June 24

We  woke up this morning to beautiful weather and the gorgeous San Juan River below us. After eating breakfast and checking out the trading post, we were on our way to Mexican Hat, a natural rock carved out of sandstone.  We then headed 4 miles away to Gooseneck  State Park where we learned of entrenched meanders and how they form while lizards lounged on the rocks.

On our way to Natural Bridges National Park, we drove through the Colorado Plateau on a crazy dirt road which offered spectacular views on the plateau. We got to the visitors center and encountered a little trouble with the park rangers. They wanted to charge each van an extra $40 because they said we were an “organized group” and not ordinary visitors, but after Dr. Lemaire talked to the park ranger’s supervisor, the fee was waived. We saw a lot of superb landscapes and took a lot of great pictures.

After Natural Bridges, we stopped for lunch at Subway in Blanding, Utah. Once everyone was re-fueled we were on our way to Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. Again we stopped at the visitors center to get our passports stamped. Right across from the visitors center the Moab fault can be seen.

In the park we stopped at three different well-known formations. The first one was Three Gossips, the second was the Balancing Rock, an the third was Delicate Arch. At Delicate Arch, we hiked in the 90 degree-weather to take in some of the scenic vistas. By the time we got back to the vans, we were all ready to go to our hotel in Green River and relax in the indoor pool.