Weekend in Moab - the Cliff Notes

Chapter One: The Adventure

Foolishly, I wished for a new adventure. I should have known better. I suggested we go camping for Father’s Day weekend. Andy thought that was a great idea. So we tried to find a campsite…. but with this weather, we were quickly coming to the realization that we’d have to book a hotel. Andy decided Moab would be the place to go – get some warmth and good hiking in. We loaded the car and off we went!

Chapter Two: Landing

We were just a few blocks from our hotel when our car decided to go on strike. It had had enough. Ironically, it gave us NO indication throughout the four hour drive that it was tired of hauling our butts across the western United States. It died on Main street as soon as we made a complete stop. We had to cajole it into starting again….just so that we could go one block and have it die again. We did that three times. Finally, we made it into the parking lot. The very FULL parking lot. We scrimmaged to find a spot to push the car into.

So, we get out, and check into the hotel. They didn’t have record of our reservation, but fortunately had an open room (which WAS fortuitous considering it was, apparently, the Deaf Convention Central. Literally. Deaf families were EVERYWHERE.) We asked the lady at the desk if she could recommend a car shop. She gave us one and told us we could rent a car from the airport. We thanked her and unloaded in the room. By now the kids are antsy and we’re a bit tired of sitting around, so we tell the kids to get their swimsuits on and hop in the pool.

Chapter Three: Drowning in Decisions

The kids leaped into the pool – and swam for two hours. During those two hours, Andy and I learned that every single car, truck, van and jeep had been rented out for this weekend. We even turned to bike rentals to no avail. My sister was sweet and offered to come and get us, but that would have left our car stranded in Moab. My mom came up with the plan of having her car towed TO us and our car towed back to her car shop. At first we didn’t want to pay the outlandish fee, but then we realized that fee was still cheaper than staying in a hotel for an additional three to five days while we waited for a repair shop we’d never used before to charge us up the wazoo for our repairs. So, we begrudgingly agreed.

Chapter Four: The Waiting Game

The tow truck driver wasn’t going to get to us until after 5pm on Saturday. So that meant we had to entertain ourselves. In town. Not off on our hiking adventure. *sniffle* The kids were troopers! We wandered downtown and went into a few shops. We gathered dinosaur bone shards and petrified shark teeth. We “made” our own t-shirts in a very cool vintage shop. We ate lunch in our hotel room (nothing finer than fresh fruit and top ramen). Then we SWAM until our tow truck driver arrived. The pool was an odd shape and half “indoor” and half “outdoor”. I found my scales and jumped in with them.

Chapter Five: Santa Comes To Town

Bob, our tow truck driver came rolling into town early! He had a long white beard and looked just like Santa Claus (according to Sarah). He switched our cars, asked for the best steak house in town and went on his merry way. We dried off, and hit the parks! We went to Arches and explored until after “dark time”. Then we returned to town tired and hungry and ate a fantastic meal at our favorite local brewery. Then we crashed at the hotel, glad to finish the day the way we’d hoped to start it.

Chapter Six: Rain, Rain, Go Away

Sunday arrived, and it was our last day there. We got a late start – can’t rush the morning routine when there isn’t a routine to maintain! Checked out of our hotel room, got everyone dressed, fed, sunscreened and ready to hit the trails! We drove to our favorite hike: Delicate Arch. Unfortunately, the rain clouds also wanted to join in the fun. Have no fear – we, the Carlson Clan are not afraid of a little rain! We grabbed our jackets, our snacks and water and headed out. Made it to the top a bit wetter than we began, but still in good spirits. The weather gave us a mini-break at first – enough to snap a few shots; but then came bearing down on us even harder.

Andy decided to go rogue on us – he hit the bottom bowl of the trail and hollered up to us “I’ll catch up to you later” so the kids and I made our slow decent down the slippery slick rock. We stopped along the way to say hello to a few lizards, bees, ants and chipmunks. When we neared the end of the trail, the rain REALLY began to dump. Sarah said “I thought this was supposed to be FUN, not just WET.” uh oh!

We met Andy a few minutes later – even more drenched that we were. By the time the four of us returned to our borrowed car, we were muddy, sandy and dripping wet. There was NO WAY I was letting THAT into my mother’s very clean, very new car! Each child changed their clothes and shoes before entering the car – then Andy and I followed suit. By now, the clouds are ominous and the lightning and thunder had come to join the party. We looked at each other and decided we should go have lunch (indoors, thank you very much) and head for home early.

Chapter Seven: The End

Lunch was terrible, but the drive was hilarious! The kids managed to giggle the ENTIRE four hour ride home. I’m not kidding. They had a great time! They laughed and told stories and cracked each other (and us) up all the way home. So, while we didn’t get to do what we set out to do, it was still an adventure!

Now if only it would rain money so we can pay for the repairs to our car…. now THAT would be a good next adventure!