a little MOAB, UT, and a lot of pictures

Location: Moab, UT
Duration: 1 week
Activities: Arches National Park, Dead Horse Point, Sand Flats, rafting down Colorado River, mountain biking at Slick Rock, hiking, camping-----> sleeping in the car, shopping, eating= a great time!

For our anniversary/ryan's birthday gift (rafting trip)/finishing my orientation at work/back to school trip, we headed to Moab, UT. First timer for me and I have to say to anyone who has never gone.. GO. It is one of the most prettiest breathtaking places I've been to and it's great because there are so many things to do outside and enjoy nature. However, pick a good time of the year to go. The end of August was still too warm during mid day, but it was the only time we could go with our schedules.

 The Lazy Lizard:

If and when we go back, i would love to stay here again. It's a hostel (technically) but they have little small cabins to rent as well, which is what we did. It has a queen size bed, a small table with chair, and a little patio. perfect for a party of two!

Arches National Park:

If you are hardcore you can probably do this in 2 FULL days, but it's a lot of hiking and you would be rushed. We spent 3 days and hiked almost every site and we would go early morning to afternoon. There are certain arches they recommend seeing during sunrise and some at sunset. We went and hiked to Delicate Arch (the one on the Utah license plates!) at sunset and that was well worth it. A must! and both of your favorites. It's perfect because as you're waiting for the orange sunset to hit the arch, the surrounding rock forms comfortable stadium seating where all the photographers are waiting to shoot pictures.

Dead Horse Point

Best view of the canyons by far! And the model isn't bad either. :)

Rafting down Colorado River

Thanks Groupon! Half day rafting down Colorado River with lunch for two- I'll take it! B-e-a-utiful day. Partly cloud, warm with a breeze. Plus, there had been rain so the water looked extra muddy! Just imagine the chocolate river from Willy Wonka.

 Camping at Sand Flats

We went camping one night at Sand Flats recreation. We were surprised that out of the whole park, we saw very few people. YES! the WHOLE place to ourselves! We found the best spot, with the best view. Ryan set up camp as I cooked dinner. (Thanks marilyn for the camping stove!) Do you see those dark clouds coming in? Yep. We ended up have a short storm come in and had to wait for it to pass in the tent.

Don't we look so happy? Let's just say this was the last bit of happiness we had before laying our weary heads down for rest. That's when the wind kicked in. And not just kicked it, it kicked, and punched, and beat up our tent SOOO bad. We threw pillows over our head, stuffed our ears with toilet paper, Ryan even wrapped a shirt around his head to try and mute out our tent being blown around like a piece of paper in a tornado. 3 am we headed to the car. And there we slept..Ryan in the driver seat, me in the passenger, trying to salvage some sleep before the beating sunrise came up. Rough night!

Mountaing biking

Next morning: Started out pretty rough from the rough night. It was a little hard to get motivated to go mountain biking, but we sucked it up and took off. I have to say, Ryan was a natural, me not so much. It took awhile to get used to but it was freaking awesome! Beautiful views and a great work out. If only we had some hardcore mountain bikes that took out some of the bump everytime we went over a bumpy rock. Our butts would have thanked us the next day...

Well, now that this has turned into a travel blog i better wrap it up.

Go visit MOAB! :)