Another weekend, another Moab trip. We headed down there for one more trip this spring. We could go back again and again, but there are so many other places we'd like to show the girls this year - Bryce's Canyon, Zion, etc, etc. Even so, we were talking about how many times we have been there, but how much there still is to see. We have only seen a fraction of the area. We had a great time with Jim and Rebecca and their family. The kids had an absolute blast with their cousins and we all had a great time riding the side-by-sides together.
After pulling into town Thursday night, we hit the sack and headed out early Friday morning to ride the Dome Plateau trail.
The trail is known for its old mining cabins, caves, and incredible views at the end. Our first stop were these old creepy cabins, where we pulled up for lunch and the kids went exploring.
Just a short hike down the hill we also went exploring in some old mine shafts. The girls and I skipped that part. Too dark and scary for the little ones.
Our next step were these natural rock formations which were perfect for a little climbing and some photo opportunities.
Piper skinned her hands on the red rock climbing down and it threw her off for a good hour. Now, two weeks later, we are still putting bandaids on her two fingers every night.
After another hour or so of riding we came to the end of the trail. We had no idea what we were in for, but it was an amazing view of the canyon, the Colorado river, the La Sal mountains and miles and miles of red rock. The drop off was pretty steep, so the girls stayed in their car seats and Uncle Jim almost peed his pants because of the heights.
This is the panoramic view, which doesn't do it justice at all.
We acted like dorks and scared Jim by getting too close to the edge.
On the way back we got a little bit lost. Okay, a lot lost. We probably rode for an extra two hours. We were in front leading the way and holding Jim's GPS and we'll say it was a combination of me not understanding how the "bread crumbs" on the GPS and Josh zooming along in too much of a hurry to look at the trail markers closely. So, when we finally pulled up to the car, the girls were DONE with the side-by-side (and we kind of were too). It was close to dusk, we were tired, hungry and absolutely covered in red sand. We went straight to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. No showers, so we washed faces and hands in the bathroom. Good times.
The next day, we headed out on another trail called Snake Creek. This was perfect - a little more low key and you get to cross the creek about 15 times on the way up. Just enough splashing to make the kids laugh.
Jim and Rebecca and fam in their side-by-side. They also have two people ride on their four-wheeler.
The girls loaded up and ready to go. Baby doll likes to ride on the side-by-side too.
A little more than halfway up the trail, we dropped Jim and Josh off to hide eggs for the kids. The rest of us rode about 10 minutes up the trail, then turned around to come back. This is an annual tradition for Jim and Rebecca's kids, but the girls were pretty shocked to find out the Easter Bunny had come to Moab and hid eggs on the trail.
They looked for eggs in trees and bushes, behind rocks, and up on the side of a hill. Jim told his kids to watch out for two snakes he saw earlier (liar!).
After some time splashing through the creek on the way back down, it was time to stop for lunch . We found a spot by the creek and pulled up shop. We ate, then had fun throwing rocks into the creek.
The girls found another use for the side-by-side.
We got back in time for a real shower before dinner at Eddie McStiff's. Then it was an early bedtime for us.
The next morning we woke up on Easter. The Easter Bunny brought baskets to the Holiday Inn where we were staying.
