Does Insurance Cover This?

This should be a case study on where not to store your phone to ensure it survives the day.  Apparently, while we were working outside on the lawn and flower beds Gavin's phone was placed on the bumper of Tara's car before a few errands needed to be run.  About an hour after returning from the errands, we were having difficulty locating Gavin's phone and after retracing where it had been we realized the road trip it might have taken.  Tara and Gavin hopped in her car and tried to drive back to the stores they had visited while looking all over.  Independently, I was able to still call up the location services for the phone and got a ping in the middle of a major intersection (Sheridan and the street exiting the grocery store).  I drove there as fast as I could and actually ended up next to Gavin and Tara who were trying to wait for the light to change to snag the phone out of the middle of the road.  Gavin was able to grab it but the state of the phone was not quite so good!  A quick trip to the Verizon store and a review of our insurance coverage on the phone (plus a bit of extra money) had a new phone en route to us within a day.  Hopefully we learned our lesson about where to place our phones when we aren't using them.

Moab - Day 3, Part 3

This is the last picture from the Upheaval Dome before we headed back to the car.  At this point, my ankle was definitely feeling the multiple days of hiking in a row and I was fairly close to my limit so I was pretty much thinking I was done for the day.

Gage, however, was hoping to get one more hike in...which was awesome.  We decided on Whale Rock which is basically this giant slab of sandstone that you just walk up one side and end up on top.  The two little rice looking things on top are actually Gavin and Gage standing together up there.  It was about 30 minutes each way, but I think they were happy to have gone but very tired from the day's adventures once getting back.

Not to be short changed, we had to hit the giant sand hill that's across from Arches National Park alongside the road before returning for our last night of sleep in our AirBnb.  This giant slope is a huge sand pit that sits at about 30% of incline.  It looks like its a popular place for running up, getting sand to cover your entire body and then running as fast as you can down while trying not to bail.

The kids had so much fun here and could have spent many hours if we had let them.  Eventually, though, we needed to head back for some dinner and to start getting packed up so we could leave in the morning.  We also knew it was time to leave as the sand throwing went from fun and playful to angry and heated.

Once back at the place, we had to write a nice message in the AirBnB's guest book.  These guys drew this nice picture of our trip and adventures.  What great artists we have!  Though this was a somewhat short trip, I love getting on the road and exploring all the amazing places we have in and around Colorado.  I think this was a much needed trip for us in a year that didn't have a lot of freedom and traveling in it due to all the COVID issues.  I hope we can get back here sometime and maybe even bring the bikes to do some riding!

 

Moab - Day 3, Part 2

At this point we really started to get cold as the temperature started to drop.  Thankfully, there were a few options to cut back across toward the trailhead to save us some time as we were freezing but we did miss out on visiting two of the five points on the star.  We completed about 4.5 miles of hiking in just a bit over two hours of time...though it did feel like quite a bit longer than that to us!

After warming up and getting some snacks we traveled down the road over to the Canyonlands National Park.  Our first stop was at Mesa Arch which you can see above.  It was nice that this was only about a 10 minute hike from the parking lot and was a bit sheltered from the wind which was still quite chilly.  What is amazing is that we have a shot of this without all these people in it, which seemed to be crawling all over the area.

This is actually a picture of what lies through the arch looking down into the canyonlands.  It was pretty amazing, as have been most of the views in these parks.

We traveled a bit further into the park and found this Upheaval Dome spot.  It almost looks like something from another planet.  I took a picture of the description of what it was to get a sense of the size of this thing.

 All around is this red sandstone dirt and then this almost greenish yellow sand juts out of the ground creating this impressive scene.  There is a short 1.5 mile hike the traverses around the side to a series of two overlooks which we took.  It looks like a much longer hike will take you down and around to the actual feature in the dome but we didn't have enough time nor were all parties willing to take on such an adventure at this point in our trip.

Moab - Day 3, Part 1

Our third day in Moab had us heading over to Dead Horse Point State Park and Canyonlands National Park for some more hiking on our final full day here.  The weather actually took a turn for the worse and we faced some quite chilly temperatures, some wind, and even some eventual snow flurries.  We started at Dead Horse Point for a hike that traversed around this five pointed land mass that was surrounded on all sides by these immense canyons and cliffs.  It was quite impressive.  This picture is looking back towards Moab and the potash pools.

As you can see we were much more bundled up, but still probably a bit light on the clothing for what was to come our way.  We started off in good spirits though...

This is some more of the landscape looking out from the different angles on Dead Horse Point.

This is looking out from the far side of Dead Horse Point, which apparently got its name because ranchers would drive wild horses out to this point and trap them there while only allowing the best and strongest horses to come out.  The rest apparently were left to die on this little island peninsula.

 You can also see this amazing horseshoe scene from the far side looking down on the White Rim trail below.

Moab - Day 2, Part 5

Gavin thought that along the way we could act like we were in an action film hanging off the side of an immense cliff wall if we took a strategic picture that cropped out the ground.  You can see how terrified he must feel all of about three feet off the ground.

I believe this is Partition Arch because there is a smaller second arch just to the right of the picture with a "partition" between the two arches.  This one was pretty cool because you could look down to the whole valley below through it.  The kids also found some small chipmunks to chase around while we rested for a bit.

Here is one of Tara and I looking through the same Arch.  We are sure looking like some serious hikers here!

After this trio of Arches, we continued to the back side of the loop toward Double O Arch.  The trail actually got even more sketchy (from a parents with kids perspective) as we continued.  Behind us is this fairly skinny rock section that you have to walk down and its basically a cliff on either side.  Normally, it wouldn't be a big deal but with two wily kids running around it's enough to make for quite the stressful passage.

 We did survive and make it to the Double O Arch, which turns out to be two arches stacked on top of each other.  The landscape was amazing to just take in and hike through.  We had to make a choice to continue around the loop or turn around at this point.  We opted to cut the day a bit short and head back as the wind was starting to kick up and the kids were starting to feel like we had hiked enough.  All in all we hiked for 5.8 miles and it took us about 2:45:00 for our loop.  Not a bad second half of the day and I think we were all excited to make it back to the car.  I know for myself, this was quite a lot of hiking on my still-healing ankle.  I had been wearing a brace to hike with but it was starting to get sore by the time we got back.

Moab - Day 2, Part 4

The hike through Devil's Garden had some somewhat technical spots and also had some pinch points as people had to go single file as they climbed up and around some of these rocks.  Here is Gage standing with the trail behind him.  Obviously with a trail like this, the kids were psyched to be able to have a reason to rock climb.

We had to take some small breaks here and there and these guys found a nice play to chill that overlooked the way we came.

Gage also found a nice hiding spot from the sun, though thankfully the weather was fairly mild.  I think Gavin also tried to fit in, but it was a bit tight to get the two of them in there at once...but you know they tried.

This is Gage standing in front of Navajo Arch, though it is a bit hard to see as the arch goes through from the right to the left.  The farther we got into the trail, the less people we saw hiking around us which made for a more enjoyable time.  I have never really liked feeling like one of the cattle being herded around with a bunch of strangers.

 This is a second view from the other angle of the Navajo Arch and shows the height of it.  I totally stole the camera technique we used in Antelope Canyon to get a nice up and down panoramic picture.

Moab - Day 2, Part 3

After the morning Delicate Arch trip, we headed to the back side of Arches National Park towards Devil's Garden and found this nice lunch spot near the trailhead.  We were super fortunate and had a parking spot open up right at this amazing spot.  While we did get down some food, the kids were almost too busy exploring to take much time.

A short walk from our lunch spot, we started out on the Devil's Garden loop which boasted of half a dozen different arches.  Everyone was in pretty good spirits as we started the second hike of the day with fairly warm sunny weather.

The first arch we came to was the Landscape Arch.  Another feature of this hike was endless amounts of this fine red sand that covered much of the trail.

Here is another picture of the Landscape Arch without any obstructions in front of it.  It looks fairly delicate but spans this huge distance.

 

Among the many things we stopped to explore and play in, here was an entire beach worth of the fine red sand that had collected between these two big slabs of sandstone.  I am sure these guys could have spent all day here just playing in this one spot.

Moab - Day 2, Part 2

Here we are once finally making it to Delicate Arch!  It's actually an amazing and kind of a terrifying spot to take kids as it drops off right behind us about 100 feet down.  People were climbing all over this thing like no problem, but it made me really scared...perhaps the cautious, safe part of my personality coming through.

A picture of Tara and I, and miraculously, without nobody in the background in the arch.

On the way down we met this amazing husband and wife couple from Utah that ended up taking this picture through this keyhole viewing point of the arch.  They had a crazy story where they had 11 or 12 kids of which at least seven were doctors and dentists!  We spoke with them for the entire hike back as we traded stories.  Pretty amazing!

 These were some glyphs on the way down which depicted horses and hunting scenes.  This turned out to be a great ~3 hr morning hike and we were off to our next hike and to find a spot for a picnic lunch.

Moab - Day 2, Part 1

The plan for today (the first full day in Moab) was to hit Arches National Park.  We got a fairly early start but there was already quite the line to get into the park which made me quite nervous what the hiking and parking situation would end up like.  We headed straight to the Delicate Arch trailhead as that was our first choice.  Parking was dicey but after a few circles in the lot we got super lucky with someone leaving and we were on our way.  You can see the boys and Tara at the start with the trail heading up behind them.

Much of the hike to the Delicate Arch was over these giant slabs of sandstone rock.  The kids were loving it as there was no defined trail they really had to stay on and they could just climb around and explore to their hearts content.

The trail isn't that long at roughly 1.5 miles each way, but there was plenty to do and see along the way.  One stop was this cairn site with tons of stacked stones and even a few archways made out of stacked stones.  Our guys had to find some rocks to contribute to the effort.

Here is a great picture of Gavin and Tara as we closed in on the Delicate Arch.

 Gage forged a bit ahead and we found him sitting in the shade waiting for us to catch up over there!

Moab - Day 1, Part 2

There were many opportunities to find little caves and outcroppings to climb and explore along the trail.  In fact, the trail we followed kind of disappeared for a bit as we followed this river which was all the more delight to these two.  They hate having to stick to a confined trail and so they were in heaven.  At one point, the trail really started to go into some narrows where the river was flowing down and we didn't feel comfortable continuing as it would have required us to start wading upstream in the river itself.  So, we turned around and continued the adventure back down a slightly different trail.

These guys found one more rocky overhand they could rest under before we got back to the car.  The end verdict was that the hike was a massive success for all involved.  We hiked about 3.4 miles and it took us just under two hours with all of our stopping and exploration along the way.  With that being done, we continued on for the last two hours toward our place in Moab.

Our Airbnb place was called The Slickrock Retreat and featured a nice 3 bedroom condo just on the southwest outskirts of town.  Besides each of us getting our own bedrooms, the draw was a nice kitchen and a pool/hot tub for the kids to enjoy.  The pool wasn't actually supposed to open until April but we were pleasantly surprised by a full pool and many people occupying it.  Of course, after hauling our stuff up to the third floor, the kids immediately went down to jump on in.  I will say that the town of Moab is starting to get significantly more commercialized with tons of prominent hotel chains popping up everywhere.  Traffic was also as bad as I have seen it, though it has been almost 10 years since I have been back.

 Here is Gavin and Tara getting ready for bed after some swimming, though not sure what this look is all about.  He had his own comfy room with a view of the pool and a little TV on the dresser just out of the picture frame.

Moab - Day 1, Part 1

With COVID still restricting a significant portion of travel, we had to be creative with our trip ideas and brainstormed several different options for a quick Spring Break trip.  We actually settled on a trip down to Durango to stay our the Blue Lake Lodge (a favorite from our previous Arizona trip) and then continuing down to Albuquerque for some hiking and good food.  However, all of the reservations were snatched up 12 hours after we spoke to the lodge and we were out of luck.  After some further discussion, we decided to road trip over to Moab as the kids had never been there and it had been many years since Tara also had been.

We also thought quite a bit about if we wanted to stay in Moab itself or actually stay in Fruita (which is an awesome place) and just day trip into Moab as it was a cheaper option.  In the end, we decided to stay in Moab but we did stop on the way out for this hike in Fruita to Devil's Canyon.  It broke up the drive a bit and none of us had hiked here.  This is the crew outside of the parking gate ready for our first adventure.

The weather wasn't too bad for later March with the sun warming us up and a cooler breeze making sure we didn't get get any too hot.  The scenery was pretty awesome and thankfully we had most of the trail all to ourselves.

Here is a picture of me and Tara with the canyon walls starting to take shape in the background.

The trail quickly jumped down to follow this river that looked exactly like chocolate milk.  It was the craziest thing and boys absolutely loved it.  They spent quite a bit of time creating new dams in the river and just generally getting all wet in this silty runoff water.

Here is Tara rocking the purple and turquoise while enjoying some of the sun.  We got warm enough to shed some layers when we were down in the canyon a bit and protected from the wind.

Big Snows

I love big snows in Colorado!  It doesn't always happen every year, but I really feel like if it's going to snow let's go huge!  This storm didn't disappoint.  Here is Gavin already starting the foundation of a huge snow fort in the front of the house.

I am not quite sure how many times I actually shoveled the drive way, but it felt like five or six times over the course of 24 hours.  The snow stacked up so much that I was starting to have a hard time getting it thrown over the piles on each side of the driveway.

Here is a look at the back porch where I think we had close to 18" or more in places.

The progress was slow and steady on the front snow hut.  Eventually it was big enough to have both boys fully inside and contained multiple egress points on either side.

 The other part that I love of Colorado is that the sun comes out quickly chasing these storms and we are already looking at some great weather to enjoy all of the snow festivities...well, at least after my back heals from all this shoveling.