Day 279 - 296: Derby, Moab, Moving, Moving, and Moving

 There has been some fun stuff happening. Dana came to Salt Lake for a Roller Derby tournament, and it was super fun. Their first bout on Saturday night they dominated, the bout on Sunday they barely lost. The weekend revlolved around not only derby, but also around bread. Yes, bread. I purchased a few baguettes of bread that is potentially to die for and brought it to the team on Saturday. The team may have chanted "bread" more than once. It was a fun weekend filled with carbs and crashes!

Aunt Mary arrived on Friday, 5/12! We to the Great Salt Lake as soon as we picked her up from the airport. We walked quite a way from the parking lot to the water and along the way the closer to the water we got we started seeing dead duck bodies all around. Our theory is that they froze over the winter and are washing up now or froze in the winter and were just buried under the snow and it has melted now. Either way, it was terrifying. After the Salt Lake we went back to Heber and rested for a bit before we had to go to the Midway Crater to float in the mineral water. The water in the crater is always around 95 degrees because it is fed by a natural hot spring. You can go there and float/swim, sit in the soaking area, and they even offer scuba certification classes. The mineral water was fantastic to be in, but unfortunately it was not the fountain of youth. We stayed for our hour and then went back to get ready for dinner. We had dinner at The Back 40 and it did not disappoint. Obviously, we capped off dinner with ice cream. After a long travel day for Aunt Mary and an exciting day filled with adventure, we all slept very well.

Saturday was Alanna's bout. She was chosen to play the first mini bout and the first half of the second bout with the travel team. After the first half she was also asked to stay and play the rest of the bout with the travel team. It was awesome to see her be challenged by the travel team and rise to the challenge. She did jam a couple times, but really shined when she was in there blocking. Brandon's friend Mike and his Wife Nikki came to watch Roller Derby and had a blast. 

Sunday was moving day. We finished packing up and headed to Moab. Shakira was towing the RV (obviously) and had Brando driving with Alanna and Bruce as passengers. I drove Brooklyn with Aunt Mary, Socks, and Alfred as passengers. The route we took brought us to the top of a fog filled mountain where we followed another truck towing a fifth wheel that didn't have any functional lights. Not an ideal situation at an elevation of about 10,000, dense fog, and now going downhill. We finally reached a point where we were able to pass the hazard trailer and continue our journey. Once we were up and over the mountain the views were amazing. The rest of the drive to Moab was smooth sailing! We got set up at our site and sat outside playing 500 Rummy, where Aunt Mary kicked our asses. Our neighbor for a couple days was a woman named Tisha who has two great Danes. We met Chunk, a black and white spotted massive 16month old pure bread good boy.  Tisha was under her rig trying to fix the leveling system, and Bruce was monitoring the whole time. Once Tisha fixed her system she joined us in 500 Rummy, celebratory drinks, and tacos for dinner.

Monday's adventure was an early morning trail ride. We headed to the corral where the good boy line up of horses were ready and waiting for us. I had Leo, Aunt Mary had Vegas, Brandon had Buckwheat, and Alanna had a fantastic horse that we cannot remember their name unfortunately.

Our guides got us in the saddle and lead us through an area where many of the John Wayne movies were filmed. The views were stunning, the horses were outstanding, and the conversation on the trail ride was great! It was awesome to be back on horseback, and on a trail ride with Aunt Mary. Of course, both of us had the itch to let loose and go fast, but liability and insurance are real Debbie downers. After the ride we went into the resort where they have a movie museum showing all the movies that were filmed in the area. There were so many that I never expected to see. The movie Thelma and Louis was one that I knew was filmed in the area but Austin Powers, Back to the Future III, and a bunch more were shocking. It was a really cool exhibit. The morning was hot, and the day was getting hotter, so we headed back to the RV resort and went in the pool to cool off. 

Tuesday we headed to Arches National Park. I honestly didn't know what to expect. I think in my head we would drive to one spot and see all the arches together, like nicely packaged into one place. That is obviously not the case, and I'm glad it wasn't. We had to make reservations to enter the park, and once inside you can drive the entire park stopping at specific areas and hikes. The website said you can see the entire park in 4.5hours driving, giving you about 10 minutes at each stop to look around. Some spots we stopped for a few minutes, others we took longer to explore. The views were unbelievable. To think these structures have been created naturally is just amazing. Brandon's favorite arch was the Double Arches, mine was Landscape Arch (even though that walk was the longest one we did), and Alanna's was Delicate Arch. The day was perfect! Our visit was probably closer to 5 hours. If you are planning on visiting Arches National Park, be sure to bring a ton of water with you. We had 4 water bottles, one for each of us, and we went through it very quickly. We were there early in the day and by the time we left it was 86 degrees with little to no shade to be found. When you did find the shade, you took your time in it! There is a water station at the trail head at the end of the park, but nothing in between. No running water in between anywhere, so bathrooms are composting toilets and that's it. Bring the hand sanitizer, too. Snacks are also a must, but I think snacks are a must on the daily. Between the four of us we have a lot of pictures from Arches. I'll put some here and add more to the end. After Arches we went and cooled off in the pool at the RV resort, then headed into town to grab dinner. We had a fantastic BBQ dinner and wandered around going into shops. Aunt Mary treated herself to a super cool winter vest that was heavily discounted, and channeled Great Grandma Birdie. There was no way she was leaving there without it! 

Wednesday we were all excited and nervous because this was the day we were going rafting on the Colorado River. We arrived at the adventure center where we were fitted for life jackets, given water bottles, and were loaded onto a bus that would take us up the river 45 minutes to the launch site. Once at the launch site the guides went through the safety rules. We learned the signal for "I'm OK" and the signal for "911 - NOT OK". We also learned the rules to having to go to the bathroom during the rafting. If you had to go #1, AKA a Smile Break, you simply got out of the raft, held onto the rope adn went. If it was #2, well, that required getting to land and going in a bag and then carrying it with us until we reached the end and a garbage. Considering the water was around 37-45 degrees, we didn't see anyone floating in the river for a smile break, nor did anyone need to stop for a #2.  The river has been high from all of the record-breaking snow melting, and there were some really good spots that we hit. We forgot to ask what level rapids we went through, but after researching we think we were in about level 3 rapids. Our guide, Taylor, was funny, knowledgeable, and 100% OK with making sure Aunt Mary got soaking wet. During the slower parts of the trip we would do our best to clean up any garbage that was floating. We found an unopened root beer that Taylor opened and tried a little of (it was flat and the cap was coated in mud), a DEF fluid container, a milk jug that was full of river water, and an empty Fire Ball bottle. One of the rafts that was with us went through one of the bigger rapids and everyone flipped out. The guide lost his medic bag, but he got it back, and everyone was able to get back into the boat. The story was quite comical after we found out everyone was fine. The whole ride was definitely worth it, and we are ready to do it again! Our day also included stopping for lunch at the same ranch where we took our trail ride. The lunch buffet was hot dogs, burgers, chicken, and several different salads. If you ever have the opportunity to go white water rafting, do it. It is something we will never forget. Due to the fact that everything gets soaked, we don't have pictures from that trip so you are going to have to take our word for it. The view was stunning, the rapids were big, and we all had huge smiles on our faces. Quite the experience!

Thursday was moving day. We packed up and headed from Moab to Loveland Colorado. We took a different route than we did last year moving from Loveland to Heber. Just outside of Moab we saw some Antelope, which was pretty cool! We went up the I-70, and it was also a very scenic. We drove through ski country once in Colorado. We went through Vail, right by Copper Mountain, Idaho Springs, and at one point Brandon and I split off. He headed to the RV resort, and I took Aunt Mary to Alicia's house. One thing we both didn't miss is the traffic. We got into the area just in time for traffic and then rain. It really was a decent drive though. We got to see our old neighbors and have dinner with them and catch up. It's been really nice to see them!

Friday was Brandon's birthday! It was also another eye appointment for Bruce. He is going to have another eye drop that we have to give him for the rest of his days. Poor pup has been through it, but he still wags his tail like he is living his best life. There is something we can all learn from animals. Brandon's birthday was a rest day. We didn't do much, and it was nice. Alanna got picked up by Titi Dana to go see Alicia and Aunt Mary for dinner, then she slept over. Currently Alanna is at Roller Derby practice, so life is great! Brandon and I had dinner over at our old neighbors and sat around a fire just talking and laughing with them. We were home by 10:15... on a Friday... got really wild for 36 and 37 years old! 

Today we move again for the next couple of days. We will be staying in Loveland, but at a different RV resort. Then Monday we move out to Cherry Creek State Park where Brandon will be work-camping so our stay is free! I am looking forward to getting back to a routine and settled for a bit. We will be exploring Colorado a lot more this summer and fall, but I am ready to not have to pack up the RV for a while.

Things we learned:

• Moab was HOT and fun!
• Brandon likes not having anyone in the vehicle with him while he is towing.
• Aunt Mary still has it!
• Brandon can do U-turns with the trailer and get out of tight spots.
• Never ask how the truck is doing. As soon as I did Shakira decided it would be a good time to turn the check engine light on. It's back off now, but she still put it on for a bit.
• Socks doesn't like traveling. He tends to vomit more often than before. We will figure it out though!
• Vacations are still needed even when your lifestyle is kind of always a vacation.

Much Love and Happy Times,

The Blackshires