Moab Part II -- Fear is your friend

First things first... in case you missed it, We're all kinds of celebrating around here for hitting the 3-month blogging anniversary, posting the 40th post and finishing Avast, all on the same day.  To share the joy, I'm giving away 2 skeins of yarn, just for leaving a comment between now and next Wednesday on this entry.  Go.  Comment.  Win. 

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And now, back to our Moab adventures.  If you'll recall, we did some pretty cuckoo (at least by my feeble standards) 4-wheeling on our weekend trip to Moab.  And, in case you were doubting just how hairy it was, may I present:  Video Proof.  This is me.  Trying to take a video from inside the cab of the truck while we were going down an 80-degree slope.

No, I wasn't giving birth at the time, and yes, I am aware that it sounds an awfully lot like a clip from the Blair Witch Project.  No pride here folks, just the unvarnished truth from me to you.  :)

The next day, we got up early for breakfast in our hotel.  Really, breakfast is why we stay at the River Terrace Inn, about 45 miles away from Moab.  When you go in, it looks like most hotel breakfasts, toast and cereal and whatnot...

But then, this really nice guy (usually the hotel owner) meets you at the door and rattles of a list of 10 or so homemade dishes that they're serving along with all of the other stuff.  You want all 10?  You got it.  They make a green chile and cheese omlette that is out of this world.  Really. 

It's what I always get when we go there.  Mr. Right orders it, along with french toast, and some times homemade granola.  It's heavenly.  If you're ever in eastern Utah, go stay there.  Green River definitely offers a good dose of Americana...

After breakfast, I got to pick our activity for the day.  I picked an afternoon at Arches National Park, which is a pretty stunning place.  They have lots of natural rock arches scattered over the park, but there was one in particular that I wanted to see.  It's called Delicate Arch, and is the most famous of all of them.  So famous that it's the star of their tourism ad campaign and featured on Utah's license plate.

We only had time to see if in the way-off distance during our last visit, and I really, really wanted to hike over to it for the up-close and personal view this time.  So we hiked.  The sign said 3 miles round trip.  No biggie, we thought.  In fact, biggie.

Here's the view from about 1/3 of the way up.  If you peer closely, you can see small dots going up the rock at about 1 o'clock...

Here's what happened when I zoomed in on those dots with all the zoom that Mr. Right's camera could muster.  Oh. My.

It was a seriously long walk.  No shade, no scenery, pretty much straight up the whole way.  It was not so pleasant, and the only thing that really cheered me up was the fact that it was November and not July. 

But once we got there, the view was spectacular, and 100% worth it.  Even the guys said so...

For purposes of scale, here's a shot of Me and Mr. Right standing under the arch.  This thing is no joke.

And for purposes of dorkiness, here's our friend A at the visitor's center.  He's single!  Any takers?  (In all seriousness, he's a pretty amazing guy and we're trying to find him a Ms. Right, in case anyone has one laying around.)

On that note, check back this weekend for a crazy family update!