From Quading in Canyonlands to Hiking Devils Garden, Submitted by Andre'

The last two days have been amazing. Moab is seriously like nothing I've ever seen. So gorgeous and expansive, with just the craziest rock formations. Things that just don't look like they should happen.

Monday Papa and I rent two quads for 5 hours and romped it around the northern section of Canyonlands. It was so cool. I mean quads are fun as is but add in some awesome scenery and boom, its like nothing else. There was also some pretty technical riding at some points. And of course we brought the GoPro but to make it work we had to get the chest mount, which was an easy decision! A video will be coming out soon, Papa wants to dink around with the clips we got and put together something cool, you know add in music and make us look badass. Needless to say after 5 hours of quading in the sun we were tired. A nap was definitely in order. But not before we went to the Moab Brewery and got a couple beers and then wings cause who can pass up 15 cent wings! Plus we met a nice couple around thirty something from Michigan who we chatted with at the bar. The girl reminded me so much of Tracy, one of my sister's friends.

Tuesday Papa and I really put on our big boy pants as we went to tackle hiking the Devil's Garden and Primitive Trail. Which is 7.5 miles of hiking with a good portion of it labeled difficult. With the predicted temperature for the day around 95, Papa and I started out pretty early hoping to beat some of the heat and most of the crowds. Turns out we didn't start early enough, getting there at 8:30 there were surprisingly quite a few people out there. Though the temperature was perfect. The trail starts off pretty easy, but you are surrounded by jaw dropping formations. As the hike got more and more difficult the sights just got better and better. The trail had 7 arches to see in just 7.5 miles, which is quite a lot of bang for your buck if you ask me.

The hiking was pretty interesting with the trail mingling in-between fins and up on rocks and through gullies. The first part of the hike was were we saw most of the arches. We saw; Tunnel Arch, Pine Tree Arch, Landscape Arch, Partition Arch, Double O Arch. All of those were before we hit the really hard trekking which was to say before we got to Primitive Trail.

Then we went on to Primitive Trail, which was just that! It took us down into a gully which was where the last arch we would see was, Private Arch. But boy did we go down. And in this gully there was no wind, which in the heat of the day (97 degrees) really sucks. Especially when you know that you will in fact have to climb out of the gully to finish of the trail.

The last leg of the hike wasn't very much fun, a lot of hot uphills with a lot of stops for Papa. But he made it and we made it and it was all very much worth it. All in all a great day that yet again deserved a good nap.

Another Day, Another Storm: Nampa to Price

Started off the day in yet another rainstorm. But at 4,000 ft rain plus wind equals cold hands. Luckily for us we ran into a very thoughtful and giving guy at a truck stop. He gave us two pairs of insulated waterproof gloves. And wouldn't let us pay him a dime, all he said was "it made him feel good to be able to help us out" and that he wished he got to spend time with his son like we were doing. Well this kind man saved our day. Instead of getting 100 miles and freezing our hands and asses off, we went 450 and almost got all the way to Moab. Reminding us to never underestimate the kindness of strangers. Pay it forward.

 Resting for the night in Price, Utah at yet another Holiday Inn.

Probably the best part of the ride was once we hit highway 6,  the road started to curve as we went through the hills and the landscapes really started to change. Lots of cool geology, can't miss those red rocks.

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Two days of riding down, but not one of them without rain. Rain gear is truly proving to be a life saver. We made it to Ellensberg on day one and are now in Nampa, Idaho. Rest up to make a long haul tomorrow. About 550 miles to go until we are in Moab, Utah.

Still working out the camera situation but I've got more mounts than anyone needs so I think we can make this work, but here are a couple photos. Videos coming out soon... ish got to get some good ones first.

Equiping Andre's Safari Jeep: Birthday Presents

For his birthday we got Andre' some new additions for his jeep to set him up for all the wilderness camping and four-wheeling he plans to do.

Andre' and Chris's Birthday Dinner

Brown and Martin family get together to celebrate Andre's big 21st birthday and Chris's 29th. Went to Picolinos for an outstanding Italian dinner. Good times were had by all.

Andre's 21st Birthday

Blizzard of 2012

Plowing snow with my Toro

Since I was unable to ride Motorcycle ....  I decided to try out my new home made tractor chains!  This  was much more fun then being at the office.  Spent a few days trying to keep the neighborhood streets cleared.