Since it was Westminster's Spring Break, Jason and I decided to go to Moab. We had originally planned to go last October, but the weekend we were going to go was the same weekend as the annual Jeep Safari Tour. So we rescheduled to last weekend, and prayed that it would be warm enough to camp. We left SLC around 6:30 AM to beat traffic and made it to Moab right at 11:00. We had brunch at the Moab Diner and walked around town a bit. The peak season officially starts on March 1, so a lot of things were still closed. After that, we went to set up our camp along the Colorado River. We had just bought a new tent at REI and had never put it together, and the instructions were not clear at all, so it took us a while to put the tent together. We finally figured it out and went to blow up our air mattress. Of course, we had checked the air pump at home and it worked fine, but when we tried to use it at our campsite, it ran out of battery right way. So it was back to Moab to find a new pump or a new mattress. Luckily, we found a pump for a good price and were able to finish pumping up the mattress. After we set up camp, we decided to go into Arches National Park and hike to the Delicate Arch. Jason had never been to Moab before, so he was really excited to see everything. The weather was perfect for hiking, about 65 degrees. There were some patches of snow on the trail, but otherwise everything was very spring-like. It was not very crowded either, so we almost had the place to ourselves. You can hike right up to the arch itself, and Jason pointed out the rope marks from the guy who illegally climbed it last year. After Delicate Arch, we decided to go back to our camp and make dinner. We always have hot dogs and smores at least one night when we go camping, so that was our first meal. After dinner, I started to feel really sick and we had to go into Moab again to find some medicine. Luckily, Jason was very patient with me and I started to feel better soon.
On Saturday, we went back to Arches and signed up for a tour of the Fiery Furnace. It is a really cool canyon with lots of formations and arches. It is very easy to get lost, though, so it is recommended to go on a ranger tour first so that you can get a feel for the area. It was really windy, so we got a bit of a sand bath, but it was well worth it. At the vistor's center, we had seen a weather forecast for a 40 percent chance of snow, so we were debating whether to stay over Saturday night or drive home. After we left the Fiery Furnace, the clouds were looking pretty menacing, so we opted to back up and head home. We made it to Salina, stopped there for gas and got on a small highway that would take us to Scipio and then to I-15. Just as we got on the highway, it started to snow. There wasn't much coming down, but because it was so windy, it was pretty much white-out conditions. We finally made it to Scipio and decided there was no way we were going to try the freeway home, so we checked into the only hotel in town for the night. Everyone else who was with us on the highway checked in as well, so we weren't the only ones who gave up on driving. It was not what we had planned, but it was sleeping in a tent in the snow. Even with all the mishaps, it was still a fun trip. Maybe next time things will go a little more smoothly!
