We were all a little sad to move on from Denver, in spite of the adventure ahead, but on Monday morning, we shoved off for Moab, UT, about six hours west. The wonderful thing about being on the open road is the opportunity to see so much along the way – something people say all the time, but is hard to quantify unless you’re actually experiencing it. The American landscape is truly something to behold.

From Denver, I-70 West took us up into the Rocky Mountains, where we climbed to 10,000 feet and were rewarded with a surround of snowy peaks. After making a descent through the Eisenhower Tunnel, we found ourselves in the midst of towering, canyon-like rock walls before stopping for lunch at Slope & Hatch in the scenic town of Glenwood Springs.

As we continued West, the terrain began a dramatic transformation as rugged sandstone buttes rose to meet us – the point at which Peter, who is four, asked, “Are we on Jupiter now?”

The terrain grew more and more dry and other-worldly as we approached Moab, the rock shifting to formations stunning in both proportion and artistry.

It’s interesting to travel this distance with kids whose experience in nature is pretty much limited to the North Carolina mountains and the beach. They were in serious awe of Moab, whereas Zion – the grandness of which Andrew and I truly felt – prompted fewer “wows.”

Arches was great for our kids. There were many paved/slick rock trails easy for even the youngest in our group to enjoy. On our first morning there, we woke everyone up early to beat the crowd and hiked Park Avenue, a beautiful little walk surrounded by gigantic sheathes of red rock and bolder fields. The only thing that slowed us down were the two kiddos intent on writing in the sand with sticks rather than continuing our hike. We discovered tadpoles in a lone pool, saw a lizard and made out the images of rabbits, whales and other animals in the desert wood and stone along the way. It was a great introduction to the park.

Later that morning, we went on a off-road hummer tour of the landscape – something that felt like a roller coaster ride across giant rocks. As we set out, Andrew and I had a moment of wondering what we were thinking when we made the reservation, but our driver was highly experienced, knowledgeable of the  terrain and its history and careful, and the kids got to see some pretty cool dinosaur tracks along the way.

After lunch, we headed to the Windows area of Arches, passing the Three Gossips, Balanced Rock, and others along the way. Despite the heat, the kids hiked with us to North Window, another well-paved trail, where we had a nice rest in the shade of the massive arch. Andrew then took the girls to Double Arch, a structure made famous by Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade, while I sat in the air conditioning with one very tired little boy.

By the end of the day, all three kids had completed Arches’ Junior Ranger program. They were rewarded with a shiny badge and took a solemn pledge to protect our natural resources.

The next day, we headed to Zion National Park, a five and a half hour drive from Moab. We arrived around lunchtime and immediately knew we’d have to come back for a longer stay. While still very much in dry country, the Virgin River runs through Zion, offering visitors a break from the desolation of true desert.

Our kids were pretty wiped out by the adventures in Moab, a couple of late nights and early mornings, so I opted to spend an hour hiking with them to Weeping Rock, an easy (if uphill) trail to a  nice rock overhang, dripping with snow melt & with a good view of the mountains, while Andrew hiked part of Angel’s Landing.

The kids and I found respite in a cold, clear creek at the bottom of Weeping Rock, where they would have played for hours if we’d had more time and they’d had more energy.

Andrew, invigorated by the difficulty of his hike and the precious window of time alone, met us to close out the day at Oscar’s, a Tex-Mex restaurant that served up some of the best food we’ve had on our journey thus far.

That night, we were all asleep by 8:30, a wise move in advance of journey that lay ahead.