Moab
It was an epic journey I have to say. Moab in the spring was spectacular, but it wasn't just the destination that was amazing. It was the entire journey.
The journey started on Friday when I dropped the kids off at the airport for their own epic vacation at Grandma's house. They flew unaccompanied to my mom's house and were in the air by 11:30 that morning.
There is something about that time of saying goodbye to your kids, trusting they'll be ok and then refocusing on the present: a 2 day road trip with just your husband. Glorious.
I headed back home to meet Balin, load the car and we headed East on I-90 by 2:30. Oh to drive with only adult conversation, listening to whatever music we wanted. Listening to adult audio tapes, talking without interruption. If I didn't have kids, I don't think I would appreciate these things nearly to the extent I do now. And oh how I appreciated it. I love road trips, even with the kids. They're just fun - an adventure with good conversation that goes on and on and on. And you can nap whenever the urge strikes you, which might be my favorite part.
So we headed out and made it to Missoula, MT for dinner. It was graduation weekend, so the place was pretty packed. We checked out Yelp for a dinner recommendation and we decided on the best place in Missoula, a little french cafe. It was amazing and a great way to start the road trip.
We were hoping to get to Salt Lake City that night, but it's a 10 hour drive from Liberty Lake and it was getting late after dinner so we ended up grabbing a hotel in Dillon, MT. It turned out to be a great halfway mark and allowed us to get into Salt Lake before noon. Funny, both Balin and I are so used to getting up early, we got up around 5am and were on the road shortly thereafter. I'm so becoming my parents.
Salt Lake City met us with torrential rain. The mountains were covered in snow and it was chilly outside. So glad we were moving on to Moab the next day. Originally we were supposed to go riding in Park City as it is known for some amazing cross country riding. But because all the people who were coming on the trip were closer to Moab we decided to change the location to Moab. We are so glad we did.
The rain and cold weather didn't deter Balin and I from having a great time. The first order of business was to grab some lunch, which we did at this awesome brewery downtown. Next we chose a movie and headed in the direction of the theatre, while stopping to riffle through a used book store. The luxury of time….love it.
After watching the Women in Gold we headed out for a bite and then made it an early night of TV watching and relaxing. (We only get to watch TV on vacation and when we find a cool show it's kind of fun, minus the advertisements. RV Restoration was the show of choice and it sent me on a quest to research Airstream trailers…which are SO STINKING expensive.)
The next day we headed out of SLC towards Moab, which was less than 6 hours away. We got their around lunch time and headed over to the condo we rented for the week. After dropping our stuff we met Dana and Anna at the Slickrock trailhead for the first 8 mile ride of what turned out to be a 70+ mile week.
It was so fun to be back on the bikes with Anna and Dana! They had just done the Whiskey off road ride the month before so they were in far better shape than Balin and I. But Balin and I had our new bikes with full suspension which compensated for our, okay my, lack of being in shape. Did I mention I love my new bike?
After our ride we headed back to the condo and met up with the rest of the gang as they pulled in. My nephew Peter came up from Prescott, Scott & Clover drove the 2 hours from Grand Junction, while Sean Taylor beat feet from the Denver area late Sunday night. We were quite a crew and were looking forward to the couple of rides we had planned for the week.
 |
| The older Anna and I get, the more we look alike. My sister Sue saw Anna in the hallway at school in Prescott and said, "Judy? What are you doing here?" |
 |
| The trails went on and on and on. Down rock, up rock, over things you wouldn't think you could get over. After 2 hours of riding your confidence is increased, after 8 hours it diminishes. |
 |
| I love this picture of Balin and I...It just represents our relationship perfectly! |
 |
| We didn't even get lost with Balin's superman navigation skills. |
 |
| There were some serious drops on this ride. The wind was picking up and lightening was starting to crack. The boys looked over the drop of 2000', but when I took a glimpse, it made me want to get off my bike and walk all the more. |
 |
| The trail was literally on the edge of a cliff. Yikes. After 25 miles of rough riding, we walked most of this trail for fear of falling of the edge. |
 |
| "Dismount now! People have died here" the sign reads. They didn't have to tell me twice. |
 |
| Thunder clouds coming in. |
It was a great hike with very narrow spaces to go through with many places leading to dead ends. We got caught in a rain storm which we passed in a cave with some other fellow hikers. The rain came so hard and quick it allowed us to see some spectacular water falls that otherwise would have been dry. Very cool.
 | ||
| This was seriously how the boys got us women up some of the "routes". |
The best ride of the week was called the Whole Enchilada. Any ride that you drive up to the top of a mountain to start is my kind of ride. It seriously was almost all single track downhill. Makes me smile just thinking about it. It was so gorgeous going through so many different kinds of flora and fauna, let alone rock areas. I think everyone agreed that doing the Whole Enchilada is a must next time we head out to Moab.
From Sedona, we headed to Prescott bright and early - around 6am. We are definitely getting older as we can't sleep in much anymore. I parked at my sister's house and helped her prepare for the people that were soon to be coming. We headed to graduation Friday night to see Jack finish up his schooling career in Prescott. It was super cold out, as you can tell we're all in warm jackets and blankets.
Comments