Day Three - The Delicate Divas

We were both alive the next day.

Mission. Accomplished.

We are going to inundate you with pictures of the Delicate Arch, and you better not complain because we had to climb a mountain to get there. But first, a story.

Picture this: Maure had talked up the hike to the Delicate Arch, so we saved it for the last day and we were prepared. At the base (notice I said "base" and not "start") of the trail, we climb out of the car looking like swamp monsters (we hadn't showered since Lazy Lizard, and, not only was that questionable (the shower was a little ... green), remember that this was before Shimmy Shuster and Indiana Effin Jones made their cameos). A tall dark gorgeous foreign couple pulls up next to us in a shiny sports car and leaves us behind to slather sunscreen on every inch of exposed skin. Now we look like shiny coconut-scented swamp monsters. We make a big fuss of packing our backpack, double knotting our tennis shoes, and stretching with enthusiastic grunts before embarking. Now Elise (who promised to carry the backpack if Bailey would do the hike with her) looks like a shiny Hunchback of Notre Dame swamp monster. So Elise has the backpack hiked up on her shoulders, Bailey has the camera slung over her arm with Gil the mascot in her hand, and we begin the hike, two swamp monsters and a guinea pig who are already huffing and puffing in the morning sun. Only two steps on the trail we are passed by three skinny British jerks in flip-flops, swinging their waterbottles like they were going for a casual stroll through the park. We didn't know if we should laugh or cry, follow them or turn back immediately. When it started to get rough, we didn't know if we should be reassured or shamed by the elderly with canes and small children below our knees coming down the other way.

But we pressed on:

Along the way, we found a Gil-sized Arch:

We named ourselves "The Delicate Divas":

And it was totally worth it:

View from the top:

In this picture you can see that the drop-off behind the Arch was quite steep and the path up to the Arch was sloped. We thought the view was exhilerating. Julia's mom did not. Julia's mom was plastered against the rock wall that circled the slope down to the Arch, her face white, her hands desperately grasping at the wall behind her, her mouth in a perpetual terrified "O." As her daughter inched toward the Arch, mom screamed "JULIA! Dont! You! Dare!" Julia, unaffected, simply rolled her eyes and yelled back "Mom! I'm not going to die" as she sidled along the rim. Thus, these strangers became infamously known to all the onlookers as JULIA! and her mom. Her mom, now purple with the exhertion of screaming and of holding her self rigid against the rock, was gasping for air. "JULIAAH!" Don't take another step! JULIA! Do you hear me?" And then, "I can't move! I can't. I. can't. move." After seeing that she was, in fact, petrified, Elise made her way over, but a nice man beat her to it and with a little coercion (aka. physical force and shouting) walked Julia's mom to safety.

Elise (aka the Swamp Thing of Notre Dame) safely perched above our glorious destination:

Scrambling up a rock at the bottom:

Look Ma! No Hands! Elise's Delicate Diva pose:

And a close-up:

Acting tough:
And a close-up:
Elise's Favorite:
Bailey (aka the Swamp Thing formerly known as Medusa) and the view opposite the arch:

Scrambling up a rock at the bottom: Bailey Speck #1:
Bailey Speck #2:

Bailey Speck #3:

And one very Delicate Diva:

When the park rangers had finished rolling us down the mountain, we took off for Vegas, a shock to the system after the red rock desert.