MOAB

Quin and I went to Moab for Spring Break. We drove down on Thursday and came back Sunday afternoon. We packed in a lot of fun...

Thursday:
5-6 hour road trip!
Set up camp in the Arches National Park
Hiked to several arches
Roasted smores
Cooked tin-foil dinners (AKA hobo dinners)
Sleep - kind of

While setting up camp, we realized that we had packed the air mattress cover, but no air mattress, and even worse, we had packed extra blankets, but no pillows. We talked about driving into town to buy an air mattress, but we just couldn't rationalized it - seeing as we already own 2 of them. :) Lesson #1 - Do not forget the air mattress AND pillows when camping...on rocks.
After setting up camp, we hiked all the arches in the Devil's Garden. Quin learned a valuable lesson here (we'll call it Lesson #2) - never choose an alternate trail back to camp without first consulting Jordan! We ended up taking a trail that required a bit of mountain climbing (only a slight exaggeration) and LOTS of walking through sand UPHILL!! We were cuttin' it close, but fortunately we made it back to the main trailhead by dark and were able to feel our way back to our campsite. :)
So Q started a blazing fire and we roasted smores. When the fire was reduced to coals, we through in our tin-foil dinners (AKA hobo dinners). They were delicious!!
Needless to say, we didn't sleep as well as we normally do when camping. But the next morning, it was very refreshing to wake up in the middle of all of the red rocks.

Friday:
Hiked to the Delicate Arch (pictured on the Utah license plate)
Checked into hotel
Linner at the Moab Diner (very groovey)
Rain for 2 hours
Mountain biking

Friday morning we hiked to the Delicate Arch. It was by far the best (hardest) hike and the best (coolest) arch. This is the one pictured on the Utah license plate. In its element, it is very unique because it is free standing; not supported by a rock wall on either side. It also stands over a huge bowl/amphitheatre type rock formation that you never see in pictures - not our pictures either:(.
We knew our motel was going to be a dive because that's how we roll, but seriously... This place was maybe a half star motel! You should ask Katy about it - she slept on the floor Saturday night:). This wasn't really a lesson, just a good laugh!
After the rain stopped, we went mountain biking. We brought our own bikes and gear, which was a lot of fun. Quin maybe taking up biking as his next new hobby along with tennis and racquet ball and... I think I may get him some stretchy pants (please say that with a Nacho Libre accent) for his birthday. Unfortunately, we had to drag our bikes for the last 1.5 miles because we got stuck in some thick clay. Lesson #3 - Don't go mountain biking on dirt trails that turn to clay after 2 hours of rain.

Saturday:
Breakfast at the Jailhouse Cafe
Katy arrives with her two cute roommates
4 hours of off roading (AKA Jeeping)
Katy's birthday dinner
Paul's Resevoir?
Ice Cream at the Moab Diner

I was really excited about breakfast at the Jailhouse Cafe. It was just down the street from our lovely motel and they only served breakfast so you know it's good - and it was!!
Katy and her two cute roommates arrived to a cool drizzle - bathing suites? We escorted them to the motel, and you think we laughed when we saw it...
We rented a jeep for half the day and went off roading. It was a lot of fun and we got some pretty great pics. Poor Katy thought we were going to die coming down a narrow, muddy road on the mountain, but I love yous were exchanged and we made it out alive!
La Hacienda was the perfect, over-decorated Mexican joint that we needed to celebrate Katy's 20th birthday. While the food settled, Katy and roommate Ashley needed to put their bathing suits to good use, so we drove out to Paul's(?) Resevoir. Apparently, this is the only other thing to do in Moab...and their bathing suits didn't even get wet!
Then we took their shivering little bodies to the Moab Diner for ice cream cones - yummm! And poor Berkley couldn't keep her eyes open, so she didn't mind the terrible sleeping arrangements - half star motel floor.

Sunday:
Farewell Katy and friends
Window shopping "downtown"
6 hour drive home

The girls left early Sunday morning so they could make it back in time for church. Quin and I planned on doing some mountain biking Sunday morning, but my bike seat needed to be adjusted so we couldn't squeeze any biking in. We decided to walk the shops again and bought a shirt and hat for Quin. Then we took the scenic route home.

We had a lot of fun!! Quin and I can't afford to do any real traveling, but we've decided that we can take small road trips to the surround sites and moutain towns when he has time off. Last time he had a break we went to Glenwood Springs. I forgot to post those pics - I'll work on that. In the meantime, enjoy the slide show!