Flashback Friday: My 16th Birthday at Goblin Valley

Flashback Friday is where I post some writing of a little snipet of my life as a younger me.

I was born on Easter. That meant that my birthdays were almost always on or near Spring Break. And we always did the same thing for Spring Break – Moab. If you’ve never been to Moab, you can see a shot of it in the movie Galaxy Quest where the little kid aliens are. You know, the cute ones that turn out to be creepy? Anyway, the whole place has kind of an alien planet look to it. Red rocks, arches, slot canyons, barren landscapes and weird rock formations. The best part of Spring Break was hiding easter eggs in Goblin Valley where there are thousands of huge rocks in the strangest shapes you’ve ever seen. When I was 16, I got to bring my friends along for our annual Moab trip.

Like all of our family trips, one of the tires blew up on our tent trailer on the way. As my friends looked around in alarm, my sisters and I continued doing what we were doing without the slightest concern.

“Did your tire just go flat?!” My friend, Ashley, asked.

I look up from my book. “Oh. Yeah. It probably did. It’s okay. We’ll get a new one.”

When I see how concerned she is, I realize that tires probably don’t blow up on her family vacations. I ponder this novel idea. The only other reaction the flat tire gets from anyone in the car is my younger sister, Kristen, saying, “Not again.” Ashley was highly amused by my families’ complete non-reaction to our car breaking down.

Since fixing the tire delayed our drive (not to mention we probably left later than we were supposed to in the first place) we got to our campground in Green River at night. When it’s dark. My sisters and I start setting up the tent trailer first thing. We all have the steps memorized and can do it in the dark because we have. Many times.

My dad pulls out the tent that my friends and I will be sleeping in. When I ask them to help me set up the tent, they give me blank stares.

“How are we supposed to set up a tent in the dark?” one of my friends ask.

“Setting up camp in the day is for rookies,” my dad says as he helpfully gives us a flashlight and I realize that they probably don’t set up camp in the dark on their vacations, either. Huh. I wonder what that’s like. I’ll bet it’s easier to set up a tent when you can see. By the time we get everything set up, it’s close to midnight and we all crash.

We hiked to Double O Arch the next day, and being reckless teenagers, my friends decided it would be fun to climb on top of the arch. In all my years of coming to Moab, this has never have occurred to me. I bravely volunteered to stay at the bottom and take pictures. My aunt, Karla, didn’t think my friends would actually do it, but they did. Twice. And they took Karla with them the second time. Karla panicked a little when she couldn’t climb back up a big rock that she had slid down on her way to the arch, but she made it back alive.

Next, we went to my favorite slot canyon, Little Wild Horse, where it’s so narrow that you can touch both walls and they are at least 50 feet tall. If you’re not careful, you can die from a flash flood or lose a limb 127-hours style, but that just adds to the fun.

We went to Goblin Valley on my birthday. It was raining and my dad didn’t think we should go, but I insisted. By the time we got there, the rain had let up.  The place was packed.  We’ve been coming here for years and it has never once been crowded.  I think it might have something to do with a movie being filmed here or something.  Goblin Valley was a blast and we played tag even though we are, like, way too old to do stuff like that. We had cake for my birthday. It was just a little lopsided, but oh my gosh I love cake. And my friends and I talked about boys all night on our last night because I’m 16 now and I can date!