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.