Winter Break 2016 - Utah, Arizona

Going on vacations is fun but not so easy. It involves a lot of planning. Which places to visit, things to do at those places, clothes to be packed and snacks to carry in addition to flight and hotel booking and ofcorse looking for good deals on them. We also want to optimize the time we have at each place and make the most of our trip as we may not return to that area again.
And with all this planning we started our trip to Utah. This trip was to visit the Arches and Canyon lands National Parks.

Day 1 - Dec 18: We left Houston in the wee hours of the morning. A couple of flights later we were in frigid Salt Lake City. Definitely frigid for us since we were coming from almost tropical like climate of Houston. After picking up our rental car we started driving to Antelope Island State Park. On the way we had a quick Subway lunch. Antelope Island is an island in the Great Salt Lake an hour's drive from Salt Lake City. It is known for its scenic natural beauty and wildlife. The view of the island covered in brown grass and the frozen lake was surreal. We saw heards of Bison, several Mule Deer and a bird which I have not seen before - Magpie. After spending some time by the lake and examining the slabs of ice by the beach we were on our way back to SLC. Our time in SLC was short and we wanted to see the Temple Square in downtown. Temple square is the Mormon Church complex and the buildings and grounds have georgeous architecture. From a distance we saw the area was beautifully decorated for Christmas with lighting on trees in several colors. However, we could not find a parking spot which made it difficult for us to go closer. Considering the freezing temperature, we were happy to appreciate the view from afar and be on our way to the hotel.

Day 2 - Dec 19: The plan for day 2 was to visit the Dinosaur National Monument in Jensen, Utah. It is about a 3 hr drive from SLC. 150 million year old Dinosaur fossils are preserved in layers of silt Between rocky layers. Most of the area is protected, but the visitor center gives good information about the geology of the area. They have found 10 different Dinosaur bones in this area. A Ranger led tour takes you to the Quarry building where some of the bones are left as they were found. They were not excavated out of the mountain and is a nice exhibit of how actually they are found. The ranger gives information on how the land originally was and what happened over the period of millions of years. Aditya took part in the Junior ranger program and was thrilled to receive his badge. After this visit we headed back to our hotel in a town called Vernal and spent the night there.

Day 3 - Dec 20: One of the positive things about traveling is meeting new people and talking to them about the place. Our hotel housekeeper in Vernal was Gujrati. He started up a conversation during breakfast and kindly offered us Chai. He lived in the room right next to the reception area and had a complete kitchen with Indian groceries. He made some delicious cardamom tea. He talked about how he got here and the number of motels the owner owns. It is remarkable of the Gujrati people to go out of their comfort zone and start motels in remote parts of the country. I am sure he enjoyed talking to us as much as we enjoyed talking to him.

We checked out and made our way to Arches National Park 4 hrs south of Vernal. Our way was through Colorado. Across the border in Colorado, was a tiny town call Dinosaur. The streets had names of various dinosaurs which was fun to see.

Once in Arches NP, we took our customary photo at the entrance sign and went to the visitor center. We like to read and see all the information given before we head in, so that we understand what we are looking at and appreciate the various landforms and their formation. Aditya took his Junior Ranger book and got ready to tackle it as we went through the park. I like to look through the store and look for some souvenirs. We started collecting magnets of places we visit a long time back and continue with it. About 2 years back I came across some vintage postcards of national parks and loved their look. I bought many of them and since then have been collecting them as well. I have framed them and are displayed in my living room.

Back in the park we started off on the trails. Our first stop was Park Avenue. It was a 1 mile one way trek with moderate difficulty. Ajay and Aditya started off and I took the car to the other end of the trail to meet them there. After parking the car, I started walking in the opposite direction. The experience of walking among the towering rocks in solitude brings imence peace.

We spent rest of the day hiking to various rock formations and arches like Balanced Rock, Windows arches, Turett Arch, Double Arch, Pothole Arch. The weather was nice and sunny with temperature close to freezing but making good hiking weather.

The Arches NP is well know for its dark skies and we were going to take this opportunity to photograph and gaze at the beauty. We went back to the park well after dark and were amazed at the view awaiting us. Not only were there innumerous stars, but we could see the center of the milky way and meteors. It was truly amazing.

Day 4 - Dec 21: We stayed in Inca Inn in Moab. The unique thing about this inn was that they served homemade sourdough bread for breakfast. After a leisurely breakfast we headed back to the Arches NP visitor center to complete the Junior Ranger program. By afternoon we had completed our hikes to Sandstone Arch, Landscape Arch, Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch. We had reserved the afternoon to make the big hike to the Delicate Arch. It was a good 2.5 hr hike with an elevation change of 480 ft. Most of the path was on rock and the last stretch was on a narrow ledge on the side of a cliff. The view was amazing all around and weather conditions were just right. We spent some time appreciating the view and taking lots of pictures and were back on our way down. We were proud and happy to complete this trek. Aditya loved it as well and declared it was his best hike ever!

Day 5 - Dec 22: The day dawned cloudy and cold. Our plan was to visit the Canyons NP located south of Arches and about an hour's drive from Moab. Our drive started of nice and dry but it soon started snowing. The powdery flakes of snow started covering up the road, trees and everything around. Every mile ahead the sight was more beautiful than ever. The beauty of snow covered landscape is surreal and something we don't get to experience very often. We enjoyed every minute of the snow fall while taking in the sight. As usual Aditya took part in the Junior Ranger program. We did the easy hike to the famous Mesa Arch which was even more fun with the snow. We took our time walking and playing in the snow. The view of the arch was breathtaking however, we could not see much of the valley because of the fog. After the hike we had no other option but to bid good bye to Canyonlands and head back to Moab. The roads were slippery with ice by now and driving through was challenging. We made it back to the hotel and spent rest of the day indoors and enjoyed the snowy weather.

Day 6 - Dec 23: Early next morning, after a good breakfast of the homemade sourdough bread and tea, we left for Page, Arizona. At the border of Utah and Arizona is the famous Monument Valley which we planned to see on the way. Monument valley has some unusual shaped tall rock formations in the middle of a plain. Some are spires rising tall above the ground. A rock weathered such that it looks like the mitten of the left hand and many such formations. These monuments look small from far but are huge as we get near them. It was quite cloudy that day and some clouds had come down covering the peaks of the monuments. However, we were able to get some good pictures of this iconic location. Ajay did a reenactment of the last scene of the Forrest Gump movie. Aditya followed him and his acting was very natural. We had a lot of fun doing this. 

We reached Page at around 2:30 pm and headed straight to the Glen Canyon Recreation area visitor center. We looked through the exhibits and saw a little movie about the dam. It was very informative and amazing to see how the vision of a single person like Mr Henry Powell created something so big and is useful to thousands of people today.

Our next stop was the famous Horseshoe bend. The Colorado River over thousands of years has made this path by carving through sand stone. It was about half a mile walk from the parking area. Near the edge of the canyon are some rocky ledges. One can stand or sit on them to get a view of the complete horseshoe bend. There is no parapet or any structure and so with Aditya we were better off being away from the edge. Horseshoe bend sure is very popular as here we encountered the biggest crowds we had seen in our trip. Adding the crowd to the already dangerous landscape, we did not feel like staying there much longer. A few pictures and we were on our way to the hotel. In this town we found our favourite Taco Bell and so that was our dinner.

Day 7 - Dec 24: We were bright and early because we had 3 main things to do. We started off first with the dam tour. It was only a small group of 4 people so we got to ask many questions and get in a lot of information. We had a friendly chat with our tour guide who gave Aditya 2 Junior Ranger badges that made the little man jump with joy.

Next up was the tour of Antelope Canyon which is a slot canyon. The canyon is located on Navajo land and the tours are provided by the Navajo people. The canyon is very narrow at the bottom and widens a little as it goes up. The various formations in the sandstone are the result of erosion by water. Water running through it had whirlpools which made smooth round surfaces. Water does not run through it anymore though. As per our guide, the sandstone has iron and crystal which gives it a beautiful hues of red and bounces the light from the surface. As the light shines from above it makes a beautiful display of the shades of red and brown. It was quite crowded and the tour took longer then expected. 

Right after that we left Page for Las Vegas- our last destination on this trip. Our route was mostly on the border of Utah and Arizona and at different elevations. Most of our drive it rained at the lower elevations and snowed heavily at the higher elevations.

After checking into our hotel for the night, we couldn't resist to go out and see the glitter and shine if the City. We took a short walk to see some of the famous hotels at night.

Day 8 - Dec 25: One of the hotels I really wanted to see was the Venatian which was remaining in our list of things to do. We decided to check it out before we leave for the airport. The interior of this hotel is made to depict Venice with the water channel, piazza and cafes around. It is completely indoors but a cool blue sky with clouds was projected on it. While walking it gives you the illusion that the clouds are moving making it look real. There are some beautiful murals painted on the roof in some areas as well. Overall it was great experience and we loved it.

Finally we were off on our way home and excited to be back.