We started today with showers and coffee. Then sadness – I could not find my SD card
for my camera anywhere. I realized it as we got to Arches. I almost cried. All the
pictures I had taken up to that point, except for the very few that uploaded on the slow
wifi, were gone.
John, as always, cheered me up and we went ahead, and I used my phone for a camera.
We went to several lookouts and a few short hikes to see some arches. They were
amazing! I even spotted a few smaller ones on my own. I was so excited when we hiked
to the Landscape arch. We also saw the Double O Arches from a distance. Way cool!
Then we hiked the short hike to Sand Dune Arch. Living up to it’s name, there was a
lot of sand to walk through. At about that time, my phone stopped taking pictures and
started taking video, so there may not be any pictures of Sand Dune arch.
We decided to go back to camp and have our large meal for lunch, and after having steak
and salad, I searched for my SD card by taking everything I touched and going through
it carefully. John was so sweet, and he did the cooking and dishes and even searched
through a few things himself to help me. No luck. We decided to go buy a new one.
Along the way, John got his windshield chip repaired. He had a $1 deductible, which
the guy was nice enough to waive. I had seen a Kodak sign so I tried to direct John to
it. Anyone who knows me knows I do not have the map gene. I knew it was on the right
and I thought it was near the Twisted Sistah’s Café. I thought I had seen it on the way to
Arches. Nope. It was on the way back from there. It was on the right though.
Happy with my SD card, we headed to Island in the Sky at Canyonlands. Right across
from the Visitor center was an overlook that was magnificent. It reminded me so
much of the Grand Canyon, but the colors were so much more vibrant. We sat and just
absorbed the view for a while. John sat on the edge of a rock, which made me nervous
but I finally came out near him. It was beautiful! I saw a chipmunk – one of many that I
saw today, and a whole lot of lizards.
We saw a hike called Mesa Arch. We took the mile long hike and it was so worth it!
What a cool arch! John, being his usual daredevil self, climbed up on the arch. Behind
the arch was a drop off of many, many feet. I took his picture, but rather than my usual
set, focus then ask John to look at me, it took a bit of time. He was up there in 30 mph
winds with no safe way to turn around! Finally he just walked the whole length of the
arch, with me snapping pictures like crazy. Then I wanted a turn, just to see if I could.
Of course, when I got up there the wind died down and it was very easy. I was so excited
that as we left, I said “Now what Ranger boy!?”
Most of the other places in Island in the Sky were overlooks. There were a few hikes that
we decided to save for “next time” as they were quite lengthy.
Next stop – Dead Horse Point. The Colorado River is so beautiful at the bottom of these
canyons! You can also see the Needles and the huge mountains in the background. We
took a look then had a picnic dinner, hiked the rim taking pictures and then watched the
sunset. So romantic! It was not the spectacular sunset we expected but it was still quite
beautiful.
Tomorrow, we are going on the Fiery Furnace tour and Delicate arch. Also Laundry and
put-put at the KOA and grocery shopping. YAY!
By the way, I expected to be posting pictures as I go. The wifi that we have had has
made that impossible. At some point I will be adding pictures – tons of them.
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