Saturday, November 13, 2010

Pure dirt, pure fruit. That's what it's all about.

You'll see this arch later :)
Moab, Utah turned out to be surprisingly nice.  We scored a sweet deal on a great hotel room and were right down the street from Arches National Park.  The woman working the entrance of the park was so excited to be working and very helpful (no, we aren’t being sarcastic for once) which made us even more excited to explore.  We were able to check out a few exhibits before hitting the road again, including Balanced Rock - so crazy seeing a HUGE boulder that appears as though it will fall on you as you walk the trail around it!  Turns out, it will fall in a few hundred years, (like the rock that used to be it’s neighbor) since the rock that makes up the support system erodes at a faster pace than the rock that the boulder itself is composed of.  After a windy walk and a few pictures, we set off for the main attraction, Delicate Arch.  We opted for the vista point trail to save time, which ended up being about a mile hike.  A friendly hiker advised us to continue past the trail to the edge of the “huge slab of rock”…  well, the edge of that rock was the valley right next to the arch.  It felt like we were on the edge of the world.

After driving through the breathtaking Rocky Mountains an hour longer than anticipated, we arrived at the new home of Meredith in Gypsum, Colorado!  Greeted with screams and hugs, we spent the night catching up.  We met up with Derrick and headed out to dinner at one of the fine establishments of Eagle, Colorado.  After a beer, delicious bar food, and cowboys we headed home.
Yin and Yang

The next day, Meredith headed off to work and we planned on hiking around Hanging Lake, a lake nestled in the mountains.  Unfortunately, by the time we got our behinds out of bed and loaded up on Starbucks, a snowstorm had taken up residence in our area.  Seeing as our hiking skills aren’t exactly that of an experienced climber in such weather conditions, we decided to head to Aspen instead. What a cute ski village!   We parked and wandered the streets that were home to thrift shops and Gucci.  We popped into Peter Lik’s photography studio and were quickly informed that he is the latest top photographer in the world (Jess will definitely be watching his upcoming television appearance).  

We also had the great pleasure of finding a wine shop (leave that to us, right?)  The Colorado-native worker was such a blast.  When he asked if we were looking for anything in particular, Jess simply answered, “Honestly, something from Colorado and that has a cool label”.  Boy, did he deliver.  We found a great bottle for Meredith from a local winery just up the road from her home, a bottle for Melanie from Spain and a couple of bottles for ourselves.  Our last stop in Aspen was Peach’s, a cute café on the corner with a great view of the ski resort, where they served chicken soup like mom makes; perfect for a cold Colorado day!

That night we headed out for a night on the town.  We met up with Derrick after he had a day of skiing (so jealous!) and wandered around downtown Vail.  Unfortunately, a lot of the shops were closed since the ski resort isn’t open yet.  We did manage, however, to entertain ourselves in the touristy shops and investigated the ski gear.  Expecting to see the Polar Express as we rounded each Christmas-like corner, we settled in a bar for a few beers and entertaining segments on ESPN. 

Switching to another bar, we received cards for the pub-crawl and enjoyed delicious food.  Backtracking to the first bar to get our well-earned stamps, we then attempted to go to the whiskey bar, which was closed to Christine’s disappointment.  So we hit our last bar (never making it to all eight needed to win a ski mask), where we met locals, worked on crossword puzzles, and watched the UFC fights on TV (well, sort of) as the Av’s lost.  We said, “bye, bye, bye” to Derrick and then the three of us went back to Meredith’s house to hang out with Ricky Bobby (the stuffed bobcat).

The next morning, we woke up as Meredith left for work to say our unfortunate goodbyes until Christmas.  Next stop, Denver!

Memorable Quotes:

C: "what's the state slogan for Utah?"
J: "I don't know, 'Mormonism!'?"

J: "I NEEDED A MONOCHROMATIC COLOR SCHEME!"

The Wine Man: “Wicked juice!”

D: “…But to you I’m saying, ‘Hello, hello, hello’!”

J: “Cheers to Marcus …who?”
M: “Dupree!”
J: “Like Jermaine!”

Bartender: “It’s casual mustache Tuesday.”

Bartender: “It’s all in the beard, warms the synapses.”

C: “Must be a slow sports night…”

D: “Look at those nostrils…he probably doesn’t have to blow his nose, his boogers just fall out.”

M: (In reference to The Great Bud v. Bud Light Debate)  “I’ll bet my life on this beer being Bud Light…I’ll bet our relationship!... …because it is my life?”

M: "Bob Barker reminding you: help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered.  Goodbye, everyone!"

1 comment:

  1. Sweet Arches photo. I'm fixin' to go there sometime soon.

    Who says this Peter guy is the world's best photog? Dude's obviously got a god complex.

    Crosswords in a bar? I'm intrigued.

    I can't believe your Odyssey is almost over! Savor the final few days and enjoy your triumphant return to EL.

    ReplyDelete