Reflections on our trip...

So our drive to Moab, UT took a little longer than we thought on Friday night, and while I was riding in the car I took the time to think about our experience out here...we've been here almost 6 months now and I am so thankful we had the opportunity to move to Colorado. (After my thoughts I'll put up pictures from our trip).
I'm pretty sure Will tuned me out while I was reflecting out loud about what I've learned since we've been out here...but that's okay. I am the spectator when we take road trips and he is the driver, and I am so thankful for that because I am always amazed at the beautiful scenery that surrounds us out here.
-Everywhere we travel the scenery is always different and so beautiful...I love that about Colorado, we are constantly surprised by our surroundings. We learned that the western part of Colorado is actually very green, and quite a nice drive with the river running beside the interstate.
-We never know what we might discover and see out here...for example, we got to see big-horned sheep on the side of a major interstate Friday night! And then saw 2 foxes chasing each other down a main street in a small town in CO! Or you might be walking around the neighborhood here and see some deer in a yard or walking down a busy road in Boulder! I love it!
-There are so many places we would have never seen if we hadn't moved out here...such as Utah! Which is one of my favorite states now along with South Dakota :) Utah is so beautiful...it literally looks like God took a paintbrush and painted the scenery because of all the reds and pinks.
-Utah is not big on road signs along any highway
-The Vietnam war was actually in Vietnam, not Korea!
-No matter how many thousands of miles Will and I have traveled together...we are always learning something new about each other, which can sometimes be fun and sometimes not
-You just always have to laugh at the weather out here...it was supposed to snow out here yesterday...mid-May...it didn't but the thought of it is just humorous. It actually snowed on our drive Friday night to Moab! I love it...I am trying to appreciate the snow when we get it because it is so pretty and I know we won't have it at home (NC)
-God is good...He always makes sure we get everywhere safely when we travel, despite the time of day or night we choose to travel or despite the weather conditions, and I am so thankful for that! I have been praying for a good NC thunderstorm out here...all last week I wished for just one good thunderstorm and it never came, until Friday night when we were driving to Moab! Rained for a good couple hours along our 5 1/2 hour drive, which slowed us down...so I guess God's point was that I prayed and received it, just not when I wanted! :)
-I'm very thankful that Will is my husband because he is the brave one when we are driving through adverse weather conditions or hiking on a trail that has a huge drop-off right beside us!
-We haven't quite figured out why everyone out here calls it "hiking"? It seems to us that it is just basically "WALKING", usually uphill. We guess hiking just sounds better??
-Colorado is a lot windier than we ever realized! There are times when the wind gusts get up to over 50mph!!
Overall, I have loved living out in Colorado so far. The beauty out here is just amazing and so different from what we know at home. And I am so glad that we have gotten to see many parts of the beautiful state of Colorado, and am excited about our many more adventures to come (we have lots more trips planned!!!)!

So on to our Moab trip...Saturday morning we went 4-wheeling!! It was so much fun!



Some of the views from our 4-wheeling adventure...







Does anyone recognize this rock???



It's actually used in the Navy commercials, where the guy is climbing up the side of the rock...pretty neat. Lots of movies were filmed in southern Utah...



It looks like I actually drove the 4-wheeler but I really didn't...



After our fun adventure we went up to Arches National Park to do some hiking and sight-seeing. The most famous picture of Moab is the delicate arches in Arches Nat'l Park...we didn't hike up to it (it was late in the afternoon and we were both tired, not to mention is was a 6 mile round trip hike with no shady spots, and it was hot out)...so we took a short hike to get this good view...









Arches Nat'l Park is named for all the arches found throughout the park...we drove around and hiked several different trails to get some good views...









One of our favorite places we went to was the Windows....there is a south window and a north window....

North Window...



South Window...



We then took a back trail that wasn't crowded to see a better view of both windows together...which was so pretty!





"Now that's what you call ironic" can anyone name the movie quote? Will and I thought of it when we took this picture...hot, desert with the snow-capped mountains in the background...



We really enjoyed touring Arches Nat'l Park...it was so neat! The next day we tried to go kayaking down the CO River, but couldn't get it to work, so we drove up to Dead Horse State Park. It was pretty neat...kind of like a mini-Grand Canyon meets Goosenecks State Park...







It was pretty neat to see...we also drove through a field with lots of cows (which I love cows and want to have one in the future) and got a really close up shot of one that was standing beside the road...



Overall, we had such a great time in Moab...a very neat place to explore!