Just like Naples.....only different

Hummer Tours - look closely
who is in that vehicle???

More photos here....

Cassidy's Corner


Well today was a pretty extreme day. First we woke up and went across the hall to go into the breakfast room to have some toast, english muffins, and the best hot chocolate. Then we hung out at the hotel till it was time to have some lunch. For lunch I had some chicken tenders. Then after lunch Tyler and Papa went ATVing. For Bea and I that was not part of the plan; so we went shopping and I got a little stuffed animal. We headed back to the hotel to hang out until it was time to go pick Tyler and Papa up. After we picked them up, we went back to the hotel and stayed for a little while. Then we went to dinner and after dinner we went on a Hummer tour. I was literally biting my nails all the way to my knuckles. Tyler gave Bea and I some nice advice: "when we fall... not if we fall ... you need to put your arms across your chest". He was being very..... helpful if you put it in a totally different way. Also he told us: "when we are going up the hill, make sure you lean forward so we do not flip backward" even though the people behind us were not helping that situation. They were.....big...large I should say. And I swear I thought that the lady sitting in the back was having a panic attack; or she was having a heart attack. Then, this is were I thought I was going to die! We had to go down this very steep hill - or as they call it the 'wall'. We were balancing on two wheels - then we had to do it a second time which really wasn't as scary since I had already done it once. As we were heading back (the tour was almost over) -to wake us up he starting going really, really fast towards the edge of the cliff like he was gonna run right off of it. Then took a really sharp turn since there was a bush there. After we got back at the place where we left our car, we headed back to the hotel and got ready for bed. Speaking of bed I need to get some rest -so goodnight!



Tyler's Tales

So today was the best day of the trip. We woke up and I had some french toast for breakfast and milk. After that Papa and I rented ATV's to go up on this Mesa, it was awesome. There were amazing views all around and some tough terrain. We were on rock for half the time and on dirt the other half. The rock had some steep drops and some bumpy hills. Some times I had to look back to check if Papa was still on. Yes, I drove and he rode as the passenger. The terrain wanted you to go one way but you had to fight to stay on the path. The dirt was my favorite though. We had mogul type things that were kinda like little jumps. There was also some banked turns that dipped around trees so it kinda felt like a race. We stoped at some places with good views. Have you ever seen that Marine commercial where that guy is climbing that huge cliff without ropes and then there are soilders on the top twirling their guns? Well we saw that rock and that guy who climbed it wasnt even a Marine. He is some local who free climbs everything. We rode on to some other rocks that had fossils in them. We saw some dinosour bones and a tree fossil that was ingrown on the rock. My top speed was 38 only because I had to stay behind the guide; if I didnt it would have been much higher. After that we went and had some dinner before our Hummer tour. The Hummer tour was much more exhilerating than it seems. We went up some 45 degree angles to start off the drive. After that we drove over Oprah's butt (dont ask). We went up some more hills and down some more. We had this lady and her husband in the back seat. They were well, large. I thought we were gonna backflip. The lady almost had a heart attack every two seconds and was hyperventilating the whole time. We came up to this place called the 'wall'. The wall was a 65 degree angle drop and we got up on three wheels. The poor lady almost died. After we got down it, we went up it again. We stopped and talked to our driver Tom. He was really cool and had some interesting stories. Then another driver showed up named Kent. He was a real cowboy and a former sheriff. He had some stories about mountain bikers falling off cliffs when he was on a search and rescue crew. When he was 11, he did his first tour on a raft. And when he was 10, he did his first drive through the crazy terrain. After that we went back down the wall and up it halfway - in reverse. The lady almost died again. OH, I forgot - in the beginning we were on a slope going slow and the driver, Tom, used a fake gearshift lever and pulled it out and let go of the brake. Bea and the lady screemed! Well, we got to our last stop overlooking these cliffs that are actually a fault line and we saw a dinosour foot print. Then we looked at this steep hill called Lions Back where people would drive to the top and turn around and go down. It's shut down now because people hurt themselves. This one girl on the way back down put it in neutral and went 65 mph and flipped over. Its on youtube - look it up. Another guy put his car in this crack in the rock because he fell off the side and parts of the car are still wegded in there. Finally we went back to the place to drop off the Hummer and got our car back. Now we're back at the hotel and ready to pass out. I wrote first, so now its Cassidy's turn. Tommorow is white water rafting and some other stuff not planned yet. So I gotta let Cassidy type and I'm sure tomorrow will be another long post, but this is definitely the longest so far. So I'll type tommorow. Night!



Captain's Log

Lazy morning again. I made arrangements for ATV and Sunset Hummer Ride then drove to Arches NP Visitor Center to buy tickets for the popular , mazelike Fiery Furnace Walk - Thursday was the earliest we could get. Then off to lunch in town at the Slick Rock Cafe. "Ordering 1 mayo - hold the burger!" Actually, the burgers were quite tasty. Afterwards, Tyler and I got dropped off at the ATV trail which is about 11 miles west of town. Having just celebrated the 41st anniversary of my 16th birthday, I fully understood the TMan's desire to get behind the wheel as well as his need for speed. We started the Monitor and Merrimac Trail in the 4th position but after eating way too much red dust, I suggested he move up to be our guide's wingman. Our guide was a pleasant young man named Dennis O'Reilly, a local who also happened to be a former Utah State BMX champ when he was 16. His promising career was ended, however, when he took an 'easy' jump and landed awkwardly, breaking his face. (Not a typo). Anyway, he led us along the trail with amazing views of the rock monoliths and we stopped at the base of the Determination Towers which Tyler described above. We then sped thru Mill Canyon (a little wet) and then stopped again in Tusher Wash where we hiked a short distance to view dinosaur fossils and what was an old stone house of a blacksmith. This house was one of the stops on the Pony Express (no email then) because the riders could get water for their horses. Dennis said it took 2 days to reach Moab from that stop - a 25 minute drive today. This whole area was where many Westerns were filmed back in the '50s (John Wayne) before Uranium was discovered. In the 80s , Moab was discovered by mountain bikers and is now the mountain biking capital of the world. Dennis also informed us that this area was once covered by a great inland sea 350 million years ago. All that remains of Lake Bonneville is the Great Salt Lake in the northern Utah. All in all, it was a very cool ride and the TMan was a pretty slick driver as he banked in the turns and accelerated out of them. As the camera man, I managed pretty well as the GIB (Guy in Back) but did collide once or twice with Tyler's helmet on a couple of jarring drops. We then showered off the red dust and headed for Zaks for dinner before meeting up for the sunset Hummer ride. Our waitress suggested we stop and pick up some Depends which one person in our party did not find funny. But, we did persuade Bea to come along after consuming some liquid courage. Tom Gwinn, our 30 yr old driver from CT, drove us into Hell's Revenge which was not misnamed. Right out of the chute found us driving precariously up the Devil's Backbone with 0 (zero) margin for error on either side. I think Tyler and Cassidy's posts aptly describe the rest of the ride which was thoroughly enjoyed by all (except one lady in the back).

Outfitter: High Point Hummer and ATV 281 Main Street 435-259-2972