Jake's 25th Birthday Weekend in Moab

Long title there - sheesh! Jake just turned 25! I teased him a lot about being old but really we are still babies haha. His birthday was on a Friday this year, and I got the day off and he got Thursday night off {which is his Friday on graveyard} so we had a nice long weekend! On Thursday, we went to the new City Creek Center Mall in Downtown Salt Lake and walked around and looked at the stores. It is a really cool concept and there are some really nice stores there - just a bit expensive for us!!

Afterwards, we drove over to Gateway Mall to go to the Apple store and see how many people were there, since it is also an outdoor mall and it was a really nice day. It was DEAD - there was nobody there! Apparently all the buzz about City Creek has made Gateway not as exciting. We went into the Apple Store and bought another Apple TV for Jake's birthday - now we have one for the bedroom and one for the living room!

So excited! 

Then we decided to go to the movies! We already saw Hunger Games, and even though I want to see it again I let Jake choose since it was his birthday and he chose Dr. Seuss' The Lorax. It was really cute - it had a lot more depth than the typical children's movie. It made me want to plant trees haha.

The rest of the day was pretty boring, just chilled at home and got ready for the next day - Jake's official birthday and the day we left for Moab! I had never been to Moab before and was SO excited to go. We got all packed the next morning, went to Pizza Pie Cafe for some lunch and then hit the open road. I was worried traffic was going to be a nightmare, since it was Easter weekend, a Friday at rush hour and we have INTENSE construction in Utah right now but it wasn't bad at all thankfully! Here are some pictures from the drive down: 

The sky was SO blue!

Jake takes really awesome shots!

First road trip in the Chevy!

The "back seat" was CRAMMED full of stuff since the 4 wheeler was in the bed of the truck

Just me goofing off

Shadow of the truck against the sand

I liked the shape of the mountains - they were more like plateau's

Dumb phone lines got in the way of our picture...

Gorgeous sunset

We were behind mom & dad McClellan most of the way, until Jake decided to pass them!

We stopped for dinner once we were fairly close to Green River at Ray's Tavern - a small town bar. Jake LOVES places like that, so it was perfect since it was his birthday! The place was packed even though it was past 8 PM, and after we ate our dinner, the WHOLE bar sang - no screamed - "Happy Birthday" to Jake. He was mortified - I loved it :)

After we were done eating dinner, we drove another few miles until we got off at the exit we wanted and slept on the side of the road. The place we wanted to camp was on a dirt road and we decided in the dark with trailers and motorhomes it wasn't the greatest idea. That night was SO dang cold - oh my gosh. It was nice sleeping in the motorhome though - it was the first time I have slept in a motor home that I can remember.

The next day, we had camping pancakes - SO yummy - and then headed through the dirt to find us a place to camp. We found a place not too cramped and everyone set up their stuff - unloading reclining camping chairs, rugs, leveling motorhomes, etc. and then we went for a ride!

I haven't been on a 4 wheeler in a VERY long time - like over 10 years. Jake was so awesome at being safe with me, even though I felt like we were going to die most of the first few hours haha. The ride we went on was to an area that had a lot of sand, and because it was so hot it made the sand really slick. 

That's my sexy man - I got off so he could be a little more wreckless

It was SO pretty!

Jake had all his own gear - gloves, boots, riding pants & helmets for both of us

The ride was really fun - it was perfect weather and not too windy but there was a light breeze. On our way back from the ride, we realized - no Jake realized - that the rider behind us wasn't there anymore. He slowed down, and still we couldn't see the flag of the last rider. Everyone else had left, so Jake turned around and went back and we realized the motor or something problematic had gone out on the 4 wheeler so the kid was stranded there. Jake got a tow rope from the bag on the 4 wheeler and towed him home. He knew the way too - I would have been so lost and had no idea what to do if that was me! I don't know that I would have noticed that the rider behind us was missing! It made me proud of Jake, especially since he was having fun but still made sure people were safe. So grown up!! 

We got back to camp and cleaned up, ate lunch and relaxed around camp. A few hours later, the guys decided to go for another ride while the girls stayed back at camp talking. It was really relaxing and like I said before, weather was perfect. I felt really dirty and gritty from all the sand but other than that it was paradise. 

When the guys got back from their ride, we ate dinner and then pretty much went to bed. I was so drained form being in the sun all day. Guess that's what I get for hiding from the sun all winter long! The next morning, we woke up bright and early, had delicious spam & eggs for breakfast, and got ready to go on one last ride before we headed home and OH was that ride worth it! 

Saturday's ride was fun, don't get me wrong. The sand was so pretty. But Sunday's ride was gorgeous. And muddy. AND SO MUCH FUN! We had been going for maybe 3 miles when we got to a small pond that we had to drive straight through, with out feet as high up as we could get them to avoid getting them soaking wet. For some reason I thought that was so cool haha. And then every few minutes, we'd find a stream or small crossing for a river that we needed to cross and we'd have to lift up our feet all over again. The 4 wheeler was SO muddy by the time we were done!! 

First time we stopped for a break - there were some cave ruins {notice how muddy tires are}

The caves

Having SO much fun!

In hind sight, I won't wear the expensive camera bag next time we go on a ride - it is still SO dirty!

Jodi got stuck!! He was trying to be a show off and got stuck - took 2 wheelers to pull him out!

Getting ready to get out of the mud

Teresa is towing Rick's wheeler, who is attached to Jody's wheeler. Eventually, they got him out haha

While we waited for Jody to get unstuck, I talked Jake into letting me drive for a little bit! He is an AMAZINGLY patient teacher - he will for SURE be teaching our kids to drive!

Scared out of my mind but so excited to drive!

Where we stopped for lunch - the round trip ride was around 35 miles

Relaxing in the shade, eating sandwiches and Easter candy

I thought the rock formations were fascinating. No idea why haha.

Look how MUDDY!!!!

Getting ready to ride back to camp

I love how the truck looks with a 4 wheeler in the back. Jake is bringing out my inner redneck haha

After we got back from the ride, we cleaned up since we were both SUPER muddy and orange from all the dirt and packed all the gear back into the truck and headed home. Wouldn't have successfully broke in the truck if Jake didn't get a ticket - got caught going 14 over. The cop only wrote it for 9 miles over, but it was still a $90 ticket. At least it was $640 like the last one!!

Moab/Green River was seriously so much fun. I cannot WAIT to go camping/RV'ing again!!