Wedding Recon Road Trip

It's getting down to the wire, only 19 days to the wedding. Last month Jo and I road tripped out to Moab to do one last recon trip. Life is like a river, sometimes it's up, sometimes it's down. Some road trips go smoothly, some are fraught with disaster. This was trip was the latter. We planned on getting a ride in and possibly a hang glide off of Lands End on the Grand Mesa. Neither happened, we never managed to take our mountain bikes or my hang glider off the truck. It didn't matter because we accomplished our goal getting our wedding dialed.

On the way out we pulled off at a favorite camp spot of mine near Rabbit Valley. It was a moonless night during a meteor shower. It was late and we were tired, but we saw a few before turning in. I also spotted a scorpion next to my shoe. In the morning we woke up to a beautiful view of Rabbit Valley and I spotted a lizard in a crack.

Campsite

Moonless Night

A Local

Morning in Rabbit Valley

Another Local

Before one of our meetings we headed up to Werner Lake to check out the campground. It was nestled in an aspen grove under the rocky peaks of the La Sal Mountains. I spotted a gardner snake on the trail to the lake.

Werner Lake

Another Local

(Can you see him?)

And Another Local

After our meeting we went for dip in the swimming hole where I proposed to Jo. Jo did some yoga while I dipped in the ice cold water. I felt something swim across my feet and it turned out to be another snake!

The Swimming Hole

Yet Another Local

After another night in the desert near Rabbit Valley yielded a few more shooting stars and a huge black widow in the out house (I didn't take a picture of him - too scary). In the morning we headed to Lands End where I was going to fly, but at launch the winds were way too strong. Instead we searched for a good trail to ride, but couldn't find anything before a massive thunderstorm shut us down.

Cliff Launch at Lands End on the Grand Mesa

The wedding recon was accomplished, but no fun on the way home was to be had. We salvaged the day by driving home in time to get the dogs out for a hike.