Jeeping in Moab

I've ridden in the back of  a truck off-road in the Colorado mountains so I thought I had some idea what jeeping was all about.  But I've never been jeeping like we did on Saturday.  I was down in Moab with our Authority Board (the county commissioners) for work meetings and we joined the annual jeep trip that the Provo/Orem Chamber of Commerce sponsors on Saturday. 

I was looking forward to the trip for several months-- ever since I first heard about it.  Became a little more nervous when I actually saw the jeep.  Jeeps are kind of high... not really made for short, "fluffy" people to get into and out of and certainly not multiple times during the day at all sorts of different angles!  Stressed out about that before the trip until I decided to be a problem-solver and went to the local hardware store and picked up a collapsible step stool.  My "princess step" worked great and I had a wonderful time on the trip!

Before I tell you my other question, remember that I am the one who considers roughing it to be an inside cabin on a cruise ship.  Not proud of that-- but there you have it... so my question was whether there were any kind of restrooms along the trail.  Even porta-potties would be better than using a bush (especially since I found out there are jeeps coming from different directions and a place you might think is private might not really be..).  Anyway, there were "facilities", not even outhouses, just pit toilets with a brown fence around them and an "occupied" chain you could put across.  Much better than nothing!  Isn't it funny what things you can find to worry about?  Not getting hurt, tipping the jeep, breaking down... something really important.

We drove along the "Fins n Things" trail which was a good pick for drivers with varying levels of experience.  I didn't actually drive the jeep, preferring to be a back seat rider and take pictures.  It is difficult to take pictures when you are bouncing up and down the whole time but there was certainly beautiful scenery to see.  I finally gave up with the real camera and just started sticking my phone/camera out the window and clicking away to see what I could capture.  Got better pictures that way.

Who would have thought that you could go up and down some of the steep slopes that we did and not roll over the jeep?  It was awesome-- although I have to admit that there was a lot of screaming in the car as we went down the first steep incline.  More for fun than from being scared.. I think...  At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it...Jeeps before and after us heard us and were laughing but we hurt our driver's ears and so tried to be a little less "expressive" after that.  There is that point though when you reach the top of a hill and the hood of the jeep blocks your view down and you just have to keep driving, cross your fingers, and hope for the best.  Here are a few more pictures of the trip.  It was so fun, and I would go again in a heartbeat-- not sure if I would try driving though.  Maybe...  My bosses' wife drove part of the way (even up and down some hard stuff or as the trip leader would say "some fun stuff") and she was the only female that I saw driving.  There may have been some that I didn't see (we did have about 15 jeeps in our convoy so I didn't see everybody all the time), but I was totally impressed. 

The La Sal mountains.

Lots of wildflowers.  Too bouncy to get pix though unless we were stopped. 

Stuck!  Not the jeep I was in but one in front of me... Got a good headstart but then started slipping backwards and ended up in an awkward tilted, sideways position.  Should have seen all of the men come running to help...  like ants to a fallen crumb at a picnic.  Must add to the adventure!  Luckily, someone had equipment to winch the jeep back to the top and we were off again...

Commissioner Anderson (below) -  he is up for re-election and running a primary race.  Vote for him in June!!  The only mishap that I saw occurred at lunchtime when a child was sitting in a jeep that didn't have its emergency brake on and it started to roll backwards.  Luckily, Commissioner Anderson's jeep was behind the run-away jeep and stopped it.  We were stopped at the top of a steep slope with turns on it so it could have been a pretty bad situation.  As it was, just a little damage to the jeeps and that was it-- besides a scared kid and some shocked bystanders who saw the jeep start to roll but couldn't do anything to stop it.  Commissioner Anderson-  always in the right place at the right time... should be a campaign slogan!

Commissioner Ellertson  organized the jeeping trip and was the one with the stuck jeep... Not up for re-election this year but vote for him next time anyway.