Moab

Ryan and I always try to plan one "big" vacation a year but this year our budget just wasn't up for it. So we were trying to think of somewhere local and realized we had done most of them... Jackson Hole, Park City, Yellowstone, St. George. Then one day when Ryan and I were discussing our "Bucket Lists" he said, "I've never been to the central eastern part of Utah, I would like to do that sometime". Well, duh! Let's do it now! So we planned our trip to Moab.

The first day we spent in the town of Moab shopping and eating then played in the hotel pool and hot tub. The next day we headed out for Arches National Park as soon as possible because the forcast called for rain in the afternoon. Since neither of us have been, we were really excited. Once I saw the first impressive figures of rock I thought, "this should have been on my bucket list!" I couldn't believe the size and beauty of the rock! The first stop we made was a small hike to Double Arch. Then we head to the most famous Delicate Arch. We thought since it was our first time there we better do the hike leading right to it. About half way up I regretted that decision. I couldn't imagine what it would have been like 3 years ago when I was in worse shape! I felt really bad about myself when we passed a couple that looked about 80 yrs old on our way down, good for them, geesh! Yes, I'm pretty red faced, I know, I know!

After our longer-than-expected hike we were starving, but managed to survive on a few granola bars so we could drive through the rest of the park. We decided to save the longest hike with the most arches for our next time down, and I think there will definately be a next time! The park was awesome and I just loved it!

Our next destination was "Hole N' the Rock". There are advertisements everywhere in Moab for it, and I thought it sounded interesting. Ryan made fun of me all day for wanting to go, and when we pulled up it was definately your stereotypical tourist spot... junk everywhere. But I think Ryan enjoyed it once we went on the tour. For those of you who don't know, it is a 5,000 square foot home built inside the rock. Originally a diner ran by the owners, but eventually expanded and is where they lived until they died. Sorry we couldn't take pictures inside, so I guess you will all have to go see for yourselves!

Earlier this year Ryan and I purchased some bicycles with part of our tax return money. We thought that Moab would be a good place for them and hauled them with us. We found a great biking/walking path right through town and spent the evening riding it.

There were a lot of mulberry trees on the path and I loved riding through the fallen berries. I realized I should have thought that through when we were loading the bikes back in the Acura!

Even though we didn't spend too much time in Moab, Ryan still took some days off work to get his "honey-do" items done and spend some time with the family. So one of those days we thought we would give Wheeler Farm a try. We weren't too pleased... Andrea loves animals so were were hoping to see more. She was excited about the few she saw so I guess we'll have to visit the State Fair this year. To make up for our dissappointing farm visit we bought her a bubble lawn mower and a swimming pool. Which means... more posts to come!