The second and last day in Southern UT was spent at Arches National Park. We hiked and explored 3 different arches and saw so many scenic views! The kids complained a bit on Delicate Arch hike but it was way harder than I remember it being and a pretty hot day! They made it, nevertheless, and had enough energy to get back to the car (ice cream might have been a motivation).
Balancing Rock
Fiery Furnace
Hiking to Sand Dune Arch
Where there is a rock to climb, you climb!
Sand Dune Arch
Oh, just doing a little yoga. ;)
Hiking to Broken Arch (or should I say, running)
Broken Arch
Love that view.
Delicate Arch hike
Carson needed A LOT of coaxing up that trail! ;)
Delicate Arch
Utah is pretty rad.
The only mishaps we had on our last leg of the trip was our car broke down on the way to SLC! What an ordeal, let me tell you. About 30 miles from Price, UT, Eric noticed a "pop!" sound coming from the engine and quickly pulled into a rest stop (thank goodness we were close to one). Just as we were pulling in, an Indian guy flagged us down to help him jump his car. Eric helped jump his car and then explained to him what he heard from our car. The stranger came and took a look and quickly figured out that it was our radiator! It had completely split and cracked across the top.
The stranger then offered to drive us 30 miles into Price to get a new radiator, drive us back to our car, and then help us fix it (he used to work in an auto repair shop)! It ended up taking a couple of hours to fix, but by 11pm we were on our way (or at least, we thought we were). As we pulled out of the parking lot at the rest stop, Eric heard a noise and saw a bunch of smoke coming out of our tailpipe. The guy who had helped us pulled over to take a look again and thought that we had probably blown a head gasket or something. Great! Our engine completely shut down and we knew at that point we needed to call a tow truck (at practically midnight). About 45 minutes later, the tow truck driver (who was also very nice) picked us up with our car and drove us into Price.
He took us to a hotel, dropped off the car close by to a shop, and then gave us the cell phone number of the owner of the auto repair shop to call in the morning. The next day, the mechanic came down to look at our car and estimated that it would take a few days to fix, so we ended up leaving Price (Brett came down from Logan to pick us up) to go to SLC, where we rented a rental car and drove home. Quite the ordeal! We felt so blessed to have the help of so many kind strangers though and for many other tender mercies (a rest stop and not the side of the highway, cell service, Auto Zone staying open for us, and many more). As frustrating as car problems can be, I know it could've been a lot worse. It didn't spoil our trip either, even if it wasn't how we wanted to end it. Our little vacay was a good break from everyday life and a great time to spend with family. We are blessed!
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