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Post by Joeli on Jul 14, 2024 11:57:25 GMT -5
7/14
We decided that we wanted to do a motor coach tour of Arches State park versus a strenuous hike (due to our DS’s) with sight seeing and time on our own in downtown Moab.
Morning began with wake up at 5:30 and off to breakfast. Motor coach pick up at 7am. A little cloudy this morning so that may help with the heat. Only time will tell. Either way staying hydrated is the key!
We will be seeing baby arch, and sheep arch. Some history regarding Moab and how the town grew, including uranium mining until the 80’s And how the arches were formed
The drive thru Arch’s national park to Delicate Arch was so beautiful seeing all the sandstone rock formations.
Just got to see the delicate arch, amazing thinking how all of these arches have been formed over hundreds of millions of years.
We just hiked to and up. Turret arch, double arch, north and south window. Long walks but kids made it, our local natural guide and our Disney guide are excellent. We are on the motor coach cooling off and waiting on the part of our group that did the strenuous hike. Air conditioning is your friend!
Now heading for lunch and shopping in Moab on our own for about Two hours or so…102 degrees….
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Post by Joeli on Jul 14, 2024 22:52:29 GMT -5
7/14 - continued
Had a fun day in Moab. Great lunch at this great cafe, and some tourist shopping. The kids wanted these pressed Pennie’s that had an image of Moab Rules on it, and the Pennie’s fit into these rubber bracelets that they picked out. Totally a bargain, and a memory! lol.
Headed back to the hotel and went to the pool so we could cool off and the kids could play together, while DW did laundry so it would be easier to repack for the trip home tomorrow and have almost no laundry to do when we get home.
Had a group Cowboy dinner tonight with music, and as the music started, the lights flickered, and sure enough a power outage! Thankfully kids wanted to play on the playground with the other kids, so grown ups hung out together relaxing and gettting to know each other more. Some swapped contact info, while hoping for power to come back on. Thankfully it was evening sun almost down, a nice breeze…and about an hour later the lights came on and everyone headed back to the a/c rooms to get ready for our travel day tomorrow morning. We have about an hour and 45 minute drive to Grand Junction, CO Where everyone catches their flights out. Hoping for an uneventful day!
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Post by Brian5581 on Jul 15, 2024 3:44:39 GMT -5
What an amazing adventure. Thanks so much for taking the time to share.
Way too hot for me, no question. Safe travels back!
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Post by Eli's Nana on Jul 15, 2024 9:36:39 GMT -5
What a wonderful trip - thank you so much for sharing!
Those pressed pennies are the best! Our son collected them when he was young too. My grandson found the collection and is now adding to it, so 2 generations of memories.
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Post by Joeli on Jul 15, 2024 15:41:00 GMT -5
7/15
Day began nicely, other than me not being able to sleep past 4:30am. Well, I sure was ready when everyone woke at 5:30am. lol
Had a nice breakfast after putting our luggage out at 7am, we said goodbye to Red Cliffs Lodge. Sad thinking about all the new friends the kids and us made…
Headed to Grand Junction airport in CO (SMALL airport). Talk about cutting it close. We made it to the gate after checking our luggage with enough time to look around us for a minute and then called to board. Phew!
Now sitting on the flight looking back on this trip, and taking into account the cost, expenses, gratuities. Although faster paced than I am used to Definitely do another. We are talking about The Wyoming (Yosemite) area perhaps next trip, Iceland, Japan, and Egypt when the kids are a little older. We need to do a little more research.
Soooo…Disney offers a bounce back offer if booked within 45 days. It includes $500 off per person, and we are going to look into it, as we want to go. The cultural experience and geared towards kids and even adults definitely falls into our wheelhouse.
Onto our second flight to Florida…we loved the adventure, but are looking forward to our own beds!
If you have any questions or thoughts, I will do my best to respond as soon as I can. Than, you for following along! I hope it was as enjoyable to read as it was to me writing!
Than
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Post by baymaxfan on Jul 15, 2024 18:16:41 GMT -5
I have gone on two ABD river cruises and found them both outstanding and a relatively good value (when compared to pricing of comparable non-ABD river cruises). I've looked at ABD land adventures many times and have had a hard time justifying the prices. I've always felt I could reproduce a very similar experience at a fraction of the cost. Japan ABD, for example, is $12-$13k per person for 10 days, not including flights. I can get business class flights, top hotels (Ritz-Carlton, Mandarin Oriental, etc.), first class Shinkansen, amazing food, and a great Tokyo DL package (at the Tokyo Disneyland or Miracosta Hotel) for ~$30k total for 4 people. Maybe I'm wrong as it seems you had a wonderful time and are thinking of doing another one.
Perhaps I just need to give one a try.
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Post by melk on Jul 15, 2024 20:38:12 GMT -5
Thank you for sharing your trip with us. It sounded amazing!
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Post by Joeli on Jul 16, 2024 19:48:34 GMT -5
I have gone on two ABD river cruises and found them both outstanding and a relatively good value (when compared to pricing of comparable non-ABD river cruises). I've looked at ABD land adventures many times and have had a hard time justifying the prices. I've always felt I could reproduce a very similar experience at a fraction of the cost. Japan ABD, for example, is $12-$13k per person for 10 days, not including flights. I can get business class flights, top hotels (Ritz-Carlton, Mandarin Oriental, etc.), first class Shinkansen, amazing food, and a great Tokyo DL package (at the Tokyo Disneyland or Miracosta Hotel) for ~$30k total for 4 people. Maybe I'm wrong as it seems you had a wonderful time and are thinking of doing another one. Perhaps I just need to give one a try. The great part for us was not having to plan anything other than our wardrobe. That to us was worth the money…but I totally understand about doing it better (potentially) and saving money it’s hard not to go that route. For us the other bonus is the memories, and the friends that all of us have made that will carry on further than the trip. |
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Post by baymaxfan on Jul 17, 2024 9:16:26 GMT -5
I have gone on two ABD river cruises and found them both outstanding and a relatively good value (when compared to pricing of comparable non-ABD river cruises). I've looked at ABD land adventures many times and have had a hard time justifying the prices. I've always felt I could reproduce a very similar experience at a fraction of the cost. Japan ABD, for example, is $12-$13k per person for 10 days, not including flights. I can get business class flights, top hotels (Ritz-Carlton, Mandarin Oriental, etc.), first class Shinkansen, amazing food, and a great Tokyo DL package (at the Tokyo Disneyland or Miracosta Hotel) for ~$30k total for 4 people. Maybe I'm wrong as it seems you had a wonderful time and are thinking of doing another one. Perhaps I just need to give one a try. The great part for us was not having to plan anything other than our wardrobe. That to us was worth the money…but I totally understand about doing it better (potentially) and saving money it’s hard not to go that route. For us the other bonus is the memories, and the friends that all of us have made that will carry on further than the trip. The not having to plan anything is the big plus for something like this and hard to place a value on. |
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Post by tomandrobin on Jul 24, 2024 7:32:09 GMT -5
The great part for us was not having to plan anything other than our wardrobe. That to us was worth the money…but I totally understand about doing it better (potentially) and saving money it’s hard not to go that route. For us the other bonus is the memories, and the friends that all of us have made that will carry on further than the trip. There attention to detail and planning is what makes the ABD tours so great! |
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Post by tomandrobin on Jul 24, 2024 7:34:53 GMT -5
Thanks for posting and sharing your ABD tour experience! Sounds like you all had a great time and made many memories!
Hopefully we can catch-up and hear a little more about your trip.
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Post by Joeli on Jul 24, 2024 10:02:26 GMT -5
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Post by Joeli on Jul 24, 2024 10:04:06 GMT -5
Thanks for posting and sharing your ABD tour experience! Sounds like you all had a great time and made many memories! Hopefully we can catch-up and hear a little more about your trip. Maybe do it over the phone, text typing is tough lol |
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Post by reblzmom on Jul 24, 2024 12:00:28 GMT -5
Yes! the link works! Thanks for sharing them. |
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Post by tomandrobin on Jul 24, 2024 12:17:02 GMT -5
Thanks for the photo link.....gives you another level of appreciation of your posts!
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