Chirple
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2009
Day 7 - Moab/last full adventure day
While we were looking forward to the activities scheduled for today, we were also sad that it was our last full day on our adventure. This last morning was on-your-own time; but during our long drive to Moab, Casey threw out some options that she would need to pre-book if we were interested. One was a tour on an ATV, and the other was horseback riding. I've done the latter, and it didn't really appeal to me. My husband hadn't ever been, but he wasn't interested either. The ATV ride did get our interest so we put our names down for single rider vehicles. The mother-daughter duo also signed up; they chose a double-seated vehicle. The family decided on horseback riding. The grandparents hung out at the pool.
We met the gentleman who was going to shuttle us to the area where we would be riding. He had our vehicles attached to the van on a trailer. When we got to our destination, he gave us instructions on how to operate our different vehicles and how to properly wear our helmets. If this is offered during your trip and you choose the single vehicle, you must wear long pants. I had mine slightly rolled as they were long and baggy, but I had to roll them down because I could feel the heat from the vehicle on my legs. Bandanas from Monument Valley also got reused here.
I had my camera and my cell phone, and I brought my backpack in case I needed a jacket. I thought I was all set with my camera, but the battery was dead. Ugh. I wish I had pictures to capture the beauty we saw on this ride. I kept pointing at things and exclaiming my excitement, but no one could hear me. We stopped for a break at the summit, took some photos, and then started our trip back to the van. A couple of additional housekeeping items: if you need to relieve yourself, you can wander off at the summit and find a private spot (my husband had to do this), the single ATVs are heavy to steer around corners, and there's a lot of red dust that kicks up. When we got back to Red Cliffs, we were covered in red dust. Here are some photos from this ride:
Husband
Me in my KSC t-shirt again
Having a nice film of red dirt on us, we had time to clean up before our barbeque lunch out back at Red Cliffs. We headed to the back, got our food, and grabbed seats near our tour friends. This was pretty much all you cared to eat, and the food variety was delicious. This is where I had the BEST cookie. Their chocolate chocolate chip cookie tasted like a brownie. I might have taken a few cookies to bring back to our room.
As we were eating, we noticed some rafts pulling up nearby. The people in the rafts headed over to the pavilion where we were seated and joined us for lunch. There was plenty of room and food for everyone. We didn't interact with them, but based on the number of people who arrived I was glad we got there earlier.
With lunch done, we all headed back to our rooms to get ready for rafting. Now that my husband had conquered his heights fear, he was really nervous about rafting. He does not swim. I reassured him that he would be wearing a life vest for that just-in-case scenario, but I don't think it put him at ease.
For rafting, we put on sunscreen. I should say, I put on sunscreen on all exposed areas. My husband, who is pretty fair, did not. I wore a tankini top with a long-sleeved UV protection shirt over it and board shorts. My husband wore his hat, a long-sleeved UV protection shirt, and swim trunks. I had on waterproof Keen's, and he had on sneakers with no socks. He wears glasses, and I had sunglasses so we wore eyeglass neck straps to keep them on our bodies.
We met up with our group and one of the rafting guides; we all got on the bus to be taken to the spot where we would launch into the Colorado River. There were a few other employees from the rafting center there to help with vests. We had two rafts for our group. Casey started out with the family, and our little group of 4 went in the other. Since my husband was pretty nervous, our guide Ryan told him he could sit in the middle. The rest of us sat on the edges. The rapids were pretty mild, and we only had to group paddle one time. Ryan did most of the work. He was awesome. It was nice to talk to another Seinfeld fan! I felt like he had a pulse on exactly what I wanted out of this trip. I was so relaxed. Until he put me to work.
Ryan asked the daughter if she was interested in taking the paddles from the guide's seat. She was, and she gave it a try. He then asked me after a bit if I wanted to do it, and I absolutely said yes. He helped me get the rhythm down and then took my seat while I paddled. And paddled. I honestly think I paddled for longer than anyone expected. At this point Casey had already joined our boat, and she got this picture of me working:
However, this next photo is one of my favorite pictures from our entire trip. While Casey was in the raft with the family, they sent the grandfather into the river; this is what was left:
We headed back to the bus for our short ride back to Red Cliffs. We took showers (and finished getting the rest of the red dirt off), put on our "nicer" clothes, and headed over to the Red Cliffs Winery. Oh, I forgot to mention that they have a winery on premises. It's a separate building set closer to the road. Since this was junior adventure time and Casey was whisking away the triplets, ABD provided the adults with a wine and cheese tasting. I'm not much of a drinker, but this was lovely. The 8 of us all sat together and chatted, an opportunity that didn't really present itself prior to this moment. We went over our experiences during this trip and had some really good laughs. Love these people!
Eventually, Casey brought the kids back upstairs. We then headed to the restaurant in the lodge and had a patio to ourselves. We had a buffet dinner (steak, chicken) for our farewell dinner, and it was delicious. I believe that they also provided a couple of alcoholic beverages, but I didn't partake (husband did). We went around the table and shared what our favorite thing was about the trip. The grandmother, who was seated next to me, got so overwhelmed with emotion she started to cry happy tears. During dinner we were treated to a singing cowboy, who came with us after dinner to the outdoor fire pit near the lunch pavilion. He eventually departed, and then the family group headed back to their rooms, leaving just Casey and the 4 of us. I thought I had never seen such an amazing night sky when we were in Sedona, but I was unprepared for the one in Moab. Wow. That's all I've got. You must see it for yourself.
After dinner my husband and the mother-daughter duo checked out the movie museum downstairs in the lodge. I headed back to our room to start packing up. Sometimes at the end of a vacation you feel like you are ready to go home. Not us. We did not want it to end; but, sadly, it was coming to a close.
While we were looking forward to the activities scheduled for today, we were also sad that it was our last full day on our adventure. This last morning was on-your-own time; but during our long drive to Moab, Casey threw out some options that she would need to pre-book if we were interested. One was a tour on an ATV, and the other was horseback riding. I've done the latter, and it didn't really appeal to me. My husband hadn't ever been, but he wasn't interested either. The ATV ride did get our interest so we put our names down for single rider vehicles. The mother-daughter duo also signed up; they chose a double-seated vehicle. The family decided on horseback riding. The grandparents hung out at the pool.
We met the gentleman who was going to shuttle us to the area where we would be riding. He had our vehicles attached to the van on a trailer. When we got to our destination, he gave us instructions on how to operate our different vehicles and how to properly wear our helmets. If this is offered during your trip and you choose the single vehicle, you must wear long pants. I had mine slightly rolled as they were long and baggy, but I had to roll them down because I could feel the heat from the vehicle on my legs. Bandanas from Monument Valley also got reused here.
I had my camera and my cell phone, and I brought my backpack in case I needed a jacket. I thought I was all set with my camera, but the battery was dead. Ugh. I wish I had pictures to capture the beauty we saw on this ride. I kept pointing at things and exclaiming my excitement, but no one could hear me. We stopped for a break at the summit, took some photos, and then started our trip back to the van. A couple of additional housekeeping items: if you need to relieve yourself, you can wander off at the summit and find a private spot (my husband had to do this), the single ATVs are heavy to steer around corners, and there's a lot of red dust that kicks up. When we got back to Red Cliffs, we were covered in red dust. Here are some photos from this ride:
Husband
Me in my KSC t-shirt again
Having a nice film of red dirt on us, we had time to clean up before our barbeque lunch out back at Red Cliffs. We headed to the back, got our food, and grabbed seats near our tour friends. This was pretty much all you cared to eat, and the food variety was delicious. This is where I had the BEST cookie. Their chocolate chocolate chip cookie tasted like a brownie. I might have taken a few cookies to bring back to our room.
As we were eating, we noticed some rafts pulling up nearby. The people in the rafts headed over to the pavilion where we were seated and joined us for lunch. There was plenty of room and food for everyone. We didn't interact with them, but based on the number of people who arrived I was glad we got there earlier.
With lunch done, we all headed back to our rooms to get ready for rafting. Now that my husband had conquered his heights fear, he was really nervous about rafting. He does not swim. I reassured him that he would be wearing a life vest for that just-in-case scenario, but I don't think it put him at ease.
For rafting, we put on sunscreen. I should say, I put on sunscreen on all exposed areas. My husband, who is pretty fair, did not. I wore a tankini top with a long-sleeved UV protection shirt over it and board shorts. My husband wore his hat, a long-sleeved UV protection shirt, and swim trunks. I had on waterproof Keen's, and he had on sneakers with no socks. He wears glasses, and I had sunglasses so we wore eyeglass neck straps to keep them on our bodies.
We met up with our group and one of the rafting guides; we all got on the bus to be taken to the spot where we would launch into the Colorado River. There were a few other employees from the rafting center there to help with vests. We had two rafts for our group. Casey started out with the family, and our little group of 4 went in the other. Since my husband was pretty nervous, our guide Ryan told him he could sit in the middle. The rest of us sat on the edges. The rapids were pretty mild, and we only had to group paddle one time. Ryan did most of the work. He was awesome. It was nice to talk to another Seinfeld fan! I felt like he had a pulse on exactly what I wanted out of this trip. I was so relaxed. Until he put me to work.
Ryan asked the daughter if she was interested in taking the paddles from the guide's seat. She was, and she gave it a try. He then asked me after a bit if I wanted to do it, and I absolutely said yes. He helped me get the rhythm down and then took my seat while I paddled. And paddled. I honestly think I paddled for longer than anyone expected. At this point Casey had already joined our boat, and she got this picture of me working:
However, this next photo is one of my favorite pictures from our entire trip. While Casey was in the raft with the family, they sent the grandfather into the river; this is what was left:
We headed back to the bus for our short ride back to Red Cliffs. We took showers (and finished getting the rest of the red dirt off), put on our "nicer" clothes, and headed over to the Red Cliffs Winery. Oh, I forgot to mention that they have a winery on premises. It's a separate building set closer to the road. Since this was junior adventure time and Casey was whisking away the triplets, ABD provided the adults with a wine and cheese tasting. I'm not much of a drinker, but this was lovely. The 8 of us all sat together and chatted, an opportunity that didn't really present itself prior to this moment. We went over our experiences during this trip and had some really good laughs. Love these people!
Eventually, Casey brought the kids back upstairs. We then headed to the restaurant in the lodge and had a patio to ourselves. We had a buffet dinner (steak, chicken) for our farewell dinner, and it was delicious. I believe that they also provided a couple of alcoholic beverages, but I didn't partake (husband did). We went around the table and shared what our favorite thing was about the trip. The grandmother, who was seated next to me, got so overwhelmed with emotion she started to cry happy tears. During dinner we were treated to a singing cowboy, who came with us after dinner to the outdoor fire pit near the lunch pavilion. He eventually departed, and then the family group headed back to their rooms, leaving just Casey and the 4 of us. I thought I had never seen such an amazing night sky when we were in Sedona, but I was unprepared for the one in Moab. Wow. That's all I've got. You must see it for yourself.
After dinner my husband and the mother-daughter duo checked out the movie museum downstairs in the lodge. I headed back to our room to start packing up. Sometimes at the end of a vacation you feel like you are ready to go home. Not us. We did not want it to end; but, sadly, it was coming to a close.
