From the land of hoodoos, we headed toward Denver, then dropped down again into southern Utah, to a quirky, high-energy town called Moab.  This was our center for Arches National Park, and rafting the Colorado.  We were far above the Grand Canyon, so no worries there.

Arches is another playground of the Divine, an eerie, haunting, and yet whimsical distortion of the ground under our feet. Or more precisely, the rock under the ground under our feet.

Formed in several different ways, the Arches are living things. Or at least in a constant journey somewhere between birth and death. While there are 1,200 arches in the park (many far out of sight of all but the most adventurous), once one understands the process of formation, one can actually see birthings and death throes of arches.  The trick is to see in geological time.

Talk about humbling.  To photograph something, to stare at it, when to it, I am less substantial than last week’s clipped fingernail. But enough zen.

We did several hikes in Arches, and also connected with a really fine outfitter in Moab. Since five-year-olds were allowed on the river–okay , we hoped they wouldn’t card our four-year-old–I thought, how bad can it possibly be?  I groused about the need for a guide, but Jen was insistent.  Wives are so wise.

We had a wonderful ride, and the two older boys traveled the whole trip in a double duckie–a kind of inflatable kayak.  It was for the use of anyone in our raft, but the guys were having so much fun I think no one wanted to displace them, which was kind of our rafting mates.

We had a wonderful picnic lunch mid-day at a small rocky beach.  Our guide knew the river well, and did a great job of chatting us up during the trip about the wonders of southern Utah.  We were sold, and Moab is an amazing, quirky village in the red high desert.  But we had only one day to enjoy the surroundings, after losing a day waiting out snow.

We would love to return one day to the Moab area. It would be an awesome place to have a family vacation, but it is probably a bit more crowded in the summer.  Everything is a trade off, and Moab is a long way from Maryland, but it has a great deal to recommend it.

Onward to southern Arizona!