early november adventure

For what will probably be our last camping adventure of the season, we made a quick trip down to the Moab area of Utah. It was a great, chilly night of camping and a warm Saturday of exploring. So glad we decided to go because this morning we woke up to snow falling.

Ingrid watching the snow fall this morning

 As I mentioned in the previous post, Davis has gotten into star gazing and it was a moon-less Friday night. Davis' enthusiasm for night sky watching has spread and for this trip we had six adults and one baby join in. The night sky was perfectly clear and being in the middle of the desert, we saw a whole lot more of the starry span than is usually visible in the city. Our friend Mark, the amateur star photographer was present again. I promise to one day post a few of his shots. We saw dozens of shooting stars, the Andromeda galaxy, and what we believe to be the moons of Jupiter. I am slowly improving my ability to point out certain stars, planets, and constellations. We all can't help but spend the night in awe of vast array of heavens and know that God is quite a lot bigger and more creative than we give him credit.

davis taking in the scenery

it went a long way out there

desert hole with snow capped mountains in the distance

Since we arrived after dark, none of us know what exactly our camp ground looked like. Nor did we know the spectacular view that awaited us. The area has a view of the Colorado River as it curls through the canyon lands of Utah. The area is called Dead Horse Point, for sad historical reasons, but clearly it is a beautiful and rugged bit of earth.

crusty campers in love and clashing flannel prints

wee harper and davis

Also, in this area is Arches National Park. We spend the afternoon doing a turbo tour of Arches, seeing rocks turn into bridges without man's intervention. Before moving to Utah, I honestly had no idea how many national and state parks it had. And so many of them are just incredible for so many different reasons. I keep thinking how little thought I have given my whole life to the beauty God put into rocks.

double o arch

delicate arch, graces the utah license plates

suuuuuper skinny arch

After Arches, we had a Mexican food fiesta feast with shared margaritas,  since we had some driving to do, in the town of Moab. With our bellies full, we headed back to the big city of Salt Lake.

I can't believe it is already November. We have some fun things lined up this month, much to look forward to!