bloggin' on the road part 3

So what would camping be without a little adventure????
Yesterday we kept our eyes to the sky as we sought out a bit of adventure. The Sky was quite over cast in some areas and sunny in others so we decided to go to the opposite end of the valley away from the rain. That being said every adventure you embark on in Moab takes a fair amount of time. So the weather gets a chance to catch up to you.
First we went to HOLE N THE ROCK it was pretty cool. The tour cost about $17 for all of us but I think it was worth it. This guy made a house in the side of the mountain. The mountain was all sandstone and there were bathrooms and a kitchen and also there was a fire place. The history behind it was very interesting. Next we decided that we were going to try some 4~wheelin' OK so that was my very first adrenalin rush for the day. I ended up telling Justin to let me out that I would walk the rest of the way. Elyssa joined me, She told her dad I think I just might throw up if I have to watch from the back seat. Needless to say we made it a quarter of a mile up the trail before we decided we A) were not in the right kind of vehicle for this, B) We did not have the skills needed to traverse such incredible terrain.
I still walked out.

After all of that we went to the Slickrock Mountain Bike trail. I had been reading up on this particular area because Justin and Ashton really wanted to go biking. Once again after looking at the trail I had read about I decided I was just going to walk it. I think Justin thought that the practice loop which is 2 miles long was a baby thing but after seeing the beginning he thought that it would be a good idea to just let the kids do the practice loop for a bit of practice and he went with them. At the beginning Ashton and Justin both said I think we will do this twice before we leave. Elyssa tried the very first bit but ended up abandoning her bike along the way. it was just way to advanced for her. She opted to walk along with her dad. I am just going to say that the practice loop is not for beginners!!!! I think that this is the trail that should be named hell's revenge not the 4x4 trail. After what should have taken an hour to bike (not 2 1/2) we got back to the trail head as the storm was blowing over us. it got windy and we could hear the thunder and we were prepared to take shelter if we needed to. But the storm waited just until we got the bikes loaded and were in the truck having some snacks. At the end of THE PRACTICE loop Justin Said that it had really kicked his butt and Ashton was so exhausted he was almost in tears. We sat for a while and had a bit of quiet time as we watched the storm roll in, those of us with sketch books sketched and those of us with books read. It was a really nice down time. we got some pretty incredible photos of the storm over moab. We had no idea just what kind of destruction was lying in its wake. After the slickrock trail, it was raining fairly hard in town and we decided we did not want to be cooped up in the trailer so we went to this really cool rock and fossil shop. IT WAS COOL! there were so many fossils and cool things to look at that we spent an hour there just looking.
By this time we were starting to think we needed to get some dinner so we headed back to camp. the sky was clearing and things were looking up. When we got back to camp I noticed that the river was roaring. When I say river I mean what started out as a little tiny creek with campsites on the banks. This was no longer a little Creek it was a raging monstrosity and as we watched the water was rising by the second! literaly ever second the river was higher. We were camped on a lot higher ground. The campsites next to the river were tent sites and there were about 10 tents down there. We watched in horror as the tents one by one were ripped out of the ground and swept down the raging torrent. It was like a dream all you could say was OMGosh. people were on the banks just in shock at what was happening. Just as the tents were being washed away, some women and children came up and then some teens. They were pretty upset to see all of their personal belongings, all of their clothes, sleeping bags, tents, cell phones, and Ipods being washed away. Some of the girls were crying and one of the teen boys was just beside himself. His brand new Ipod was in there. I was talking with some of the teen girls trying to console them, say stupid things like, Just think this is the camp trip you will never forget and Thank God you all weren't down there. Apparently they had been down there just 5 whole minutes before. Come to find out this group of campers were from Colorado, they were with the Church of Christ, it was their youth summer camp trip. They lost all of the belongings for about 25 of the 32 in the group. It was crazy! As soon as I found out who they were I spoke with one of their advisors who was pretty much in shock. I told them that they needed to get hold of the nearest christian church and see if they could be housed in a nearby church. I was then put in charge of finding bedding for all of these 25 kids, And maybe some t-shirts to borrow. Dark was fast approaching and it was getting a little chilly but not freezing by any means. After several phone calls I was able to secure about 20 sleeping bags, some pillows and t shirts from the local Baptist church. The pastor met me at the camp ground and we were able to get him and the youth minister together. After that I was more than ready for bed, oh and it started raining again. By the time we hit the sheets it was almost midnight and I was out before I could even open up my book to read.
THIS MORNING it is very beautiful outside, the sun is shining. We are headed out for more adventure. Not that we haven't already had some this morning. We had been smelling this awful smell like sewage and we thought that our hookups were some what not hooked up right. well come to find out it was the smell of hot acid from our trailer batteries I think at least one is ruined but atleast we know the smell was not sewage. Justin has taken evry precaution to take care of the batteries in a safe manner, and all is well....
So we are headed out now. i will update later and I promise to have photos this coming week. Justin got some great footage of the tents being ripped up and floating away.
By the way the river is back down to a tiny little creek now.