A grand weekend

Joan’s position mainly follows a school teacher schedule. She gets off most, if not all, the Utah public school holidays, receives a spring break, and gets her summer’s off.   Joan’s enjoyed much time in the Pacific Northwest, seeing family, and catching up with friends.

As such, I’ve been playing bachelor here in the wilds of Utah.

I missed Joan quite a bit. But delighted she had such a fantastic summer.

Initially, Joan’s flight would come to our small air terminal here in Moab around early afternoon. A short drive from our part of town, and then we’d catch up and plan a trip for the weekend (of course.)

Well, our plans did not come together quite as well. Due to flight delays and re-routes, Joan flew into the larger regional airport in Grand Junction, CO (two hours away) at almost midnight! :O

We decided not to drive back to Moab that night, get a hotel room, do some backpacking up in Grand Mesa, and run some errands we’ve discussed on and off for a year now.

We did some shopping in the “big city,” made some spare keys for the camper shell surprisingly hard to make outside of a locksmith, and booked a room at the Aspen Lodge in Grand Mesa for Friday night.

Our dispersed camp in the Aspen Lodge. PCO Joan.

The astute person may notice something called a “marriage license” and a “marriage certificate” in the photo above.

And that’s the major errand we ran:  Going to the courthouse, getting married by a very friendly and helpful county clerk, and starting our honeymoon by going to Target.

So, yes, Joan and I are now married. 🙂

We celebrated with a dispersed camp followed by backpacking on the Grand Mesa. By many accounts, the world’s largest flat-top mountain in the world at nearly 500 square miles in size. At 10,000 feet in elevation, where we went with little elevation change, the trip proved perfect for celebrating the start of a chapter in our lives together and let Joan adjust to the higher elevations easily.

Though we’ve explored the area before, this part of the mesa seemed less well-used and maybe not as dramatic as the Crags Crest where we went earlier, the wild areas, views off the mesa rim, fewer people, and the wide-open expanse made a place Joan and I want to see even more.

The aspens and pines contrast with the high desert floor below.

Joan appreciated the view-to-effort ratio quite a bit!

Our second evening in the Aspen Lodge had a smaller room but arguably a better view.

PCO Joan.

We started up early in the day with an overcast morning and before the heat of the day.

We ended our “honeymoon” at the porch of the Aspen Lodge. A porch that meant the tailgate of our Tacoma and post-trip snacks in a cooler full of fruit, seltzers, and yogurt.

Selfie c/o Joan.

Our first weekend as a married couple could not get spent in a better way.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

22 Comments
Oldest
Newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Colorado Jones
3 years ago

Congratulations, Paul and Joan! Wishing you a lifetime of happiness and outdoor adventures together!

misti
3 years ago

Congratulations, y’all! So good to see y’all so happy!

JP V
JP V
3 years ago

Congratulations! Colorado Jones said it well. Glad you found each other!

Steve
Steve
3 years ago

Take her name! Rid yourself of that annoying “gn” consonant nobody knows what to do with;)

Victor
Victor
3 years ago

Congratulations, Paul and Joan! Best wishes from Sweden.

David Dolton
David Dolton
3 years ago

Happy for you. May you have many more years together in health and happiness.

Walt Hoel
3 years ago

Congratulations to both of you! May your journey together be the adventure of a lifetime!

Rachel
Rachel
3 years ago

Congratulations! Love the photo!

Ellie Thomas
3 years ago

Oh WOW – congratulations to you both!!:-)

PaulW
PaulW
3 years ago

Married at the courthouse. Now that’s the way to do it! Congrats to you both.

Nick
Nick
3 years ago

Congratulations Paul and Joan!

Susie
3 years ago

YAY!!!! BIG Congrats! SO happy for you both & perfect to have your honeymoon be camping–wishing you Much Happiness :- )

Jeff Yegian
Jeff Yegian
3 years ago

Excellent happy news!

Kiwibrucie
Kiwibrucie
3 years ago

Congratulations on your wedding guys!!

Love your work, always great information vs. the usual interweb bumf.

If you’re ever down NZ way, drop us a line.

Cheers Bruce & Margo.

Linda Smith
Linda Smith
3 years ago

Nice! Congratulations. And you guys know how to honeymoon.

dan
dan
3 years ago

Awesome and more awesome!