The day dawned bright and glorious, and early. We boarded a bus at 8 AM for a tour of Arches NP. We got to see highlights of the park; Leila and I plan to return on Sunday during a free day. We did some light hiking and clambering around rock at Balanced Rock, Double Arch, Delicate Arch, and Sand Dune Arch. Once again the rock formations we saw were completely different from our earlier stops.
We had lunch at a restaurant called Blu Pig, and enjoyed a really nice meal. In spite of the heat (high of 97 degrees today) we then walked around town and checked out the shops. As usual in tourist towns, there were lots of t-shirts. We did get back to the coffee shop for another iced coffee.
In the evening our group had a buffet dinner on the shores of the Colorado River, then went for a sunset boat ride up the river. This excursion came back down river with an interesting light and music show on the canyon walls.
Tomorrow is another 8 AM start. Our group bus takes us to Canyonlands National Park and to Deadhorse Canyon State Park. More to come tomorrow…