The Beckhams Go West {Day 10}

In July of 2015 we set out on a grand vacation through the southwest. We traveled for 21 days and over 6,000 miles, visiting 5 states and 9 National Parks. We explored new places and met up with old friends. Overall, it was an amazing journey and everyone learned so much. I highly recommend the Foder's guide to National Parks of the West, we used it when planning our trip and it was a great resource. You can see all my posts about the trip by clicking here.

Day 10 - Arches National Park Fiery Furnace Hike

Day 10, also known as the day we all almost died. Not really, but kind of. I had reserved us a spot on a Ranger led Fiery Furnace hike months before our vacation. The spots are very limited and fill up fast. The recommended minimum age for the hike is 5 years old. I would say that is should probably just be a little bit older. This was a tough hike. You have to jump over ravines, wedge your body in spots to get to another location, climb over cliffs… you get the idea. 

This is my favorite picture from our entire vacation. The is Cole coming through squeeze through arch.

This gives you an idea of the types of obstacles the kids had to master. There were some that were much more difficult, but I couldn't take pictures because I was trying to help them not die.

Kiley did amazing with all the technical requirements. The only probably we ran into was that sometimes her legs were too short.

At the very end you come into a secret area where there is an arch directly above you. Appropriately named, Surprise Arch. Overall, if I had to do it all over again I would absolutely take everyone on the hike. My only real complaint is that the Ranger that was leading it was going so fast that we hardly had time to rest. The technical aspect of it wasn't too difficult. AND even though BOTH kids ended up crying at some point on this hike BOTH of them say that this was their favorite part of our entire vacation. So I guess it couldn't have been that bad.

The Beckhams Go West {Day 9}

In July of 2015 we set out on a grand vacation through the southwest. We traveled for 21 days and over 6,000 miles, visiting 5 states and 9 National Parks. We explored new places and met up with old friends. Overall, it was an amazing journey and everyone learned so much. I highly recommend the Foder's guide to National Parks of the West, we used it when planning our trip and it was a great resource. You can see all my posts about the trip by clicking here.

Day 9 - Exploring Moab & A Boat Ride

On Day 9 we decided to spend some time leisurely exploring Moab. This was the first real souvenir and window shopping we had done since we started our trip. We had passed this real life Tow-Mater truck near hotel and the kids wanted to stop for a picture. The next order of business was the Rock Shop. 

We wandered around a little more and bought a few t-shirts and loitered in a bookstore before grabbing some lunch. After lunch we headed over to Canyonlands by Night and Day for our boat tour. The boat tour took us up the Colorado River where we got to see arches, petroglyphs and lots of other fun landmarks. Our guide was great and very knowledgeable. 

The Beckhams Go West {Day 8}

In July of 2015 we set out on a grand vacation through the southwest. We traveled for 21 days and over 6,000 miles, visiting 5 states and 9 National Parks. We explored new places and met up with old friends. Overall, it was an amazing journey and everyone learned so much. I highly recommend the Foder's guide to National Parks of the West, we used it when planning our trip and it was a great resource. You can see all my posts about the trip by clicking here.

Day 8 - Arches National Park

Day 8 was actually overcast and surprisingly cool when we woke up. Someone told us it was the coolest day in July that Moab had seen in the last 20 years. This was awesome for us because I was worried about we were going to be hot. We began our day by heading up to Landscape Arch. The hike was great, nice and cool.

After Landscape Arch, we headed over to the Delicate Arch viewpoint. I had originally planned for us to hike to Delicate, but since we had booked a Fiery Furnace hike for our last day I didn't want to overdo it. After the Delicate Arch viewpoint we found a place to eat a little lunch.

Our after lunch adventure was my favorite for the day. We hiked up to Double Arch where you can climb around under the arch and explore a little in the rocks. The kids really enjoyed this one and the fact that there is quiet a bit of shade under the Arch helped. The clouds had cleared by this point and it was starting to get hot.

On our way back down to the Visitor Center we stopped at Balancing Rock because Cole was dying to take this picture. Then it was time for another Junior Ranger badge and back to the hotel for some swimming. While in Moab we stayed at the Gonzo Inn. My friend Andy recommend it and it was AMAZING. We had a suite so the kids had their own room and we had a small kitchen and living room area. Since this stay was half way through our traveling to the parks it was a nice break to not be on top of each other in a small hotel room.