Hey, Let's Go To Moab

I love last minute trips. They are what they are. No over planning, no making reservations in advance wondering if you picked a good one. I always have really low expectations for last minute trips and I think for that reason it makes the trip better - and more adventurous.

My sister had invited Sam & Perrin to Legoland to celebrate Sophie's 9th birthday and brought Grandma up the Street along. She said that she and mom had it under control and didn't need us so we were free to do as we wished. Wow…a free weekend. We didn't make any plans as our life right now is a little in flux and we wanted to be flexible in case…well just in case.

The week before we invited our nephew Peter over for dinner and got to talking. (Good trips also start with, "we got to talking'.) We were going over the joys of mountain biking and how we three so enjoy it when I asked, "Want to go to Moab this weekend?" Peter got a smile on his face and said, "OH YEAH!" I was dubious as to his commitment level, but days later he's texting me saying he was so excited to go. Awesome - "Moab, we're a go".

Due to the cost of hotels we decided to camp in Vinny. For those of you who know "Princess Peter", camping is not his favorite thing. He doesn't like to get dirty. But I think we converted him, at least for short trips. The great thing about Vinny was everyone has a comfortable bed, which is one of the secrets to camping. The second secret to successful camping is delicious food. We brought along a 3 burner stove connected to a large propane tank and regular cooking pots and pans. We rocked breakfast complete with creamy tea, a roaring fire and delicious bacon/potato/egg scramble with warm tortillas. What a great way to start the day as extra energy was needed by all as we pedaled the black diamonds of Moab.

Our first day we took off to Bar M and did about 11.5 miles. The trail started off with single track that was fast and fun - I was thinking that the riding in Moab was fun and easy - until we hit Circle O. I think the reason it's named such is you say "O….." a lot. Or "UGHHHH" or "UFFF" as the wind is knocked out of you. Many times I was grateful that my quick release pedals were true to their name. Nothing like having your front tire hit a angled rock and stop with a thud while your body is still in motion. We all agreed that one needed to heed the warning, "Respect the rocks" as they could kick your bootie with very little effort.

We got back from that ride in the afternoon, and after stopping at the grocery store to pick up a few necessities - mainly beer - headed to camp. I don't normally drink beer but after that ride I wanted a beer (and a torte but we didn't find any remote huts with torte and beer. Disappointing.). At camp Peter snuggled into his sleeping bag in his upstairs room in Vinny, listened to music and took a long nap. I snuggled into my blankie in the back seat of Vinny with my beer and a book and quickly fell asleep myself. Balin sat outside in the sunshine reading his book and enjoying the quiet. There were very few people in the campground and it was great weather - cold at night/morning and 70 by noon.

That night we rode our bikes into Moab for dinner. We found a lovely spot for dinner but probably should have checked the menu/prices before heading in with a hungry teen and 30 year old man. It was delicious and a treat. One of the things I love about living in a small town or visiting a small town is the ability to ride your bike everywhere, which is kind of the norm in Moab. Very fun.

The next day we got up and rolling by 8 and hit the trail by 9:30. Slickrock was our ride for the day as it's the quintessential ride in Moab. Steep climbs and steeper descents all on very hard, uneven (mostly) rock. It was pretty amazing. It was pretty hard. I think I must have shrunk an inch from all the compressing of my spine and jostling of my parts! We found out quickly there was a reason that EVERYONE had full suspension bikes! I was a lot more cautious of many obstacles because I was the shock for every bump, not my bike. I was also thinking that why am I biking with a 17 & 36 year old men….I'm 42 and I was feeling every year. I wasn't sure that marrying young was in my best interest at that point. By mile 7 I was ready to be done, which is exactly when Will rode by…he was 10…and he passed us. This always happens to me…just when I'm ready to throw in the towel - with anger and frustration - a little kid comes along doing what I thought too difficult and ups my game. So I finished with a different attitude and far less grumpiness. Thanks Will.

The after ride party was much the same as the day before, we headed back to camp. We snacked, took naps, showers and hung out til dinner time. Heading into town for dinner, we looked up the top spots in town via TripAdvisor (which is amazing and we use everywhere we go as it truly takes the guess work out of where to eat/sleep/play.) After dinner we went to see Ender's Game, which was fun as we NEVER go to movies, and then went back to camp to bed.

Sunday Balin was supposed to fly out of Moab at 1pm to Denver as he had work to do the following week in Denver. Since our time was limited we decided to head out to Arches National Park and do a hike and then take Balin to the airport. As we are about 1.5miles into our hike at 10:30am Balin decides it would be a good idea to listen to his messages from the day before. Turns out his flight was canceled and he could take the 9am flight that morning. Oops. That put him in a bit of a quandary but he was quick to roll with the punches and ended up driving the 7 hours back to Prescott and taking the 6am flight to Denver out of Prescott. It was actually nice to have him drive home with us as it was a very long drive.

It was a great trip and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Thanks Moab for a great weekend - we'll be back.