Rush to the Middle: Spring Break!

In April, we decided to take a quick spring break trip with my parents. We headed south, to visit Canyonlands and Arches National Parks and Dead Horse Point State Park. We stayed in Green River, UT, in a lovely little Super 8 with a pool, free breakfast, and refrigerators in the rooms--the trifecta. With Green River as our base, we visited Dead Horse and the Islands in the Sky region of Canyonlands one day, Arches the next, and the Needles region on Canyonlands and a bit of Moab the last day. The weather was perfect, often overcast but not raining much at all, and not too hot, particularly on the day we hiked up to Delicate Arch, a strenuous hike over slick rock we made very early in the morning to beat the crowds and the sun. We brought picnic supplies for lunch every day and had dinner in Green River most evenings, except for one stop at a diner in Moab. The boys had a good time hiking around as long as we didn't call it hiking, though the way up to Delicate Arch was a challenge for them, and they were quite terrified of the steep approach to the arch itself. But we were mindful of our group and only attempted short hikes rated appropriate for families all the rest of the time, which turned out to be exactly right for us. The boys completed the junior ranger activities at both national parks, earning badges after they said an oath with a park ranger at each park: very official! And we ended our trip with the consummate vacation activity

At a rest stop before Green River, after a drive in which we played I Spy
and Going Across the Plains, long-time family travel staples, and answered
kid trivia questions out of a book Grandest brought along.

Looking out over Dead Horse Point.

An Island in the Sky.

And another!

Learning about cairn trail makers.

Still more islands.

So many islands!

The famous Delicate Arch after our long hike up.

Here is the whole family at Delicate Arch...but you'll just have to trust me
on that, since we missed the arch in this shot!

Me and my dad.

Another arch at Arches.

Elsewhere in Arches as the temperature rose.

In front of Newspaper Rock on the way to Needles.

Look at all the petroglyphs!

On top of a mushroom formations in Needles.

At our favorite "restaurant" in Green River, La Pasadita, a food truck outside
a defunct gas station, serving the best Mexican food we have had in ages!