got moab?

It was our day off in Moab, Utah yesterday and we had an awesome time. Some friends and I got up at 4:30 am and bike 15 miles (and up a not-so-nice hill) to Arches National Park to watch the sun rise. First of all, dessert sunrises beat any other kind of sunrise. Second, the park is unlike anything I have ever seen before. It was beautiful and awesome and unreal all at the same time. We played among the arches and I never realized how large and high they reach. We left the park around ten which was perfect timing because loads of traffic began to come in whereas we had the park all to ourselves when we were there and I wouldn've have done it any other way.

At eleven we went white water rafting on the Colorado River. Since moab is crazy hot in the afternoon, it was a nice way to spend it. The river is tame at this time of year, but we had some crazy water fights and they let us take the inflatable kayaks. Luke fell out in one rapid and it was pretty funny to watch. our raft (and kayaks) sort of terrorized everyone some played along with us, and others... well they have no sense of fun. I stole a bucket from some guy on another raft and I think I might have hurt him. I feel bad about that.

Then in the evening we checked out some all natural homes. One was made from hay bales and the other from dirt bricks. I didn't know what to expect, but they look exactly like a regular home. The hay- bale home (hay is insulation surrounded by clay and the ground is packed dirt - an adobe floor). I want to live in one when I get older. The lady who lives there spends so much time at the sink that there is a slight dent where her feet are in the ground. The air conditioning system uses water evaporation and its essentially a fan blowing through wet aspens. The house also faces south to take full advantage of the sun. It was an awesome house. All the material used to build it are from within 50 miles from the home and a lot of the materials are from the lot site itself. I might spend a semester or something out here working on these kinds of homes as the most expensive part of buidling them is the labor. And so it is another type of affordable housing. check out communityrebuilds.org

Then I passed out after an awesome day off.

Today was 52 miles to Green river.
100 miles tomorrow and 100 miles the day after that...