Moab--My Love

This years Moab Trip was all about traditions. The trip itself is an annual tradition that has been going strong for 6 years or so. But allow me to show you the best traditions we have for Moab. (Note: If you would like to see any of my pictures bigger, just click on them and they will open in a new window for a better look.)

DAY ONE:
8 AM--Scheduled time to be on the road.

Tradition #1--The Andersons are always late. Not intentionally of course, but yet it happens. Every time. We left closer to 9. Either was far too early for a weekend, so Taylor did a lot of sleeping on the drive.

Tradition #2--Stop at the Route 66 in Wellington. Make a bathroom break and gawk at the disgusting couch sitting in the restroom that no one dares to touch. Look at the crazy foods they sell and take special note of the marmalade candies and the tiny can of beans. It is a bittersweet place for me. We stopped here on the drive home from Grand Junction too.

When we finally reached the sand hill and the great cliffside leading to Arches the contest began.

Tradition #3--Who can find the most creative/unique/hilarious rock formation? This one almost got us killed on several occasions. This is my mother's favorite part--and she was driving. I had to constantly remind her to keep her eyes on the road. She isn't as good at driving without looking as she thinks she is.

Among the rocks we found the usual: pair of boots, turtle, the gossips, James Christiansen figures, Santa Claus. And we also found more: indian faces, LOTS of elephants, and the winner of our special contest: Donald Trump with a toupee, courtesy of Shaelynn.

Our first hike was called Double Arch. It was a mile walk in the sand to a spectacular edifice that held two enormous columns of rock. It was a fantastic hike until my shoe broke.

Tip 1--Don't hike in flip flops.
Tip 2--Don't climb in flip flops.
Tip 3--Don't break your flip flops.

I didn't feel like lacing up my tennis shoes for such a small hike. And the result? Haha. Such is life.

"That girl isn't wearing shoes!" One observant little girl exclaimed.

Climbing around in bare feet was definitely interesting, but manageable. On the sandy hike back I even convinced Kenz and Jess to join me barefooted.

Tradition #4--Lunch at Sand Dune Arch. The entire park was busy because of UEA, but this popular lunch spot was more full than I have ever seen it. We found a semi secluded corner at the end of the path and had our lunch. Or in my case, lunch-o. (We had a lot of fun writing on our bags after we put together our lunches that morning. The real spanish word for lunch, almuerzo, didn't sound simple enough and so I made up luncho. Much better.)

Jessica's bread slipped and the corner touched the ground, resulting in a real sand-wich. Hence the sad puppy face.

Lunch was delicious and we had tomatoes in our sandwiches! Real tomatoes! For a starving college student that was manna from heaven. The fruit snacks and granola bars and the "Ac-ti-vi-AA!" (to keep us regular) was also a wonderful completion to our meal.

Tradition #5--Duck Faces at Sand Dune Arch. A few years ago we brought Pringles on our lunch excursion, and duck faces were made and pictures taken. Now it it just tradition. Mom forgot the Pringles but luckily dear Robyn remembered and sent them with Shae. So, faces were made. Mom took forever taking the picture which resulted in me drooling, so I said, "ahm rooling." Jessica erupted in explosive laughter and broke her duck bill--because she was drooling too. Many similar incidences occurred and there was a smattering of "lizard food" on the ground by the time we left. ( I just realized that this picture looks like I'm the lead singer of a duck band with my three backup singers behind...)

After this we decided that any further hikes in Arches National Park would also be overflowing with humans and so we decided to hike Corona Arch, beyond the border of Arches.

There are three things of special note en route to Corona Arch:
1. Elephants as far as the eye can see.
2. The perfect place for damsel-tied-to-the-railroad-tracks pictures.
3. A section of climbing that makes you feel like a seasoned climber.

We came to a consensus on this trip that in Moab and the surrounding areas there are elephants EVERYWHERE. One large circular rock with a crevice for an ear, one mountain with an arch as its trunk, one elephant foot at the base of an arch, three long bumps that look like a chain of elephants holding one another's tails. Heavenly Father must love elephants. I've found one in the sky before, attempting to make my own constellation.

The railroad tracks lie near the beginning of the hike. I don't know if they are in use anymore, but the curving canyon makes for some pretty splendid pictures.

Tradition #5--Everyone has a damsel in distress picture on the railroad. It was Jessica's turn--the newbie.

Climbing on the Red Rock, scaling walls, looking for new paths, and following the elusive path of cairns all makes one feel adventurous. This particular section is steep and fairly impossible to climb, so they have a steel cable and steps carved into the rock to facilitate travelers. We have contests to see who can climb down without touching the rope, and it is always the scene of picture taking.

On the way back Shae and Mom were slap happy. The phrase "Julier, Julied to me!" resulted in a new language, the first word of every sentence (and eventually every word) began with J. (This is my mother mind you, that's where I got my crazy from.) My mom said, "Jook! Jelophants!" and then Shae exclaimed, "Jo my goodness!" This made my mother laugh so hard she couldn't walk. This method of speaking continued and we added "Joops!" to our repertoire. My mom said, "This could be bad, we might end up swearing on accident..." But we concluded that there are no swear words that begin with J.

Tradition #5--Dinner at Ray's Tavern. Now Jessica has officially been to a bar. I apologize to her mother. We ate outside if it's any consolation! My mom successfully offended the waiter twice, and we hope that he didn't spit in her cheeseburger. But Ray's has some mighty fine burgers, you betcha.

DAY TWO:

Tradition #6--Try something new! Robyn found a new hike in Goblin Valley that she wanted to try out called Wild Horse Canyon. It was so wonderful! I think it's my new favorite. You definitely feel adventurous walking through a tight slot canyon, jumping over rocks, scaling the walls, and needing a hand up in a few places.

The rocks were a sight to behold as well. On the way in they were all slanted downward and on the way out they reached up. It was almost like two separate hikes.

Not quite the same place, but you get the point...up/down

Jessica and I found some indian clay to play with, and we kept our eye out for cool rocks. We always lagged behind but we were enjoying the scenery and contentment. The climbing was sure fun though. There were a few places that scared me, I'm not as fearless as I used to be, but I survived them!

We walked back and a few carloads started for home while we continued on to Goblin Valley. I'd never been inside the park before, neither had my mom, so we decided to go play. I thought it was amazing that they just turn you lose on the rocks, you can climb all over them, run around, pretty much no rules. It was such an amazing place, and it really did look like Goblins. So we clambered on top of especially strange ones and took funny pictures. There were a lot of people there, but there was so much space that it didn't matter.

Yes, that ninja star is me.

When we reached the top of the mini mountain we saw the large gray mound in the distance, and we knew that we had to climb it. The three of us (Jessica, McKenzie, and me) ran/jogged all the way to the mound, paused for breath, and then climbed the monstrous beast.

We then ran most of the way back to the car, getting in that cardio workout. That was killer, but I did get a good amount of exercise over fall break!

The drive home was mostly a lengthy conversation about childhood, family trips, and memory. I'm fairly certain that Jessica now knows my life story, from beginning to end.

Moab, I love you. This tradition will always stay.