Dave and I camped in Moab over Memorial Day weekend with some family & friends. All in all we had a fabulous time.
The low point of the trip was a few isolated moments on our first mountain bike trail. We ran into a convoy of 30 people each driving their own motorized contraption in a single file line. Just for reference, members of this group sported leather pants, sleeveless belly shirts (yes, the men too), tight perms, and camo bandanas. The demographics varied; so our guess is some backwoods family decided Moab would make a great reunion locale. Unfortunately they were novice drivers traveling at approximately 5 MPH (about the speed of us on our mountain bikes). So there was a lot of jockeying back and forth; fighting for trail time. Several times they stopped with no signs of moving, so we had to attempt a climb or decent past them, while their beady eyes bore down on us. They always stopped in the middle of the trail, right on top of the easiest route, leaving maybe 2 feet of clearance room past their vehicle. My 3 athlete companions made the passes seamlessly while I totally buckled under the spectator pressure. I wiped out HARD not once, not twice, but FOUR times with-in arms reach of the caravan. It was as if they were watching TV b/c their eyes were fixated on me, merely inches away, but they didn’t seek any interaction. You know, like ask “Are you ok? Do you need a Band-Aid to stop the bleeding? Would it help if me and my ridiculous posse moved to the right a little?” I was close to flipping one jeep off – but decided not to bring more shame upon myself.
The highlight of the trip was definitely the camera miracle. On day 3 we realized our camera was missing. After searching the jeep and campsite, we could only conclude it had fallen out of Dave’s pocket while driving the 15 mile dessert/dirt road to our campsite. (Note the jeep didn’t have doors on it, so the camera landed somewhere in the middle of the dessert while we traveled at 50 MPH). When we got home Dave called one of the visitor’s centers to ask if they had a lost & found. I still can’t quite believe it, but someone actually happened upon our black camera case in the middle of the dessert, thought to get off their bike or out of their jeep to pick it up, realized it was a new nice camera, hauled it to a visitor’s center probably 20 miles away, and turned it in. Definitely a Moab miracle.
6 comments:
I think the real low point of the trip was the realization that the marshmallows were ate with our smores were some funky brand and were synthetic. After we had all had our fill we through the rest of the bag in the fire and watched in amazement that the mallows never caught on fire. They just melted and maintained their perfect whiteness in spite of being surrounded with fire and smoke. The highlight had to be JD's auto talk with all the Jeepers on the trail.
JD: Good job tackling that obsticle.
Jeeper 1: It's the machine. I'm just a man.
JD: Nice machine.
Jeeper 1: It's the 32s. (Referring to the size of the tires)
JD: Those are some really nice - (pauses to look at the make of the tire) Wranglers.
Jeeper 1: (Looks at JD and drives off)
is there something wrong with camoflage bandanas? i just bought one from value drug. i've been looking for one of it's kind for years. now i'm not sure i can wear it! :) maybe if i don't wear it with my belly tank top.
sounds fun. except, you know, the camping part.
That was another funny thing. Camo. I brought my new baggy camo shorts that I love, plan to wear all summer, and previously thought were quite unique and hip. But in Moab, there is nothing unique about Camo. In fact I think 1 in every 3 people there was wearing camo pants, shorts, shirt, full body jumpsuit, etc. And I didn't get the feeling it was because they think camo is "hip." The Moabites seems more like the type to wear camo for necessity...you know so they can hide from a deer while hunting.
so great that you got your camera back! i think people are so much nicer while on vacation... pace of life slows way down making them happier about life in general and more apt to do good! --when we were in moab a few months ago, joe totally backed into a jeep at gemini bridges (no witnesses). if we'd have been in crazy fast paced denver, we totally would've bailed without a second thought (you know, b.c we would have needed the cash it would have cost to fix the dang thing to feed our hungry babes!) but, since we were in "do-good mode", still taking in the fantastic desert high, we ended up leaving a note, and then paying the $344 that it cost to fix the dang thing. --that person, who found your camera, is probably wishing they'd have kept it for themselves right about now!!!!! lucky for you they were in "happy vacation mode" at the time!
you are so right Leslie. I know this because I must have been in vacation mode too. I don't think I scolded Dave once for losing our camera...I think I even avoided that mean stare I do when I'm trying not to say anything, but just can't help myself.
If only everyone was always on vacation...although then there would be a lot of traffic jams. people drive WAY too slow when they are on vacation.
ps - total bummer about the jeep!
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