Moab in January

I've been horrible at updating my blog. I think that it is because I get so far behind and think I need to catch up. I also think I have a problem thinking that I have to include all of my photos.  Well I am not going to catch up, but I will still add lots of photos.  

We went to Moab last weekend. Derek had a swim meet there, so it was a great excuse to take a short little weekend vacation. We had a great time. Derek did well at his swim meet. He took one 1st place, two 2nd place, and one 8th place. He's really doing well with his swimming.  After the swim meet we got to go play. We wanted to be sure and see Delicate Arch so that was the first thing we did. The weather cooperated pretty good Saturday afternoon, and it was just right for a 3 mile hike. There were about 5 families from Vernal that all hiked together. All the kids did great and Delicate Arch was as beautiful as ever! 

 I love how Brynli is trying to make Aubrey smile in this picture.

 Oh, what a cute family I have.

The weather was a little cold on Sunday, but we still wanted to do some hiking and see more of Arches National Park. We only played for about half the day before the kids were cold and ready to go home. We had a great time, even if it was cold. I just love Moab and Arches National Park. I think it is beautiful and a lot of fun. Here are some pictures from the rest of our trip.

 I couldn't resist taking this picture. Do you think she wants to be a plumber when she grows up?

 Landscape Arch 

 Derek and Sterling Merrell found these cool "walking sticks". They were pretty proud of themselves. Yeah, we made them leave the sticks.

 All that hiking completely wore out the little ones. Aubrey slept like that for almost a mile. 

Great Family Memories!

Moab Adventure

Wyatt and I had a great, much needed, weekend in Moab. We hadn't been away, just the two of us, for 3 1/2 years. Thanks to Alys, Melanie, and Megan for watching all the kids and making it possible for us to go. It was great to not have to worry about the kids. We took our mountain bikes to do some trails in Moab. Moab has great mountain bike trails. Wyatt has been with "the guys" before, but I have never mountain biked in Moab. In fact I haven't done much mountain biking. I got a new, full suspension, Gary Fisher last summer. I ride it a lot on family bike rides, some longer bike rides on the road, and even a few mountain bike trails here in town, but I still feel that I have not used this bike to it's potential... until this weekend. The bike and I both got a great workout. Like I said, I'm a novice rider, so I was both nervous and excited about this trip. My husband, on the other hand, is very experienced and maybe even leans toward extreme (probably where my nervousness came from). We left Friday morning after we got all the kids to school and to the babysitter. As we approached Moab it was still too early to check into the Bed & Breakfast, so we decided to hit a trail on our way into town. We did the Klondike Bluffs trail. This was a great trail to start with. It had a pretty good uphill, but it was doable. Then we took a short hike to a beautiful overlook of Arches National Park. Then the downhill was a lot of fun. I decided that this must be the girls trail. We saw quite a few couples as we rode the trail, and even one group of all girls. After this ride I felt much more confident about riding. I felt pretty good and I was ready for some more riding. But I don't think I was quite ready for what was to come.

Saturday we decided to do the Slick Rock trail. I was a little nervous, especially after reading it's ratings in the trail guide. The ratings were as follows... Grunt Factor: (10) very tough roller coaster ride-lots of short steeps; Techno Factor: (10) very difficult, very steep ups/downs on rock; Fear Factor: (10) very scary in spots. The Klondike Bluffs trail we had already done was rated (5, 3, 3), so all 10's was a little intimidating. Wyatt assured me that I could do it. He said, "You can't come mountain biking in Moab without doing Slick Rock". I made sure that I prayed Saturday morning. I wanted to live through my Moab adventure.  After a great breakfast we hit the trail at about 9:00 a.m. The weather was overcast and rainy, but at least it wasn't scorching hot. We started with the practice loop which added another 2 miles to the 13 mile ride. It was a very intense, tough ride. I did my share of walking. I either powered out on the really steep uphills, or chickened out on the really steep, scary downhills. I got pretty good at my dismount. No more not being able to clip out of my clipless pedals. My husband was awesome! He would ride his bike to the top of the tough hills, and then walk down to were I was and push my bike up so I just had to walk up. He was really good to wait for me and tell me how good I was doing, even though I know I was totally holding him back. It was not the same experience as when he goes with the guys. This wasn't the girly ride like Klondike Bluffs. We saw one other couple that turned back shortly after starting. Then we saw another younger girl who was with a group of guys, who finished the trail. There were two other girls just starting as we finished, so I'm not sure if they finished or not. We saw a lot more guys than girls. As Wyatt was waiting for me in one spot, there was a guy that passed by him and said, "You've got one tough chic". I'm sure he was pretty proud at that point. I really felt like a tough chic. I completed Slick Rock! I may have walked some, and cursed more than I'd like to admit (sorry mom), but I completed Slick Rock, in the rain no less. It rained the whole time and we were drenched by the time we were finished. Our original plan was to ride two trails on Saturday, but after 4 1/2 hours of Slick Rock, and with the rain still coming down, I was spent after one. We went back to our room, showered, got something to eat, shopped and just relaxed. It was a great weekend! We had a lot of fun (it was fun after we finished), and I was quite proud of my accomplishment. I really enjoy mountain biking and would like to do more of it. We'd like to make this an annual event. If anyone would like to come with us next time let us know. We would love to have company.