2 more checked off the list

This weekend I was able to check 2 more items off my "30 before 30" list - camping and a trip to Moab. It happened rather quickly, as three of my dear friends decided at 3:00 on Saturday that they were going camping for the night in Moab, Utah (about 4 hours from our house).

I've never been camping (other than church camp, which doesn't count) and never visited Moab, which is weird as a native Utahan since people travel here from all over the country to go there. As mentioned, both were on my list and my friends knew so they invited me and surprisingly (since it was a little out of my comfort zone....to say the least!), I said yes. We left the restaurant where we were eating and immediately went home to pack and leave within an hour. It was super quick but a fun, crazy adventure.

On the way down, one of my friends noticed a little cave off to the side of the highway so we pulled off and went exploring. Again, as a person who never leaves the "normal path", this was so outside my realm, but I liked it. :)  There was a natural waterfall coming off the front of the rocks and completely beautiful.

We made it into town late, found a spot to set up the tent, etc and then went back into town for food.  My friends decided to "introduce" me to camping with a "classic camping meal" - roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.  I will usually tolerate a hot dog at a baseball game, as a courtesy and tribute to the sport and institute of baseball, which deserves the honor; outside of that, hot dogs and I don't see eye-to-eye.  However, I was super hungry and when roasted over a fire, in the camping environment, I was actually quite pleased with my dinner.  As the fire died down, we went on a night hike up one of the nearby sandstone rocks formations and it was incredible.  Similarly to any time you are away from the city lights, you realize how much of the night sky you are missing.  The stars were incredible and it was quite perfect.

The next morning we had breakfast and set out on our four-wheeling experience.  My friend is an experienced Moab trail-rider, which should have made me more confident, but I was super nervous!  He picked Hell's Revenge, which the guide book said had one of the highest levels of difficulty.  Fortunately his car is built for this - and so is his adrenaline level!

Although I was a little panicky (okay, a lot panicky) through many parts, it was also interspersed with beautiful vistas and it reminded me how lucky we are to live in a state that within a four hour drive you can ski or go hiking - all in June.  Here are two of my favorite photos:

This is overlooking the Colorado River.

This was not intended to look like a Land Rover commercial, but it sure does!  The cool part about is that you can see snow capped mountains in the background, and yet the part we were in had a high of 100 degrees on that same day.

After that adventure, we headed into the actual town to check out Moab.  We bought a few souvenirs and found out that some of my friends' family members would be traveling through the town on their way to visit family in the Midwest.  We were fortunate to have lunch with them and then went to a natural spring area for swimming and playing in the waterfall (side note, I actually didn't swim - I didn't realize I should have a swimsuit so I was unprepared, but it was nice just to stick my feet in because it was SO hot).

After that, it was getting late and we wanted to get home at a "decent hour" so we could start the work week off well....or so we thought.  We packed back up in the car, bought treats and started out on the drive home - but within a short distance out of town, it was clearly obvious that the car was not okay.  It had been fine through the afternoon and the first part of the drive, but warning lights started flashing and weird noises were happening so we pulled over.

We tried a variety of options to fix it, but ended up calling a tow truck to take the car back to Salt Lake.  However....the only car rental place in Moab that allowed for one-way rentals is closed on Sunday (thank you very much Enterprise).  We started troubleshooting options (stay the night and rent in the morning, split up and get rides home from random people we knew traveling back, etc), when the tow truck driver said we could stay in the car as he towed it on the flatbed.  Truth be told, I thought this was not legal, but he said it was fine and I wanted to get home so I didn't argue and that is exactly what we did.  All.the.way.home.

The tow truck was so slow going up and down the hills of Price Canyon, but we finally got here.  It was disorienting because every so often, my friend would fall asleep in the driver's seat and then frantically wake up, thinking he was driving, only to remember that we were locked on the truck.  What an end to a whirlwind trip!  I have included a picture of what it looked like riding home in the front seat of a towed car. :)

Although the ending was not what we would have preferred, the trip was great and a fantastic opportunity to check two of my "30 before 30" items from my list.  My actual list says '2 nights of camping' but since this was such a random trip, I think it counts.  And thankfully, I had a good time so I think I will definitely get the official 2 nights out of the way soon.

Moab.  check
Camping.  check

Although "riding home on a flat bed trailer" was not on my list, I might add it because it was so memorable. :)  check