Moab- Day 3

I was awake several times during the night, but it's not what you're thinking. I woke up for the sole purpose of telling Hubby how happy I was! Isn't that completely bonkers! The mattress did indeed hold air, the blankets were snoogly warm, and I was able to sleep on my back, unmoving, for most of the night! You may be thinking that's no big deal, but remember the fused back issue? I haven't been able to sleep on my back for over 11 years! But as the sun trickled over the horizon that morning, I jokingly told Hubby that I was considering getting rid of our bed at home because I had slept so well that night. Yay for me! Hubby also slept well that night and I have the picture to prove it. :)

That morning we were well rested and moving a little easier so the hot cocoa and breakfast was even better! It makes me laugh that some of the kiddos didn't stir until the tantalizing smells reached them, but I suppose that is the perk of being a teenager, right? Someday it will be up to them to cook for their own families, but right now they are my little ones to care for, even if two of them are eighteen!

I love how established campfires light up so easily in the brisk mornings. We had burned the coals so hot the night before that they were only resting.. as soon as the wood hit the hot bed, we were back in business with a cozy morning fire to accompany the cocoa, bacon and eggs. We also had a front row seat to the Fins N Things entrance so we watched the Jeeps, bicyclists and motorcycles approach the watery entrance with caution before heading straight up the rock. It was grand entertainment!

Linzie had talked us into letting her learn to ride the Raptor the day before and she was eager to hit the trails once again. The Raptor is my own four-wheeler and it is a bit more powerful than the Hondas the girls usually ride so until that trip, I hadn't really shared it with anyone other than Hubby. It took her some time to get used to the clutch and the different feel of the Raptor's gears, but I could tell she was proud to be doing something the other girls hadn't really tried, and it also meant that more kids could go on group rides together.

Back in my youth (forever ago!) we would go on camping trips and we had motorcycles to ride, but we never really camped anywhere like Sand Flats Road. I remember getting in trouble with fellow campers (can't blame them) for the constant noise and dust we stirred up as we rode in endless circles at the end of the campground loop.  Looking back, I cannot imagine how riding in circles was fun, but trust me when I tell you that we loved it! I can only imagine how awesome it would have been to have endless trails right outside our camp and the freedom that would have brought! Of course, I am certain that my cousin, Brandon, and I still would have found some sort of mayhem to stress our parents, but at least they wouldn't have had the Ranger breathing down their necks and issuing citations for noise.

After checking and refilling the fuel in the four-wheelers, the girls were off once again! We could see them from time to time, riding off in the distance. How I loved watching them having fun! At one point, Mom pointed out that they were circling a Juniper tree out in an open area. Round and round they went! I laughed out loud when I realized that Emily was the leader on that ride.. she deliberately circled the tree over and over to see how long they were willing to follow her! Haha! You gotta love that girl's sense of humor!

How do you eat Grandma's delicious cookies while wearing helmets?

THAT'S how!

 After the morning camp clean-up, we talked about heading into Arches National Park for a few hours. My niece, Ella, was with us on this trip and she had not seen Arches before and we wanted her to be as amazed as our girls were the year before. As you might imagine, it takes some time to organize and move a group as large as ours. Four-wheelers had to be parked, helmets stowed, cameras gathered from various safe places, drinks and snacks had to be moved to the vehicles and finally, seating arrangements had to be worked out. It's a process!


The only good thing about the truck being broken down was that I got to ride in the same vehicle with Hubby. I enjoyed talking with him and holding his hand as we wound our way through the campgrounds and past Slickrock, toward town to check on the truck once again. I am such a sap! In love with being in love.. I know, you don't want to hear the mushy stuff.. so suffice it to say that I was a happy camper that morning, sharing the ride into town with my sweetheart and a few of the girls.

We were surprised (and, admittedly a little sad) to learn that the truck was fixed! It was not the fuel pump as Hubby suspected, but something called an ignition coil. I don't pretend to understand auto-mumbo jumbo. I thought if the car was started then the ignition was hunky dory and all was right in the world. If that's the case, then tell me how a truck just stops running when it is cruising down the freeway at 75mph?  Hubby tried to explain it to me, but something shiny distracted me and I forgot to listen. ;) We only had to wait 30 min for the owner to return to the shop to write up the invoice so we could take the truck with us. We talked about killing time by going to Hole In The Rock, but ultimately we decided we would rather spend our money on t-shirts rather than admission to a house carved into a rock.

Mom suggested we go check out the little market store nearby to kill some time so we headed down the street, looking for adventure. Unfortunately, it was just a regular grocery store.. but that didn't stop the girls from spending over 30 minutes in the store anyway. They were enjoying the modern restrooms with flush toilets.. can you blame them? We were staying at a campsite with those horrible pit toilets.. *shudder*  The girls were actually gone so long that we started joking about how they must be giving each other "swirlies" and then blow drying their hair with the hand dryers affixed to the walls. I actually didn't mind that they took so long because I was enjoying people-watching! I'm not sure what it is about Moab that gives the atmosphere a carefree feel, but I was content as I watched the Jeeps drive past in a constant flow down main street.

She thought this sign meant "I love you" but she forgot to put out her thumb so what she was REALLY signing was "Rock ON!"  Rock on, Mama!

 Eventually the girls sauntered out of the store and we went to pick up the truck. It was a huge bummer that it cost over $400 to fix something that Hubs could have replaced for $60 if we had been at home, but under the circumstances there was nothing else that we could have done. The girls re-arranged their seating plans so that some of them could go with Hubby in the truck, and I held in the pout over not being able to ride with my sweetie anymore.  I always remind myself that one of these days the girls will be grown and won't be with us on trips anymore.. when that day comes, I will be riding in the same vehicle with Hubby, but I will undoubtedly miss my girls, so I focus on being grateful to have our family all together while we can.

Arches was great! When we were there last year it was freezing cold and we would dash back to the vehicle as quickly as possible so we could warm up again. That was not the case this year! We were enjoying the 75 degree weather and we took so many pictures of all the things we enjoyed seeing again. I think one of the most interesting people-watching moments had to be when we saw a German couple trying to parallel park a motorhome on a narrow loop... on the curve! Something about how the lady was yelling to the man in German just cracked me up! I'll give them credit for having guts, but I still wonder how the little car behind them ever managed to get out of that tight spot once the motorhome was parked!

I would like to give Mom and award for wearing so many white shirts while camping in red dirt. I think she must have a special force field!

Did I mention we were sunburned at this point? In spite of the sunscreen, several of us were sporting burned necks, faces, and ears. The chapstick made the rounds as we tried to keep the desert from mummifying our lips and through it all we just smiled. We were having a great time! Hubby also mentioned to me several times that he was impressed with the general good attitudes of the kids. When you have that many personalities in a confined space, there are bound to be clashes.. but the girls handled them with aplomb so everyone could continue to enjoy the vacation.

Burned neck, REALLY burned ears, and burned cheeks! Even with sunscreen.. :|

 We returned to camp in time for Hubby to set up his grill. (His favorite part!) Hubby loves all things food when on vacation and we just let him lead. He grilled up steak, burgers and bratwurst.. enough to feed an army. Seriously, where is this army that we keep preparing to feed? There was still so much leftover after everyone ate as much as they wanted. But again, Hubby was happy in his grilling element so it was all good!

 We concluded our day with sunset rock hiking near Slickrock, more campfire, more S'mores, more Russian, and contentment all around. We didn't stay up very late though because the sunburns made for sleepy campers... and we knew we had to hurry and get rested for the big day ahead of us!

I am so excited to tell you about Day 4!