Red Rock Fun

2 beautiful women and that crazy bitch in the hat.
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When we woke up on Friday morning we thought it would be wise to take a quick trip up to the Sand Flats recreation area to get a camp site secured considering the fact that every freaking hotel room in town was booked. We had no trouble finding a nice little spot close to the slickrock bike trail head. We set up camp and took off for Arches NP.

Delicate arch is one of those things everyone must see in their lifetime. I've seen it 5 times. I am still awe-struck every time I turn the corner around the rock ledge and behold it standing there in all its glory. The wind was almost unbearable at first but nothing could spoil witnessing Rosa and Rachel's first time to the arch.

Grinding on Slickrock
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On the way back down to the car we encountered two Italian gentlemen who we struck up conversation with and proceeded to talk all about Italy the rest of the trek down. I SO enjoy meeting people from places I've never been. Hearing people talk with such pride about their homeland, giving us travel tips and telling stories -  It's the best part about spending time in places where tourists flock to.

We spent the early evening shopping around Main st. and met up with Melissa and Curtis that evening and went to Eddie McStiffs for beverages and dinner.

Divide and conquer
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Amber and Chris rolled into town at 2000 that night so they skipped out on visiting the camp site until Saturday morning. It had been cold and windy most of the day and that night proved to be no different.

Saturday morning we geared up and took off for Slickrock. The practice loop was a very poor indicator of the rest of the trail but it was too windy to prove otherwise. We nearly got knocked off of our bikes on several occasions but it was a blast. When we got back to camp we took it easy for a few then Rosa and I left for Sandy Johnson's reception which coincidentally was being held just a few miles from where we were camping. One of my hockey team mates and I are mutual friends with Sandy so we got to hang out and eat some delish food.

Then the storm hit.

Things were flying everywhere, the wind was blowing like mad; it was crazyness. The wind blew for over an hour, forcing all of my sandal-clad hippie friends to don their Marmot and North Face jackets and hunker down with their dogs. I always used to make fun of people who are label whores with things like Coach bags (coughcoughROSAcoughcough) and Prada, but I've discovered that myself and those like me are just as big of a label whore as the rest of the civilized world - we just prefer our colors in earth tones and measure the desirability of a coat by the fill of the down not "how cute it is." :)  As desert rain goes, the actual rain only lasted a few minutes. The wind resided after about half-an-hour and things returned to normal. I'm EXTREMELY excited to start climbing with my new co-worker Amy and Sandy when things warm up again.

We drove a few miles up the street to where Amber and Chris were staying and crashed in their nice climate-controlled cabin for a few hours. Chris and I had a great discussion about business and money. I've always wanted to start my own business and soon after nursing school I hope that becomes a reality.... although starting a business requires staying in one place for an extended period of time, which isn't exactly something I'm known for.

We got back to camp at 11pm to find our tent had collapsed in the storm. Honestly I'm shocked that all of our crap didn't blow the hell away. Stupid wind. It was absolutely frigid that night but snuggling quickly resolves that problem.

Sunday we decided to try an easier bike ride. Rachel left to go back to SLC. The 4 of us geared up and took off for Klondike Bluffs. It was 10 miles of awesome terrain and an exhausting slick rock climb. It's likely my favorite bike ride thus far. Honestly I don't know what we would do without Curtis. I LOVE having a professional bike mechanic at my disposal!! And a friendly one at that.

We ate PHENOMENAL Thai food Sunday night after the ride and went back to camp for s'mores and whiskey. I must say there are few things I love more about camping than a warm fire, roasty marshmallows, and jim beam. MMM MMMM.

We crashed out around midnight. At 8:30 am the alarm went off signaling the end of our trip. By 10:00 we were on the road back home to reality.