We just had the best weekend in Moab for my birthday! I told Joe the only thing I wanted for my birthday was time away with my family. Unfortunately, Hunter chose to miss out because she didn’t want to miss 2 1/2 days of her hair school hours. She has a graduation date in mind, and she’s trying to stick to it. So honestly, I was a little sad leading up to the trip. Just don’t love the changes that are starting to happen in our family as Hunter gets older. The thought of not having all of my kids there on our family trip was hitting me hard. It was a good experience, but a little bit of an adjustment at the same time. We left on Friday and we’re planning to come home Monday afternoon, but we literally had done everything on our bucket list, so we drove home late Sunday night so the big kids could go to school.
delicate arch
I couldn’t believe how many people from all over the country were there!! It was incredible that people drove thousands and thousands of miles to come see the beautiful sandstone arches. We started a game trying to find all the 50 states’ license plates. We ended up seeing every license plate, but six from the United States. We saw New York, Maine, and all of the East Coast states. It was mind-blowing!
MOAB DETAILS
: WHERE WE STAYED
We stayed at Elements by Marriott! It was modern and very clean. There was a pool area with lots of shade, a really cool hot tub, and an area for the kids to play cornhole. It also had a free breakfast every morning. We’ll be going back for sure!
: WHAT WE DID
We did a side-by-side tour with Moab Tour Company, and that was so fun! We did the level two tour in a six-seater side-by-side. They have all different types of vehicles, and you get to drive them yourself. It was so fun! A little nerve-racking at first, but ended up being my kids’ favorite thing.
Of course, we had to go to the Arches National Park! It was $30 to go through the park. I couldn’t believe how many different stops and sites there were, but we only ended up doing two. The Delicate Arch is the most famous in the world. This is the one that everyone goes to. The hike is a little bit more difficult, and Harper did struggle for the first 10 to 15 minutes just to get in the right mindset. But 1000% worth it. Took about two hours. And that was with us taking about 20 minutes at the arch to take pictures. Sandstone Arch literally takes five minutes to get to. We took off our shoes, and the kids walked through all the sand. There’s a little arch, and the kids played on the rocks and everything. Highly highly recommend this!
We also went river rafting with Navteq! This was so fun! We were actually on a raft all on our own, and the conditions were very mild. The guides were great too! We did the morning tour since the afternoon was going to be super hot.
Listing some other activities that people recommended:
Millcreek Waterfall Hike
Slick Rock Mtn Biking
Fins and Things Trail – we went on this in the side-by-side
Hike Corona Arch
Canyon Lands National Park
Indian ladder
: WHAT WE ATE
Everyone was so great and gave so many good recommendations on Instagram! We tried to hit up as many restaurants as we could. Here is the list that I compiled from everybody’s comments.
Food trucks: There’s a spot in town where there are a ton of food trucks. The three or four that we ate at were very good. There’s also an area for the kids to play cornhole and tons of tables and shade.
Milt’s: SO GOOD! Excellent hamburgers and milkshakes! Probably our favorite place, as well as the food trucks.
Dough Bird: This place was closed, but we had heard great things about the donuts.
City Market: This was a great grocery store nearby. Joe went here for donuts one morning, and they were amazing!
Antica Forma: This was pasta and pizza, and we loved it!
Moab Diner: This was just an old-fashioned American diner. We weren’t dying over anything. But it was good and basic.
Moab Frozen Yogurt: The kids loved this place, and we ended up going two times!
Dewey’s Restaurant & Bar: Highly rated American food!
Moab Coffee Roasters: Cute coffee shop!
Gilberto’s: Highly rated Mexican food!
Zax: Amazing pizza that everyone recommended!
. . .
Moab was the perfect weekend getaway! Nothing too expensive or too crazy. And I loved the easy drive! We’ll be going back! Thanks again for all the birthday wishes!
