, and decided to go to the Jailhouse Cafe.  Just a few comments on this place.  First of all, do not go here if you are at all in a hurry, or are planning to do anything else for the rest of the morning.  This place is slooooooooow.  The food is ok, the bacon was extremely good, but we unfortunately hadn't planned for a two and half hour 'lunch' because that is what time it was when we finished.

On our way out of town, we went into Arches and drove to the Windows and Turret Arch.  They have just a short hike around them, so it didn't take long.  We saw a guy who had a dog in a stroller made specifically for carrying small animals. Is he not well? Nope, the owner carries him everywhere. That is pretty dang cool.

Afterward, we made the drive home and tiny guy cried from the parking lot at Windows all the way to Green River.  After some lunch, we continued on our way.  Back in Salt Lake, we showed our friends around the house and then headed to Tsunami for sushi before their flight out of town.

Here is a slideshow of our favorite pictures. Enjoy!

Hiking we wil go!

Saturday morning, we opted for a quick breakfast at the hotel's continental breakfast. It was decent, as expected, a waffle maker and some cereal. Then we headed out to meet our friends to hike Delicate Arch.

It was less windy in the morning, so we decided to give it a try, see how the tiny guy did. When we got to the parking lot, it was completely overfull. A guy cleaning trash cans told us we could park on the road 100 yards away. We headed up and parked, but then noticed "no parking" faintly written on the side. By the time we were ready to go, there were another dozen cars parked with us. Walking toward the parking lot, we noticed newer posts saying "no parking", so we just assumed the writing on the road was old and decrepit.

Onward we hiked. The trail is not too difficult, but is very exposed (no shade). We all had hats and sunscreen, and it wasn't all that hot out yet. The breeze was cooling, so we didn't mind it so much.Tiny guy was doing very well, much better than the day before. When we reached the arch, there were boatloads of people, as expected. We spent a while at the arch, taking pictures, eating snacks, and then headed back down the trail. Not too far down, tiny guy fell asleep in the backpack and drifted in and out of sleep for the rest of the hike down.

We headed back to town and ate lunch at the Moab Diner. We all laughed at all the items in the menu that were "smothered" in their "famous green chili". We decided to order a bowl of this famous green chili so that we could smother our respective dishes, but alas, they forgot the green chili. We will never know if it is famous.

After lunch, we walked around town, checking out the souvenir shops and art galleries. We picked up some delicious cupcakes from a ice cream shop. Sadly, Misty only picked up one peanut butter cupcake. We could have eaten several! The ice cream at the shop was pretty good too. Cookies and cream for Misty and mint chip for me. The best thing about the shop was the one of the employees had her baby with her, in a backpack!

From here we split up with our friends. They were going to head back to Delicate Arch for some sunset shots and Misty and I drove out to Dead Horse Point State Park and Canyonlands National Park with tiny guy. Amazingly, he slept through both parks. When we stopped at viewpoints, I simply carried him in the carseat. The views from Dead Horse Point and the Green River Overlook are amazing. Aroon and Aarthi had nice views at Delicate Arch, but Aroon having misplaced his tripod, so didn't have much luck with the camera. It took them quite a while to make it down the trail in the dark (with lights of course). Since dinner places were closing, we ordered some pizza from across the street at Paradox Pizza just before they closed. By the time it was ready and picked up, Aroon and Aarthi were pulling into town, so they joined us at our room for pizza and salads.

Moab or Bust

Friday morning, we packed up the tiny guy, his gear, our stuff and headed out on the road a little before noon.  Along the drive, I recognized many cities and landmarks from my past trips to Moab, but it had been a long time, and it was surprising to see what had changed.  There are now giant windmills at the base of Spanish Fork Canyon.  The classic Arby's where I ate so many lunches in Wellington is now gone.

We stopped about halfway, around Wellington, to eat a late lunch.  Frankie had slept pretty much the entire way by this point.  Then we continued on to Moab.  Frankie slept the rest of the way!

After checking at our hotel, we headed out to Arches National Park to meet our friends Aroon and Aarthi at the visitor center.  From here, we drove to Balanced Rock and combined cars to head toward the northwest corner of the park.  We ended up hiking all the way to Landscape Arch in quite a bit of wind.  There's a lot of sand on this trail, and Frankie didn't care for the blowing sand.  He doesn't like to keep his sunglasses on, so it's hard to protect him from the wind.  Misty forgot to put her hiking shoes on and had hiked the entire way in her sandals.  At this point we weren't so sure about going to Delicate Arch in the morning.

Upon returning to Balanced Rock to reclaim our friend's vehicle, we notice the full "super" moon was out and in great view behind Balanced Rock.  Aroon got out his tripod and I snapped some hand held shots. It was at this point that Aroon somehow 'lost' his tripod. We have come to the conclusion that he accidentally put his tripod in someone's car!

After sunset, we drove back to Moab and ate dinner at Pasta Jays.  Dinner was tasty. Misty had the 'Baked Lorenzo,' linguine baked in a tomato cream sauce with crumbled sausage, topped with freshly grated parmigiano cheese. Yum!

We found that Frankie had admirers at the nearby tables.  One lady, as we were getting ready to leave, stopped us and said something like, "You probably wonder whether your baby is really cute, or if it's just your parental bias... well let me tell you, your baby is *really* cute!"

After dinner we headed back to the Moab Valley Inn for a much needed night of rest. For dessert we took a piece of the 'Lemon Berry Cake' to the hotel and it was light and perfectly sweet. It was such a big piece, it took us two nights to finish it!

Montana, Final: Heading South

Sadly, all good things must end. The family visit was refreshing. The trip south, home, was not as quiet as the trip north. Tiny had a tough last hour of the drive. But considering the amount of time he did well, we feel the trip a success.

Leaving Butte I am always sad. It seems stuck. Never changing. Everything is right where I left it. Someone should dust it off and shake it up a bit. I appreciate the things of my past but I wish for the people and town, a happier existence.

Next up, we have an exciting trip to MOAB! We met up with Aroon and Aarthi and enjoyed the sites and treats of the small desert town. I'm excited to say that it being only 4.5 hours away means we will visit more often!