Jeep Safari

 2012

This morning as I drove to the office I couldn't help but notice all the Jeeps heading south to Moab. This week is the Easter Jeep Safari run by the Red Rock 4-Wheelers club. A whole week of Jeeps riding trails all culminating in "Big Saturday" where every side street in the city has a line up of cars and people line the main drag to wave as the rigs take to the trails.



2008

This year, so many things came along that we ended up deciding not to go. Though I don't regret deciding to not go, seeing those Jeeps and  knowing where they were going did make me a little sad that we wouldn't be joining them this year - especially since it is bound to be a glorious week with wonderful weather. At the very least, I am certainly saving myself from a bad sunburn. We've gone every year since 2006 and I've not once returned from Moab without a very uneven, very red sunburn.



2006

Dear Moab, We will see you again soon!

Moab 2012

And, we are back. The annual East Jeep Safari has come and gone. Another year's worth of dirt and scratches have been added to the trusty jeep. Another year's worth of stress lines have been added to our brows. We are safe. We are happy. We are satiated for another year.

In the old days, you had to carry your jeep down the trail, on your shoulder, uphill both ways

Scott finds a good use for the free beer cozy's. Not only does he have stylin' wristbands but if he gets into a bar fight, his knuckles will be protected.

Every year we put our raffle ticket in the big round spinning cage with thousands of others in hopes of winning a set of tires or new transfer case. Every year we walk away three hours later with nothing (OK, I lied, we walk away 1.5 hours later because we can't stand the sitting around. But that's only after they say "well folks, we're about halfway done!").

My handsome driver

"breaker, breaker, we need a 10-100"

Who is this girl? I would have thought it'd be me caught reading a book in the downtime not Linda

Dan gives a cheeser after Mexican food. Food makes us happy!

"I'm King of the World!"



"Easter Egg Hill"this obstacle is called. Check out that tire, it's barely even touching the rock.



I only wish I could capture the obstacles with my camera like I can with my eyes. No real room between rocks in many places

This is "The Intimidator" doesn't look like much but there is a big drop off to the right.

As the driver, you can't see how far you are from the edge. And of course there's a huge rock on the Driver's side that forces you right to that edge. Thank heaven's for good spotters.



We love you Moab.



Red Rocks Rock!

For Easter, this cute couple went To Moab to do this
with this cute couple.They stayed in this nice townhome instead of camping as in past years. The first trail was Hey Joe Canyon and was a beautiful little drive along the cliff face and down into the canyon next to the Colorado River - then came this:the scratchy tamarisk tunnels of death!The second trail was Porcupine Rim and despite a drizzly rain at the start and a cloud at the top
the view was amazing and the trail was challenging and a lot of fun. Once again, I reaffirmed that this is a wonderful spring tradition and I love to be a part of the Easter Jeep Safari!

After a day of dusty trails, we got to come back home to the townhome and look at this. I'm pretty sure it beats the campground every time.

A Most Ingenious Paradox

As you may know, we have an annual tradition to visit the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab with the Ontiveros'. Easter of 2009 was missed, however, due due to both families having 6 week old babies. To make up for it, we decided a Labor Day trip was in order. Linda, queen of KSL and Craig's List, found a little rental home in Paradox, CO, about an hour and a half southeast of Moab. Absolution Ranch is a small 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with lots of acreage. We were a little bit worried that we might end up in Paradox to find that there was no home to stay in and our rent, prepaid for the weekend, had been absconded. We were relieved to find a lovely little ranch right where the landlord said it should be. We arrived Friday evening and after we explored, the boys grilled steaks on the back patio while Linda and I settled in and checked blogs with the home's free wireless Internet connection.

Saturday morning we got up for a lazy breakfast at 8, puttered around until around 11, and then headed to see the town of Ouray. On the way there, we pulled of the highway to take some pictures of pictographs. I imagine they are ancient! I call this, man with long arms.Then, on our way to Ouray. We were bound for the hot springs. The drive was a little bit further than we anticipated (about 4 hours round trip) but the drive through the mountains was beautiful and the hot spring pool was so relaxing. The town of Ouray reminds me of Park City in that it is an old mining town, but it is less expensive. I really enjoyed it. And, you can't beat sitting in a hot pool with the mountains towering over you!

Saturday night while I was in the middle of making spaghetti for dinner (yum) the power went out in the valley. Luckily, we were using a gas stove so we found some candles and ending up having a nice little dinner by candlelight. After about 2 hours the lights came back on which was nice considering that when the power goes out, the well pump does too so we had no water with which to flush toilets! We were getting a bit desperate and were starting to think of creative bathroom solutions before bed.

Sunday morning the boys went for a ride on the dirt bikes in the hills behind the ranch while we girls scrapbooked. Boy, I haven't done that in ages and I'm afraid that I don't really know what it cool anymore. I did my best and with colorful papers and great pictures, I did some acceptable - even cute - pages for Maddy's scrapbook. After we had a late lunch, we went back up into the hills to fish. The boys had found a wonderful viewing spot and we took tons of pictures of our little valley. Linda had great eyes and spotted a black bear across the way. That was really neat. I've never seen a bear in the wild before. We were on the next ridge over so I felt safe while viewing. The best way to go if you ask me.

We fished in Buckeye Reservoir and Dan and I each caught a trout. Scott said that since I caught it, I was in charge of it. That meant that I had to kill it, clean it, prepare it, and cook it. We added it to our dinner and my pride at catching my dinner was only damped a bit by the fact that I wanted lemon juice with my fish.

Monday morning we got up and tidied up the place. We got back into our jeeps and headed back to Moab for a quick stop at Hole N" The Rock. I've driven past this place several times but never stopped. I thought it had to do with the pioneers and dropping a wagon down a ledge with ropes - not so. This Hole N" the Rock was actually a diner at some point. The Christensen's used it as a stopping place on the way between Moab and Monticello and blasted 14 rooms out of the rock to be their home. We didn't take the 12 minute tour through the house but I did sneak my camera up and over the partition and took an forbidden photo so you could see a bit.

Once we ate lunch we headed towards home. The closer we got the more and more excited I was to see Maddy. She had been at grandma and grandpa's house in Payson and after our call on Sunday, I knew that she wasn't missing me at all. She had so many cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents vying for her attentions and smiles, that I know she probably never had to cry for anything even once!

We drove in and sure enough, Maddy kind of just looked at us and was like "ho hum, I have my cousin Caroman here playing with me and you are home now - whatever". Boy, you don't know that you have missed someone until you see them again! It was a nice break from being a mommy but I was so glad to see her again.

So, that it is. A novel for sure - maybe just a novelette. Scott is reassured that we can still do some things sans children, I am reassured that I can function and not just cry sans children, and Maddy just exists. In case you haven't seen enough pictures, they are all here. Life is good. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for loving Maddy all weekend. We love you!

ps - bonus points to those who know why my title is weird . . . it's from a song . . .

Collage

These are a few cool pictures I took - well I think they are cool.

Easter Jeep Safari

We just got back from our 3rd Annual Ontiveros-Bishop Moab trip. We had such a good time. I will document my trip here but then you should probably check out Linda's blog (if you are a member) because she'll have as good or better narratives and pictures.

We started out on Wednesday afternoon. With the dirt bike in tow, we headed out - destination KOA campground, Moab, Utah. We were packed with lots of cold weather gear since Easter was so early this year. Sure enough, the evenings and mornings were bitter cold. Linda brought a little space heater that we used to warm our hands each morning and evening because without gloves or hands in pockets, they made it to painful rather quickly.

On Thursday morning we headed to the toy rental shop. We rented an ATV for Dan and a Rhino for me and Linda. Scott said that he liked us in the Rhino because he didn't have to worry so much about our safety while we were playing in that. We had a blast!!! That thing is so much fun. The best part was a sandy road that had little slalom hills that we flew over, sending all the gear in the back all over the trail!

After a half day of trail riding, we headed into town to return the toys and do some grocery shopping. We decided this year that we would eat breakfast at camp, make sandwiches for lunch on the trail, but have dinners in town. We have attempted twice now to fix a dinner back at camp with pretty lousy results. Ribs at midnight accompanied by cold potatoes is not the best meal.

Friday we rode a trail called Secret Spire. The picture at the top of this post is the spire. The best part of this day was that it was girl driver day. We specifically picked a trail rated 2 (the lowest rating) so that we could have a chance to drive. I had a blast. I am amazed at the way jeeps are built and how they are geared. Scott had to keep reminding me that I was not driving a car and that I was in 4Low which meant I could just sit back and let the car do the work. No breaking on those downward hills, "just let the engine do it". It was a really great experience and I was grateful that the boys were so sweet to sit back and let us drive for a day - they must have been terribly bored - well, except that they could give us instruction on how to drive and we were totally amenable to it!

Friday evening we headed to the big vendor giveaway - we didn't win anything in the first half hour so we decided to go to dinner. We ate at our favorite stand-by, Miguel's. It is a great Mexican place that doesn't look like much from the street but is fantastic!!

Big Saturday is the culmination of a week's worth of excitement. All the jeeps line the streets ready to be led with police escorts out of town. The locals and the non-jeep tourists line the streets and take pictures. It's a giant parade and nowhere else will you see so many jeeps! Our trail for Saturday was a 4 rated trail - 7-mile Rim. Wow! I could do this one over and over, it was a beautiful trail. We had sand, slickrock, trees, sagebrush, rock monuments, and creek beds. It was lovely. The weather was warm enough for no jackets and windows down but we kept the tops on the jeeps so the dust didn't cover the inside of the jeep like years past.

Our leader only got lost once and we considered the trail a success. I think the boys enjoyed the obstacles on this trail though they weren't as exciting as last year. However, because they weren't as exciting as last year, Linda and I didn't have to worry that our men were going to end up at the bottom of a ravine - good by every one's standards.

For our last dinner out we visited a restaurant up on the top of the hill. It used to be the home of a multi-millionaire miner and had a beautiful view of the sun setting over Moab.

We got home yesterday afternoon, the dogs still remember us, we're back at work today, and the laundry awaits. Boy those weekend vacations just go by way to quickly!