10/15 Arches!

Today was Arches Day! We decided we were going to get into line for the entrance and listen to a recorded book while we wait. We packed up some snacks and lunch and took off. Whoa! Before we even got very far, we came to a standstill. There was a bad accident involving an RV and car which caused a long backup in town. We had to drive through town to get to Arches. We could have taken another side road, but got all jammed up before we realized that. The people in the accident had already been transported, but crews were working on getting the RV and flipped car out of the roadway. I'm always sad for the people involved and thankful that we have made it one more mile safely.

I've been on the receiving end of accidents many times in a Trauma Center ER and ICU, and I always get pictures in my mind of what's going on for those people right now. And it's not a pretty picture for everyone. When I worked there, I always felt that it was only a matter of time before I was the one on the gurney, or my family. I had a kind of skewed perspective, working in the environment of all the injured people. At work, it was all about injuries, and not about the many, many people who drive every day without injury. I still have dreams about it.

But, back to the present, we were delayed in getting to the entrance, and when we arrived there was a sign informing us that the park was full, we should return in 3-5 hours. Well, this was a bit disappointing, but I'm glad they have a system to control the crowds. There is a limited number of roads and parking spaces to be used. From what I was able to find, the busiest time of the day is around noon, and there are over 1000 cars in the park at that time. There have been fights in parking lots over spaces, and even someone calling 911 about a strong disagreement. RV's are allowed, although there may be a length limit. But oversize parking spots are even more limited, so unless you are just taking a drive, I would suggest leaving your RV behind. They so allow trailers to be disconnected and left in the entrance parking lot, to be hitched back up later. We didn't witness any kerfluffles over parking, but it was often hard to get a picture of the remarkable arches without other people in the picture, which is not the best.

Anyway, we did return about noon and we made it into the park with a 15 minute wait. There were a lot of cars leaving the park so the congestion was easing. We spent a long time there, stopping for vistas and arches and rock formations. It was a perfect day to see these amazing works of nature and time.

There are so many more things that I have taken pictures of, but it does get to be a little overload if seen all at once.  Some of our favorite sites - The Three Gossips, Petrified Dunes, Balanced Rock, Panorama Point, North and South Window, Landscape Arch and Devil's Garden Trail.

If you are planning to visit, and even do just the short trails, it's a good idea to wear some hiking boots or as close to that as you have.  My boots make me much more relaxed and able to look around.  It just makes it all more enjoyable.  We were back at our trailer by dinnertime.  We were planning to leave in the morning, so we did some of the picking up and packing up before lights out.