CONTINUED from PART 1
So after laughing hysterically over this bathroom (if you can or should even call it that), we continued with birthday festivites! Time to open some presents via lantern (running water here, but no electricity), more fun laughing at Dave’s shadow - I think we were just in a contagious laughing mood!
And then the boys went out to star gaze (Dave brought his telescope with us). As they were doing their thing, I pulled out the “hidden” birthday cake, stuck a candle in it and walked outside singing “Happy Birthday” shielding the candle from the wind and giggling along the way. I think we have succeded in definitely giving Dave his STRANGEST birthday ever! Can we go to bed now?
I’ll have you know that I had high aspirations of waking up before the crack of dawn to go out on a hike in Arches National Park, hike up to an arch of choice and get some awesome sunrise shots - Why you ask? Because that’s the type of thing that I do!….Well although Dave reluctantly said he was up to it and Dominic (although not an early bird) has proven himself a gamer at things like this - he enjoys the adventure and the fact that he can fall back asleep in the car until we arrive at the trailhead!
Anyhow, being that this was Dave’s birthday weekend, I decided that I wouldn’t torture him and I would let us all actually get a bit of sleep. I have been to Arches before and I’ll be back again for “that” type of trip.
So after laughing hysterically over this bathroom (if you can or should even call it that), we continued with birthday festivites! Time to open some presents via lantern (running water here, but no electricity), more fun laughing at Dave’s shadow - I think we were just in a contagious laughing mood!
And then the boys went out to star gaze (Dave brought his telescope with us). As they were doing their thing, I pulled out the “hidden” birthday cake, stuck a candle in it and walked outside singing “Happy Birthday” shielding the candle from the wind and giggling along the way. I think we have succeded in definitely giving Dave his STRANGEST birthday ever! Can we go to bed now?
I’ll have you know that I had high aspirations of waking up before the crack of dawn to go out on a hike in Arches National Park, hike up to an arch of choice and get some awesome sunrise shots - Why you ask? Because that’s the type of thing that I do!….Well although Dave reluctantly said he was up to it and Dominic (although not an early bird) has proven himself a gamer at things like this - he enjoys the adventure and the fact that he can fall back asleep in the car until we arrive at the trailhead!
Anyhow, being that this was Dave’s birthday weekend, I decided that I wouldn’t torture him and I would let us all actually get a bit of sleep. I have been to Arches before and I’ll be back again for “that” type of trip.
Rise and shine on Saturday morning! We all get ourselves ready for the day and head out. Pull the canvas to the side (opening the “door”) and take in the vast beauty that is surrounding us! Off to breakfast - I chose Eklecticafe based of it having vegan options. This was a groovy little joint that had a line out the front door. A few tables on the inside, a porch with seating, and an area of patio tables. Dominic ordered a breakfast burrito with tofu instead of eggs and substituted avocado for the cheese, he enjoyed almost every bite of it…until he bit into a pepper from Hell that quite literally made tears stream down his face! Spicy stuff!
Dave and I had a scrambled tofu with breakfast potatoes and a thick slice of homemade seeded whole wheat toast! Plus they even had Earth Balance as an option instead of butter! Woo Hoo!
After our hearty breakfast it was time to go burn some calories and tear up some of these trails! For some advice, we stopped into the tourism center and asked for suggestions on “easy” mountain biking trails (are any of them actually “easy”?!) because this was to be Dominic’s first time mountain biking! Sooooo many places to choose from!
This is of course THE Mountain Biking capital of the WORLD!
Dave and I had a scrambled tofu with breakfast potatoes and a thick slice of homemade seeded whole wheat toast! Plus they even had Earth Balance as an option instead of butter! Woo Hoo!
After our hearty breakfast it was time to go burn some calories and tear up some of these trails! For some advice, we stopped into the tourism center and asked for suggestions on “easy” mountain biking trails (are any of them actually “easy”?!) because this was to be Dominic’s first time mountain biking! Sooooo many places to choose from!
This is of course THE Mountain Biking capital of the WORLD!
We were pointed in the direction of MOAB Brand Focus Area, and so we went. At first Dominic was a bit uneasy and wasn’t familiar with the gears, but after a while of flats he became more confidant and we were then able to explore some more of this Wild West!
In the far off distance you can see Balance Rock and the Arches landscape, in the foreground the tiny little wildflowers were bursting in vivid lavenders, purples, yellows, whites, reds, and oranges! We worked up quite a sweat, Dominic did awesome and it was all well worth it and so very much fun! Next was lunch in the truck on our way to enter Arches National Park.
In the far off distance you can see Balance Rock and the Arches landscape, in the foreground the tiny little wildflowers were bursting in vivid lavenders, purples, yellows, whites, reds, and oranges! We worked up quite a sweat, Dominic did awesome and it was all well worth it and so very much fun! Next was lunch in the truck on our way to enter Arches National Park.
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Neither Dave nor Dominic had ever been here before and they were both AMAZED with the geology and landscape of this amazing park (it happens to be one of my top NP favorites!) We drove around and Dave stopped at almost EVERY view point to get out and take pictures. I was most eager for us to get to the Delicate Arch trail (one I missed out on last time). When we arrived at the trailhead, we suited up for the short (3 mile roundtrip) hike. I was hoping to get up there in time for some awesome sunset shots! But, being that this was a very overcast and cloudy sort of day that aspect wasn’t looking too promising. And so as we made our way up the slick-rock, it started to drizzle on us. A little water never stopped me! We continued our way up and made it to this most famous Arch of the over 2000 located at this park! By now it had already stopped drizzling, however I think the weather must have scared away other hikers, as we had the place almost to ourselves…kinda unheard of when it comes to “this” Arch and especially at sunset! So although the lighting wasn’t the greatest for my awesome sunset shots, the stunning scenery and lack of tourists definitely made up for it!
Next was the hike back down and time for some grub…dinner that is! It was gonna be Thai food tonight. We drove out of the park and into the center of Moab, the rain was really coming down at this point and we watched a lovely display of lightening in the distance. We arrived at Singha Thai restaurant, each of us ordering noodle dishes made vegan - I think we were all craving carbs after all of our busy day of activites!
Then finally back to our camp for the night. We made it back during a break from all the rain. And just as Dave (the last of us) walked into our tent - the downpour started and didn’t stop until morning. I’m thinking that I/we fell asleep sometime around 11:30p, only for me to be awakened at 1:30a by the crazy winds and loud rain falling on the canvas above us, the activity level outside was awfully high, a horn blew and there were lights being shined, shadows moving about…were we being evacuated?! That was all I could think of!
So as I lay there, throughly enjoying the sound of the rain (my favorite!), and not falling asleep, but in the back of my head was that damn waiver that I signed! Ugh!
Well, I eventually did fall back asleep and we weren’t evacuated after all.
The rain had stopped by the morning and the skies were beyond beautiful.
I don’t think I could tire of this view!
We packed up, checked out, and went to have breakfast at Eklecticafe again. While we were driving into town the rain had started again and I was crossing my fingers for one of those few indoor tables!
Again we found the line out the door, and this time knew that it WAS worth it! I did manage to snag a table just as another family was getting up from their meal, Dave and I decided to try the Roasted Vegetables and Polenta breakfast this morning, Dominic went with that 1 pounder breakfast burrito again and while it rained cats and dogs outside, we were dry and cozy eating our Mother’s day breakfast, and realizing that Mountain Biking was out of the question for today, but we would still squeeze in some souvenir shopping and a bit more hiking/exploring of Arches National Park…
Hey I planned ahead…we have ponchos - from ‘Maid of the Mist’! If you are a traveler like me, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about, and it should bring a smile to your face!
Sure we left later than we had planned, because I guess in many ways we didn’t really want to leave at all - but I still didn’t get to see my Mommy or my little Cosette (who chose not to come, knowing that THIS wasn’t her type of trip)!
That storm we had encountered must’ve been pretty darn sizable, since once we got back on the i70 around the Manit-La Sal National Forest area there was probably around a foot of new snow covering the ground for as far as the eye can see and lasted well into after we were back on the i15 heading south for miles and miles and miles.
Then finally back to our camp for the night. We made it back during a break from all the rain. And just as Dave (the last of us) walked into our tent - the downpour started and didn’t stop until morning. I’m thinking that I/we fell asleep sometime around 11:30p, only for me to be awakened at 1:30a by the crazy winds and loud rain falling on the canvas above us, the activity level outside was awfully high, a horn blew and there were lights being shined, shadows moving about…were we being evacuated?! That was all I could think of!
So as I lay there, throughly enjoying the sound of the rain (my favorite!), and not falling asleep, but in the back of my head was that damn waiver that I signed! Ugh!
Well, I eventually did fall back asleep and we weren’t evacuated after all.
The rain had stopped by the morning and the skies were beyond beautiful.
I don’t think I could tire of this view!
We packed up, checked out, and went to have breakfast at Eklecticafe again. While we were driving into town the rain had started again and I was crossing my fingers for one of those few indoor tables!
Again we found the line out the door, and this time knew that it WAS worth it! I did manage to snag a table just as another family was getting up from their meal, Dave and I decided to try the Roasted Vegetables and Polenta breakfast this morning, Dominic went with that 1 pounder breakfast burrito again and while it rained cats and dogs outside, we were dry and cozy eating our Mother’s day breakfast, and realizing that Mountain Biking was out of the question for today, but we would still squeeze in some souvenir shopping and a bit more hiking/exploring of Arches National Park…
Hey I planned ahead…we have ponchos - from ‘Maid of the Mist’! If you are a traveler like me, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about, and it should bring a smile to your face!
Sure we left later than we had planned, because I guess in many ways we didn’t really want to leave at all - but I still didn’t get to see my Mommy or my little Cosette (who chose not to come, knowing that THIS wasn’t her type of trip)!
That storm we had encountered must’ve been pretty darn sizable, since once we got back on the i70 around the Manit-La Sal National Forest area there was probably around a foot of new snow covering the ground for as far as the eye can see and lasted well into after we were back on the i15 heading south for miles and miles and miles.
Until next time Moab, until next time..
“It’s all about the attitude - either I will find a way or I will make one!”
Tanya
For your further interest:
Wynn Restaurants - http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/Restaurants
Ronalds Donuts - http://www.yelp.com/biz/ronalds-donuts-las-vegas
Stratosphere Rides - http://www.stratospherehotel.com/Tower/Rides
Moab Brewery - http://www.themoabbrewery.com
Moab Under Canvas - http://www.moabundercanvas.com
Eklecticafe - http://www.yelp.com/biz/eklecticafe-moab
Earth Balance - http://earthbalancenatural.com
Moab - http://www.discovermoab.com/biking.htm
Arches National Park - http://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm
Singha Thai - http://www.yelp.com/biz/sing-ha-thai-cuisine-moab
“It’s all about the attitude - either I will find a way or I will make one!”
Tanya
For your further interest:
Wynn Restaurants - http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/Restaurants
Ronalds Donuts - http://www.yelp.com/biz/ronalds-donuts-las-vegas
Stratosphere Rides - http://www.stratospherehotel.com/Tower/Rides
Moab Brewery - http://www.themoabbrewery.com
Moab Under Canvas - http://www.moabundercanvas.com
Eklecticafe - http://www.yelp.com/biz/eklecticafe-moab
Earth Balance - http://earthbalancenatural.com
Moab - http://www.discovermoab.com/biking.htm
Arches National Park - http://www.nps.gov/arch/index.htm
Singha Thai - http://www.yelp.com/biz/sing-ha-thai-cuisine-moab
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