Arches here we come...but first we need gas.
So, lucky for us upon leaving Canyonlands National Park there was a gas station almost across the street because in all of our excitement to getting to our first park, we forgot to stop at a station in Moab. The gas was expensive so I didn't fill up, but as luck would have it, it was also a campground.
Still...we had hoped to camp in the park so, we headed off to Arches to see if we could nab a spot. We drove a mere 5 miles to the park and the entrance booth read..."Campgrounds Full".
Shoot, well I still needed to get my patch from the visitor's center and we thought we would ask about a cancellation. Well, we forgot there was a time change for us in Utah (Arizona never changes time, we're just weird like that, unless you're on the Navajo Nation reservation, they change time. So, ya, that's not confusing!) Anyway, while Ashley asked the rangers about camping, I bought my patch and then the announcement came on saying the visitor's center was closing.
It was 4:00 p.m. and still no place to stay.
The ranger gave Ashley some suggestions, but we decided to head back to the gas station/campground first as it was close. Whew! They had room! We decide to set up our tent and sleeping bags right away so we could had back to Arches as we had a few hours of sunlight.
Arches National Park is amazingly beautiful...seriously. We felt like we were on the Cars ride at Disneyland. It is fantastic!
We decided on two stops. The first one was at Balanced Rock.
Then, stop number #2 was a hike to Delicate Arch. It was a mile and a half one way and the trail head sign read, "Strenuous". It was quite the hike as the whole way there was up, but the view at the end was awesome and totally worth it!
Here are the photos (I have a video on my phone that I will try to upload later).
After a hike like that we were hungry! So, we headed into town and ate at Pizza Jay's which was quite yummy. Then, we headed back to the campground and off to bed. We would tackle more of Arches in the morning!