The Good Life: Meandering Through Moab

And it’s finally here. Sorry it’s taken me so long to write about our Moab trip. There is just so much fun stuff to report on that it was a little daunting!

Our scheduled departure was 2:00pm, Thursday, April 26^th. But of course, on a trip like this, we never leave on time. Our comrades arrived at 3:00 and then we began the task of combining two carloads or camping stuff into one truck. You’d think this would be relatively easy, but when we camp, we camp in style! We had a huge cooking stove, mattress pads, pots, pans, lanterns, chairs, bikes, and a whole lot more. I didn’t take a picture of the truck after we finished squeezing everything in, but it looked a little bit like this…

We finally hit the road around 4:00 and enjoyed a candy-filled, four-hour road trip to Moab. Somehow we made it with no bathroom breaks and only one driver switch. Pretty good!

When we arrived it was starting to get dark, so we had to do the most important things first. Bathroom break and gas fill-up! Then for the second most important thing – hunting for a campsite! We planned on staying on BML campsites, which were first come first serve. The first campsite we drove to looked like it had a vacancy, but on a post near the entrance was a small white piece of paper that said reserved with today’s date on the paper. Shucks. So we kept searching, but didn’t have much luck. It was getting pretty dark and we needed to find something soon or we all would be sleeping in the truck! So we decided to go back to our original campsite and see if anyone had claimed it yet. … No one. Soooo, Larynn ate the little piece of paper and we set up camp.

The boys pitched our tent by the light of a lantern, while the girls used a flashlight to set up the cooking stove and rustle up some grub for our hungry stomachs. We managed to whip up some hamburgers, fruit and chips. It was pretty good considering we made it in the dark.

However, sleeping that first night was AWFUL!! I think I was a little nervous about having stolen someone’s campsite that any little noise would make me jump. When a car would drive by I would hold my breath to see if it would stop. I’d hear a footstep or a leaf rustle and look around to see if we were being ambushed. I did not fall asleep until 2:00am and I’m pretty sure I woke up at six o’clock with the sun. Fortunately, the sleeping went uphill from there.

FRIDAY

Friday morning we all woke to gorgeous scenery. Our campsite was right next to the Colorado River, surrounded by high, red-rock canyon walls. It is so nice to occasionally get away from the confinements of a house (or basement apartment in my case), of work, of school and all the other responsibilities of daily life. Being out in the open air of Moab was good for all of us.

Darren and Larynn made us a great breakfast of dutch-oven monkey bread. It was their first attempt at dutch-oven cooking and I think it went rather well! I was too afraid to even attempt dutch-oven so I was grateful for their bravery! After breakfast we hit the road to enjoy the famous rocks and arches of Moab. We drove to Arches National Park, admired the landscape, and even got out of the car for a few strolls. The sun was shining but a wind was blowing nicely so it was still a little nippy outside. Among our favorite sites were Balanced Rock, the Three Judges and this crazy tree we found along the way.

That first trip to Arches was a little short because we had to be back in town for our “white-water” rafting trip. We arrived at Adrift Adventures at 11:00, with a trip scheduled to leave at 11:15. However, Darren left his wallet back at our campsite, so he and Larynn hurried back to grab it. The campsite is farther away than we thought and they made it back around 11:20, just in time! However, because we were all rushing we forgot sunscreen. Of course! My legs burned bright red in one solid stripe down the front. Very cute.

Our “white-water” rafting trip turned out to be more of a “beer float” as the locals call it. That means that the water is so calm you just crack open a beer and meander down the river. The rapids were virtually non-existent and if any ripples did appear our guide seemed to avoid them like the plague. Luckily, Chris and I had rented a two-man kayak and we followed behind the raft. This meant that we could “accidentally” take little detours and try to hit as many rapids as we could. We subtly ignored our guide’s frequent reminders to “follow right behind the raft.” We did make friends with the other family on the raft and our tour guide. Most of us thought our guide was pretty awesome. Chris, however, was sure he and our bus driver were high on LSD. Whatever the case, we had fun and we were safe! Those pictures will have to come later because none of us were willing to bring our phones on the rafting trip to take picture. So we bought one of the old school disposable water cameras. I’m going to have to actually print pictures! Crazy!

We returned from our “beer float” at about 4:30pm. During the trip our guide told us about a famous burger and shake restaurant in Moab called Milt's Stop N' Eat. After a hot day in the sun, nothing sounds better than shakes. And they were good! They were just the right thickness – thin enough to drink through a straw but thick enough to know you’re not just drinking milk. Refreshing!

That night we made tin foil dinners and roasted some mallows for s’mores. We stayed up "late" playing card games and attempting to tell ghost stories (although someone kept guessing the ending before the story teller could finish!) We didn't stay up too late though because we were all beat and we needed to get up early the next morning.

SATURDAY

I set the alarm on my phone (praying that the battery would last the night) for 6:30 that morning. Chris and I had breakfast that morning and we rustled up some pancakes, sausage and eggs for everyone. We needed a good breakfast because we were going to hike to Delicate Arch. The description of the hike said difficult, intimidating us with words like scrambling on slick rock and exposure to cliffs and heights and no shade. However, the hike turned out to be pretty easy and enjoyable. I learned what a "cairn" is and that "scrambling on slick rock" is pretty fun. Delicate Arch was beautiful in person. We played our tourist card by taking a million pictures and acting like idiots as we "hugged a license plate," as Chris would say.

Our next adventure was one Chris and I would have to brave alone. I somehow convinced Chris to fulfill one of my bucketlist dreams - to jump out of a flying airplane and fall through the sky at 120 mph with just a parachute strapped to your back! We arrived at Skydive Moab at 12:00, nervous and excited for our jump. We met one of the owners and the two men we would be jumping with. (They would actually be strapped to our backs and then the parachutes strapped to them.) We watched a film outlining the risks of skydiving (exactly what we wanted to see at that point) and then signed a waiver saying we couldn't do anything to Skydive Moab if we died. I hesitated for one moment...and then put pen to paper. Here goes nothing!!

We boarded a plane that was probably the size of an ordinary bathroom. The four of us could barely squeeze in, even though we were practically sitting on each other's laps. We rose to 10,000 feet in about ten minutes. The flight was beautiful as you could see all the surrounding areas of Moab, including Arches & Canyonlands National Parks. However, my enjoyment of the flight was a little hampered when I started getting nauseous. It was probably my nerves mixed with the bumpy flight and the big breakfast I had that morning. I closed my eyes and tried to calm my stomach because I for sure did not want to vomit midair!

I managed to calm myself down until my instructor said, "Okay, put on your goggles." That meant it was time to go. Without any warning he opened the door and told me to put my feet on this little step next to the wheels of the plane. That, my friends, was the scariest part of the entire experience. Luckily, once I stepped onto this tiny ledge, the instructor took charge. He stood up, titled my head back, and jumped.

What a rush! The wind was coming at my face so strongly that I could barely breathe. I just kept screaming, not only because I was scared, but also because it helped me breathe. The free-fall was only about 30 seconds, but it felt like a very long time to me. In the videa, which I hope will load, my cheeks are flapping around like sheets in the wind. When my instructor pulled the rip cord and our shut opened (thank goodness) my entire body folded up into my eyes as I was jerked backwards. Relief! I was no longer free-falling and I could breathe a little easier. From then on the float to the ground was fairly enjoyable. I can't say it was exactly relaxing, because the ground was still coming at me at a pretty good speed, but the instructor let me steer the parachute and little and we did a few loop-de-loos. When it came time to land I had to lift my feet high in the air while the instructor ran on the ground and get us steady. He quickly unfastened me and I stumbled forward, relieve that my feet were finally on firm ground.

We lived! I saw Chris land a few seconds after me. They didn't land so gracefully. :) Chris was so much taller than his instructor that they had to slide in on their bums. But we made it! We smiled for the camera and exclaimed our exuberant joy at having made the dive. However, as soon as our backs were turned, we both turned to each other and said, "I'm never doing that again!" Don't get me wrong, it was a fun experience and I'm glad that I can check it off my bucket list, but I just don't think I need to repeat the experience. Once was enough! I was still nauseous for about an hour after the jump, until I god a good burger and shake from Milt's in my stomach again.

Darren and Larynn had safely enjoyed themselves shopping on solid ground while we were up in the air. After lunch we all felt like we needed a little nap and I zonked out after being physically and emotionally drained. I know, not a good use of a Moab day, but it was nice. Later, Darren and Larynn started making dinner while Chris and I took a small hike up Negro Bill Canyon. We explored the first half of the hike before we had to turn back, but we were glad we did. We knew it was worth going back to finish the hike the next day.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning, after another great dutch-oven breakfast from Darren and Larynn, we packed up camp and cleaned up after ourselves. "Always leave the campsite better than you found it," my Grandpa Brough would always say. I believe we did so. Then, as a last hoorah, we decided to tackle the five mile hike up Negro Bill Trailhead. That's right, we worshipped that Sabbath in God's great outdoors. The hike was beautiful, as it meandered through a canyon following a small river. There was a lot of foliage (relatively speaking). The deep greens made a beautiful contrast against the red-rock walls of the canyon. The hike ended at the sixth largest natural bridge in the world. If you climbed a little farther, you could even traverse the bridge or repel down it as these brave people did (no it's not us in the photo). We had packed a lunch and ate it at the end of the hike next to the natural spring that produced the river. Hiking back was still beautiful, but I think everyone's feet hurt in the end. It was a good, exhausting end to our Moab trip.