#notgonnamissmyshot

Today we joined Mom, Dad and Jack

and got our first Covid shots.

We were nothing but excitement

for days leading up to this.

But as the time drew nearer,

Tucker had second thoughts

Beck and I took it like champs

Tucker,

despite being promised ANYTHING he wanted

at HyVee,

had to be held by both Mom AND Dad

to get his.

Nothing a little pizza and salad couldn't erase.

See ya, Covid!

 

Moab Day 6: A few more things to see

We took a vote and decided

we needed one more hike on our last day.

We found one with multiple arches

not too far from town.

We refueled with a tailgate picnic

and set off.

We had to climb nearly straight up via a staircase 

and across the railroad tracks

but then it flattened out a bit through a slickrock canyon

We had heard there were some cables and a ladder on this course

but this didn't seem too bad

but then we found the REAL cables and ladders

Have no fear,

Mema and Pappo scrambled right up

It was worth the effort.

We rounded another bend

and Corona Arch came into view

It was a huge expanse of arches

and arches in the making

with lots of cool erosion.

Here's Bowtie Arch

and back to the main attraction

It's really photogenic

Corona Arch was Dad's favorite

We had to get the obligatory family selfie

and then some fellow hikers offered to get us

an even better picture

The road back down the cables

was a little treacherous 

We stopped to make a few cairns

in this funny cairn garden

It became a contest

to see who could make the best

and tallest

Mema and Pappo headed in to town

for a quick shopping trip.

But the day was gorgeous.

And, being our last day,

we decided to push on with one last hike.

We hit up Pinto Arch

around the corner and up the cliff from Corona

These hikes did not disappoint.

We grudgingly started home

but Dad made a quick detour when he saw a sign for 

DINOSAUR TRACKS!

We had to legit scurry up the side of a cliff

(Mom wasn't sure how we were going to get down)

but LOOK!

See the 2 prints?

And this one?

There were lots of petroglyphs too

No awesome sunset happy hour,

but that was a pretty good ending to the day.

Back at the house,

Pappo was clearly sad to be heading home

But we made the most of the night

with a good game of Take Pappo's Money

and some star-gazing

and sing-a-longs in the hot tub.

We weren't really sure what to expect with this trip--

but wow, did we have a blast!

Truly awesome scenery, 

challenging hikes,

bucket list biking and jeeping,

delicious restaurants,

a lot of stories and memories,

all topped off with a cinnamon roll

the size of Tucker's head.

Moab, it's been epic.

 

Moab Day 6: Dead Horse Point

On our last day in Moab,

we had a list of things to finish up.

We stopped by Arches to get our Junior Ranger badges.

We had earned them with all those hikes!

Then we headed for Dead Horse Point.

It's across the canyon from Island in the Sky

and had some amazing views

They call it Dead Horse Point

because of this narrow area

forming a peninsula of cliffs

that was used as a natural corral--

cowboys herded the horses through the narrows

into the wider area and then could block off that one point

to keep the wild horses contained.

The legend goes that for unknown reasons,

they eventually left the horses penned

where they died of thirst, 

ironically suspended above the Colorado River.

What a sad story!

 Made the view even more haunting.

We hiked all around the cliffs,

checking out the view from multiple angles

It was really pretty

The view of US

was rather impressive as well

Lots of cool shots

Not all of us enjoyed the cliffside views.

I stayed back.

Like, waaaaay back.

That's fine--

everyone else can enjoy

I'll admire the pictures

 

Moab Day 5: Fun on 4 wheels (or 3, or 2...)

Check out our sunrise...

Feels symbolic.

It's the dawn of the day

Dad has waited for his whole life.

Today we rented Jeeps to drive 

through the backroads of Moab.

Moab is known for it's jeeping--

look it up.

It's a thing.

A HUGE thing.

Our rides:

Team White Jeep: Pappo, Mema, Jack and Wes

Team Gold Jeep:  Dad, Mom, me and Tuck

Our map:

Our route today--Dome Plateau

with a couple of arches and such along the way.

Mom was our navigator,

trying to interpret the vague turn-by-turn directions

and landmarks in the map book

We started off small--

some hills, some bumpy trails

The view from the inside

and the cool view outside

Before long,

the hills got A LOT bigger

but they were no match for the jeeps

and Dad and Pappo's awesome driving skills

Our first stop was this huge cave

Can you see us inside?

We're sort of swallowed up

Then it was back on the trail

because we had more to see!

We came to La Boca Arch

La Boca means "mouth"--

guess we're being chewed up!

Everyone doing ok?

A little shaken from all the bumps

but getting more courageous every hill!

How about this one???

What goes up,

must come down

Now they are getting into it--

look, Dad, no hands!

It was gorgeous out on 

BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land

with all the hills and mountains

By mid-afternoon,

we reached our summit:

Dome Plateau 

and its amazing view of the Colorado River

We felt like we were in a Jeep commercial

Not a bad place for lunch

and some quiet reflection

It had been a heck of a day

Dad was living his dream!

We could have stayed all afternoon,

but we had more things to see

So up some more hills we went

and past some awesome plateaus and hills

Mom caught this great picture of the soil out there--

see all the ridges and bumps?

It's called cryptobiotic soil.

It's all these microorganisms growing in the desert.

According to the Park Rangers,

without them,

Utah would turn into one giant sand dune.

We thought they were really cool.

We eventually came to this huge slab of slickrock

aka sandstone.

It was begging to be climbed,

calling out to Dad

Can we do it?

Oh yes we can!

Pappo followed suit

We were feeling awesome--

this jeep thing is incredible!

so Mom decided to take us on the

"more difficult but fun" route on the map

(look for it--it's clearly labeled on there!)

It started out ok--

we were headed down a rocky creek bed

but things got...crazy?...quickly.

Dad didn't see a big drop off

and for a brief moment or two,

the Gold Jeep

was only on 2 wheels

and leaning slightly (or a lot) towards the driver's side.

At this point,

I started pleading to get out of the Jeep

(memorable phrase of the day

"I'd rather get out of this jeep 

then die in this jeep!").

All 4 wheels were quickly back on the earth,

but we all leapt out all the same.

(Mom and Dad would like to clarify--

we were never really in danger of rolling.

But it was a terrifying sensation all the same!)

Pappo quickly decided they were NOT following us through there.

But then his attempt at a 3-point-turn

got White Jeep wedged between an enormous boulder

and a smaller but poorly positioned smaller boulder.

But one massive rock ramp and a 

96-point-turn later,

he was turned around,

poised to go back the way we came.

So that just left us

and some huge holes and boulders.

We had to build up a path

for the jeep to drive across.

Can you see our handiwork?

You've never seen the 4 of us

work together faster or better.

A wide-view scope of the problem

Here's the good news--

we're writing the blog,

so clearly we got out.

The bad news?

We made it through this one

but then we had to build a few more ramps

down the way.

But we saw those coming.

We looked like experienced jeepers by then.

We eventually popped out of the creek bed

back on the main road.

But we had the map--

and White Jeep was no where to be found.

(Did we mention there's minimal cell service?)

We waited for a while

and eventually headed back to see if we could find them.

Again,

we're writing this,

so clearly we did.

We waited at these old abandoned mining cabins

and eventually we all reunited.

We made it back to the highway

in time to see the sun setting on the cliffs

How about that sunset?

Once the adrenaline wore off

and our pasta dinners kicked in,

we slept like the rocks we drove over.

That's one adventure we'll be talking about for years.