Arches National Park
In celebration of Oriental Trading Company’s National Luau month, we put on our brightly colored flowered leis and Teeki yoga pants, then jumped in our Tiki-inspired Flame Red Jeep® Wrangler and headed north.
We were on a quest … well, we are always on a treasure hunt, but this one was in search of the moonlit Red Rocks.
Our first stop was beautiful Moab, Utah! As we rolled into town, we fueled our Wrangler at Chevron and then we visited The Peace Tree Café where we met up with Moab’s local legend, John The Baptist McGettigan. After a wonderful dinner at The Peace Tree Café, we headed to the beautiful brand new Marriot Fairfield Inn and Suites. The new hotel is wonderful! It is located just outside of town and is very close to Arches National Park.
A wise man told us that we would be able to find the mysterious Red Rocks if we traveled up to Delicate Arch on a full moon evening. We took his advice, gathered our friends and led a full moon hike to Delicate Arch. We equipped everyone with flower leis, bright Dorcy flashlights and glow sticks to fend off the yeti of the night. On our walk, we saw two shooting stars as the full moon began to rise. It was spectacular!
The next morning, dressed in our Yeti t-shirts and Buffs, we started our day with a Zumba class taught by Sandi at The Moab Recreation and Aquatic Center followed by coffee and freshly baked muffins at Moab’s Red Rock Bakery. We volunteered with Quadratec for Tread Lightly to help build fences on Sevenmile Rim for Tread Lightly’s Restoration for Recreation project, which protects and maintains recreational opportunities by repairing trails, roads and bridges. It was fun to spend the day with fellow outdoor enthusiasts!
After a day on the trails, we stopped for lunch at Love Muffin Cafe, where we met Wes, the owner of this fun café, located right on Main Street. He moved to Moab so that his family would have a place to play outside. We love that the scenery in Moab is so expansive. When you are downtown, you take a look around and think you are in a movie set. The rocks are so close, but so beautiful that they appear fake, like an illusion.
Ashley (left) and Brittany Hill with Roudy Roudebush.
Before heading to Telluride, we went for ice cream at The Moab Diner. Telluride is one of our favorite mountain towns. The rocks are red, the air is crisp and clean and the snow-capped mountains are always very tall.
Telluride has become our home away from home ever since Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid robbed their first bank in that great film. Lured by the smell of sweet cinnamon buns, we stayed at The Victorian Inn. The hotel is just steps from the gondola, and centrally located to everything in town. Karine at The Victorian Inn suggested that we take a trip to Norwood, to meet Roudy Roudebush, one of the last American cowboys.
We took some fellow off-road experts to try a new type of “trail riding.” Roudy, originally from Wisconsin, moved to the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado to simply be a cowboy. He has a wonderful zest for life and enjoys teaching youngsters simple life lessons. Punctuality is key, which always means arrive 15 minutes early. Luckily, the clock in our JK is always 15 minutes early.
We spent the afternoon catching up with Roudy, sharing stories and trail riding. My horse did steer me into a bush a few times, but luckily I didn’t fall off this time.
Sedona Rouge and Spa
Before heading home, we took a detour to Sedona, Ariz., our last stop on our Red Rock trek. We stopped at Sedona Rouge and Spa. It is a wonderful hotel, the staff is very friendly and we loved the evening chocolates on our pillows. Located just outside of downtown Sedona, it is in a great location, tucked away from the crowds. We stopped at REDS Restaurant for breakfast, where we were greeted by our wonderful hostess Patricia (who also has red hair). She is a delight and shares our spirit of adventure. REDS also serves my favorite coffee (Illy) and we absolutely loved the Sedona eggs benedict and cornflake crusted French Toast.
After breakfast, we stopped at Barlow Adventures, where we met up with owner, adventurer and 4-wheel drive training instructor Nena Barlow. She is a legend in the beautiful Southwest, providing 4-wheel-drive training and guided trips in Sedona. She told us about her new Jeep Wrangler rental location in Moab, Utah, and showed us around her rental facility in Sedona.
Sedona is known as a very spiritual place. We had read that there are four main energy vortex areas in Sedona. The vortexes are centers of energy that come from the surface of the earth. On our vortex adventure, we noticed we were close to the areas of energy by the twisted Juniper trees. The trees respond to the vortex, causing an axial twist in the branches. It’s all very neat! We traveled to Bell Rock, Airport Mesa and Boynton Canyon. We left Sedona feeling very refreshed and energized.
We cannot wait for our next adventure!Until next time, remember to have fun.
We’ll see you out there!
Ashley & Brittany
The Jeep Girls
