Westerner RV Park (by Caleb)

On the way to Westerner RV Park we stopped at Petrified Forest National Park and did some trails and of course saw petrified wood. But it isn't like you might see petrified wood, you would see petrified wood if you went there because you would see tons of it. And I mean you would see thousands of pounds of it because each cubic foot weighs about 200 pounds!

At Petrified Forest we didn't see really any wildlife other than a lizard, but the cool thing we did see was the colors in petrified wood. You would think  that it would be shades of browns and whites and colors you'd find on a tree in your backyard but really when it's going through the process of petrifying the minerals that are left in the tree make some really spectacular colors. Here are some pictures of the petrified wood.

                                                                                     

                                                                                        

Can you believe this is all petrified wood?

         

I love the colors of the wood, don't you? Anyway we also drove past some hills called the blue mesa which if the sun hit it just right on the hills you would see reds and browns and oranges and... you guessed it, blue! After blue mesa we went to some other overlooks then drove back to the RV.

After we went to Petrified Forest we continued to Westerner RV Park. When we arrived at Westerner RV Park it was dark, so dark in fact that there were signs telling us that it was going to be super dark at night time which meant you could see the stars really well but I think every one was too tired to go see them. I was half asleep in mom and dad's bed so I didn't see mom and dad struggling to park the RV, but I did hear them because I left a walkie-talkie on on the other side of the bed and was too tired to turn it off. So I kept hearing things like, "watch out for the truck," and "a little to the left". After we got to the to the campsite we got ready as fast as we could and went to bed because it was so late.

In the morning we went to Canyonlands National Park. Well, we wanted to go to Arches National Park but there was a sign there in parking lot saying Park Full, No Entry so we went to Canyonlands instead which was only about 20 minutes away. First at Canyonlands we went to the visitor center then went to a few overlooks and had a picnic.

Mesa Arch

Can you spot the dinosaur foot in the canyon?

A lot of the time we were at Canyonlands we were at a part of the park called "Island in the Sky," which is this huge mesa (a mesa is a big hill with a flat top and steep sides) with only a little space connecting it to the other part of the park which is called "the neck."

After we were done with Canyonlands we went home and went to bed. The next day I did my giant bubbles with Jordan. I found if I did them on a median I would get a few looks and maybe a wave. After a little bit of giant bubbling a kid named Joshua (around 9) came over and I let him do some bubbles. After the bubble mix ran out we played with the bunnies for awhile then I went inside and blogged. The kid even asked to be in my blog.

Later in the week we went on a camping trip though I guess it would be: we were going on a camping trip in a camping trip because we weren't taking the RV, so we brought our tent and our van. We were going to Natural Bridges National Monument to see the stars! It even had the title of international dark sky zone!

But on the way we found there was a closed road so we had to take a detour on a dirt road with a sign that said Road Damage on it, but it was great! At least the first part was. But the day before it had rained so after about a mile in we came to a place that was muddy, so muddy that we were slipping and sliding about and doing 90 degree turns. Dad said it was like driving on ice but after going over a creek and driving through a valley we came to a hill we couldn't crest because it was to slippery, so we turned around went through the creek again, but on that side we couldn't get up a hill!

So we waited awhile for the mud to dry. Mom read a read aloud, cars came and cars went, and after awhile we tried to get over the hill and we made it because the mud had dried enough!

When we got up the hill we went back to the start of the dirt road and went another way that dad called "the wall way" because we had to drive on a bunch of switchbacks to get up a cliff and onto a mesa.

Then we drove to Natural Bridges, found a campsite, pitched a tent, and went to look at three natural bridges. Well, there were only three natural bridges in Natural Bridges National Monument.

The first bridge we did a trail down to the bridge using ladders and steps on the trail to get down. If you're wondering how a natural bridge is formed, it's by water rushing around a fin and eventually breaking through the fin and taking the newly formed short cut. Over time the water erodes away at the sides of the arch until it finally after a long time falls down.

After that bridge we went to see two other natural bridges but we didn't hike down to them, we just went to the overlooks. After that we went back to our tent and went to bed.

I thought that I was going to have a great night sleep because I brought three blankets and my sleeping bag, but boy was I wrong. Jordan said she was cold so she took two of my blankets and I forgot my pillow, so I had to sleep cold curled up and pillowless. In the end that turned out to be one of the worst, if not the worst nights ever for me. 

                                                                                      

In the morning we went back home. I was glad to see my nice warm bed again.

Later in the week we went to Arches National Park and saw, well, arches! We saw an arch called Sand Dune Arch, an arch called Landscape Arch (because it is so wide), and one called Delicate Arch, which is the famous one that you see on Utah license plates. Also at Landscape Arch, Jordan and I went off on another trail and saw Partition Arch and Navajo Arch. On our way to Navajo Arch, Jordan and I kind of got lost but eventually found our way. After Arches National Park we left to Duke's Slickrock RV Park.