Moab 2013

 Aye, look at 'er, she's a beaut, ain't she? And by "she" I mean "he", because his name is Yoda. Now when Dad, Dan, Grandpa and I, the manly men of our expedition, pulled into camp with these green machine, Whitney and Brianne shrieked in joy and came running out of our other green machine--Grandpa's RV, the infamous picklemobile, pictured below--to greet us and gawk over our beautiful rental. Between my wife and my sister, I'm not sure which one is more obsessed with the color green but both were pretty stoked, and Brianne and I got a real kick that the Jeep was actually called Yoda by the rental place.

          We are pretty huge Star Wars fans, and if you need proof, feel free to visit our restroom in Rexburg sometime.

Our little Chickenhawk, Dreygin, definitely got the most time in the Jeep on this trip, the lucky little guy! He loved it.

The comedian on the left is our cousin Maryn, Matt and Debbie's daughter, who tagged along for the red-rock adventures! And though you can't tell in this picture, Tiffy there in the middle was with child on this trip. Maryn and Madison said her baby was getting swimming lessons from all the bouncing around on the back trails of Moab. That's good 'cause none of the rest of us Murdocks ever learned to swim...

That's Grandpa's truck ahead of us, our second "Jeep". It looks like the trail goes right under that really big rock...

...turns out it does!

That's me in Yoda's captain's chair. I drove under that really big rock.

Finally a picture of the whole clan! All except Grandpa of course, who volunteered to dangle all our cameras from his wrist and take our picture.

Wow, what an incredible view! So pretty, so gorgeous! Oh yeah, the landscape is cool too, sorry Brianne you distracted me...

Haha Dad looks ready to draw his six-gun and fire on anyone trying to sneak up on his gal!

The returning honeymooners! It was 5 years ago to the week that Dan joined the family and married my dear sister for time and eternity. Happy anniversary, Whitney and Dan! We love you both!
     No word yet on whether that Moab water had the same effect this year as it did on their honeymoon ;)

 Actual American Indian heiroglyphs. (That's rock pictures in layman's terms)

This is taken from the spot where 8 years ago, on our first family trip to Moab, Tiffanie and Whitney hiked up to and we took a picture of them from down there in the sand where Mom and Dad are sitting near the rock wall. On this trip, Brianne, Dan and I joined the girls at the top of their triumphant climb!

I'm getting sleepy. . . 

One generation of goofball on another's shoulders.

Boy, you'd think we'd all been out exhausting ourselves hiking in this picture! The only person who looks like they're having any fun is Dreygin! haha

The four manly men of our expedition, those brave and strong enough to do just one more hike at the end of the day!

             Hey whoa now! You forgot who's taking the picture all you "manly men"!

Okay, so it was Saturday morning, our last morning of the trip, and all week we had planned to hike to Corona Arch before heading home. It had been an unusually cool week for Moab in April, and on Saturday, it decided to rain. To hike or not to hike, a longer and slightly more dangerous hike than the others due to all the slick rock angled towards a cliff, and especially with rambunctious young ones with no sense of danger. But we did it! Conquered Corona Arch in the rain, ages 4 to 79!
           Here Dad and the kids are discovering that by yelling in that little cave, their voices really carried and echoed! We reminisced Dad's sheepish moment in our first trip to Corona Arch when he ruined a couple's romantic moment on the other side of the arch...

That's not a smudge on the picture at the top of Corona arch--that's a human being, about to jump perilously to his death-defying pleasure. We watched a few make the jump, harnessed securely to the top of the arch.

See? A human being. A brave human being.

Grandpa enjoying the incredible scenery before navigating the slick rocks down to the bottom of the arch. We love Grandpa and are impressed by his endless energy and love for the outdoors.

Grandpa's dashing and daring copilot!

A Murdock trip to Moab wouldn't be complete without a shot of Whitney passed out with her mouth hanging open (reference video of Moab trip 2005 for more hilarious footage).

And this year her twin will join the tradition.