Okay, so we are a little slow at learning lessons. The last time our family graced Moab with our presence, we were literally blown to pieces. Despite our best efforts, our tent didn't make it through the night, finally giving up and collapsing on us around midnight. The kids were terrified, #1 was screaming, "We're gonna die!" So, we high-tailed it out of there in the middle of the night only to drive home through blizzard conditions the entire way. That was two years ago...So, once again we attempt Moab with Bryan's family. Things started out alright. We arrived on Friday, set up camp, had dinner - so far so good. Then came the rain, it poured the entire night. The kids didn't seem to mind, but I hardly got any sleep. Saturday we woke to cloudy skies and MUD. Once again, the kids didn't seem to mind, but all I could think of was what a chore it was going to be to clean up everything...
Around noon we headed out to Arches National Park. We hiked to Delicate Arch and had a blast. What a beautiful place. It's a good hike, about 3 miles round trip and pretty much straight up on the way there. The boys did great and really seemed to enjoy it. We were grateful for the cloud cover and slightly cooler temperatures. I can't imagine hiking that in the dead of summer.We made it back to camp just in time for the sky to explode. It rained so hard for so long, it was unbelievable. We were surrounded by lightning and thunder so close it felt like the air was being sucked from you. All 23 of us were huddled under shade tents trying to calm the kids who kept watching the adults to see if they should be terrified. My nieces' tent happened to be in the wrong spot and literally was swept away with the gushing water. All the guys had to rush out and pull it from the "river". Then, as swift as the storm came, it was gone. No one was in the mood to try to cook anything, so we hit the local Pizzahut for dinner.
Sunday was blue skies and gorgeous. We hung out until around 4:00 when Bryan and I finally called it quits and headed out - in the nick of time too. While driving out of Moab, the skies turned black and all you-know-what broke loose. Those back at camp were hit with fierce winds, torrential rain (again) and HAIL. I was very grateful to be in the car.
Despite the crazy weather, everyone surprisingly had a blast. The kids were oblivious. They were thrilled just being covered in mud.
The verdict it still out on whether we will brave Moab again. I'm pretty much done with tent camping. If Bryan wants to buy me a camper, then I might reconsider...hint hint :) We do have three boys though, so camping is inevitable, we'll have to figure something out quick.
This last picture is of #3 using his potty, enjoying the great outdoors. He wouldn't let anyone near him while he was taking care of business. Funny kid.
