7 Mile Rim, Tusher Tunnel, Dead Horse Point, Long Canyon

We got up this morning and packed up our stuff so we could move to the Riverside Oasis Campground. Ronnie, Molly and Tyler left today headed home. I am disappointed they decided not to go on to California with us. I wanted Molly to see the west coast with me.
We met Beth, Beka and Jennifer at the campground and went to pick up our jeep. We headed out to tackled 7-mile rim trail. We had a few close calls, but of course that always makes it more exciting. I swear the jeep almost turned over, it was teeting on 2 wheels. Jan decided he would try backing up instead of going forward and that worked. My heart and knees went weak. When we stopped a little later I was still a little shakey. I got some pictures of the scenery, Beth got a couple of shots of one of the hills but they never do the steepness of the hill justice. You really have to experience the ride to get the thrill and know just how close you are to flipping or rolling over. We continued on to another trail when we came to the end of 7 Mile Rim. We went to Tusher Tunnel, went through it to the other side that opened up to a great view. Of course we take way too many pictures always trying to catch the right angle to bring it to life. After Tusher Tunnel we drove out to Deadhorse Point State Park overlook. This is also a great view of the rivers coming together. You are way up high looking down and the wind will blow you over. I was trying to take a picture of Beth and Jen and it blew me backwards. When we left the over look we went on another trail called Long Canyon. This trail has the big rock across the road that you have to go under. This rock has been in the jeep commercials. It's pretty cool.
We finished the trail and pulled out on the highway and got a picture of Jughandle arch. We headed back into town and met Cheryl and Skip at Zak's for stone fired pizza. Skip and Cheryl are our friends that are going to California with us. We met them last year when we rode our bikes up in the mountains near Pigeon Forge.
Last night we ate at Red Cliff Ranch with the girls and Molly, Ronnie and Tyler. I should of wrote about that first but forgot. We also went out to watch a sunset. Molly & I really like to see sunsets and you have to travel a ways out of Moab to see one. Moab is almost completely surrounded by hugh red rock walls. OK I am sure I probably forgot something but I really need to go to sleep. The wind is blowing really hard and we are under a severe weather alert tonight. Beka just came over and wanted to make sure we would save them if the wind blew their cabin down.

The Duckie following our raft, Satchie

river rafting on the Colorado

Rafting on the Colorado River

Sunset Grill

We had a new experience today, we went river rafting for the first time ever. Jan and I have always wanted to go but when we were in the Smokies something always prevented us from going. The kids were young and never reached the mark, so we just put it off. Molly decided we needed to do this so we were game. Navtec Adventures picked us up from our hotel about 12:00 pm and off we went. There is beautiful red rock mountains here in Moab. We lauched our boat with lifejackets secure. The Colorado river has tall red rock mountains on both sides so the view is great! Our guide was Dan and he served us lunch on a small beach area a little ways down the river. We had one duckie, that is someone following in their private kayak. She was a very independent 25 year old girl traveling for 2 months all alone. I'd say she could take care of herself pretty well. The river was full from all the rain so there was only a few rapids we went thru. We got soaked and the water was cold.
We came back to the hotel and went to one of our favorite places to eat in Moab, The Sunset Grill, up on the mountain. There is a story about the Sunset Grill, it was the home of a man that struck it rich here in Moab because he found Uranium. You can probably read about it on line.

Yesterday we didn't do much, just relaxed and walked around town. We ate lunch at Zaks and look in the shops.
I heard from the girls last night and they had seen the most incredible rainbow. They were on the road to Dodge City and it rained really hard they said, they across the grain fields two rainbows appeared. Beth was really excited and will have them on her blog. I have a link on my page to her blog, take a look.
The Poision Spider is a bicycle shop here in Moab. It is real popular with all the cyclest.

Well we traveled all day yesterday thru cold, rain, sleet and hail. No kidding. It hailed on us pretty hard one time and then off and on all day. We have rode the trike in all kinds of weather, but its a cheap ride.
We arrived in Moab, Utah where we will stay for 5 -6 days. We plan on taking the girls, Beth, Beka & Jennifer jeeping. We have a few jeep trails picked out just for them. pictures will be posted :) Although pictures never do the scene justice.
It is cool here this morning which is very unusual for Moab. When we first found this place back in 1996, it was not very popular or crowded but now OMG there are way too many people coming here. It is a big bicycle town, people come to ride bicycles out in canyonlands, which is crazy. Moab is also famous for Delicate Arch, which is in Arches National Park. The park is just outside Moab city limits and is a GREAT park. I like to see how many arches I can see, in and out of the park. I love the red rock. There are snow capped mountains in the distance and make a beautiful backdrop for the red rock. OK wish all of you were here enjoying the sites!