Thanksgiving in Moab: The Dinner

After Denny's, all four of us were cold and tired, so we went back to our hostel to rejuvinate. We ended up taking a really long nap that was WONDERFUL! We woke up feeling calm and cozy and warm...ahhh, it makes me happy just thinking about it. Robbie and Greg were determined to go to a park in town that we had scouted out before and start a fire in the grill there to cook our tin-foil dinners. It was still pouring down rain, so Red and I didn't think it was going to happen, but we gamely helped them gather everything they needed and we all headed to the park. Red and I got to sit in the car and get to know each other better while Robbie and Greg actually managed to get a roaring fire going!

While Red and I were in the car, we saw a group of three young hobo's approach the fire. They warmed their hands and chatted with the boys for several minutes. I really wanted to get out and talk to them too, but the rain kept me in the car. I wish I had just done it anyway though, because Robbie told me that the people were super interesting. They lived in the desert and just came into town occasionally to do odd jobs...enough to earn a little money for food and drugs. One of the guys used to be a Rainbow person, a group of people I had just barely learned about. He said he stopped though, because when he went to their big conference, he had to put out like 4 forest fires. He also said he was too "pirate" to be one of those dumb hippies, whatever that means. Robbie didn't ask what he meant by that, which is exactly why I should have been out there talking to him.

After Robbie reported about the hobo-encounter, Red and I decided to get out of the car and encourage our men in their dinner-making efforts. (It helped that there was a covered pavilion and hot chocolate for us to enjoy.) We had a fun time finishing the dinners, and we ended that portion of the evening by singing some more hymns of gratitude and then headed back to the hostel.





Our tin-foil dinners smelled SO DELICIOUS and we were stoked to have our awesome Moab Thanksgiving dinner. The theme of the dinner was "CLASSY," so we set the table with an old, gross blanket as the table-cloth, styrofoam bowls and plastic utensils, and best of all, our plastic wine-glasses that you had to assemble because the cup and the stems weren't attached. Oh, and of course the centerpiece and mascot of our classy dinner was our bottle of de-alchoholized Merlot.


The table was set, the food was out, and all that was left was to list our Thank's and have our prayer. The guys made us all hold hands around the table and then I had to say the prayer. Both of the boys were squeezing my hands while I prayed, which I thought was strange. I found out later that Robbie was just examining a burn on one of his fingers, so really it was just Greg that was squeezing my hand as a sign of support and friendship while I prayed in (kind-of) public (which I hate doing, by the way.) We were all feeling super content and happy and cheesy and CLASSY, and finally the moment we had been anticipating had arrived...it was Time for the Wine! We poured it, and swirled it, and sniffed it, and then we all took a swig. And it was AWFUL, DISGUSTING, PUTRID, GROSS, EW, BLECH and also JUST what we had been hoping for! Totally classy. And hilarious. Seriously, it tasted like yeast and vinegar and grapes. If that is what real wine tastes like, what on earth are all of you wine-o's out there thinking?

Before:





After:




After our dorky wine moments, we dug into our real dinners, and they were amazing. I highly recommend tin-foil turkey dinners to everyone. Everything was cooked perfectly. Greg and I cooked yams as well, and those were also sooo yummy. After dinner, we had Thanksgiving S'mores, which consisted of homemade gingerbread, pumpkin-pie-puree` spread, and roasted marshmallows (I forgot the chocolate, but that probably would have made them even better.) All in all, despite the rain and the lateness of dinner, it turned out just as good as I had been hoping for. It may go down as my most memorable Thanksgiving dinner ever!






Friday morning arrived, bringing sunshine with it. We packed up the car, and as we were about to leave I saw something on the ground by the passenger side door. I bent over and uncovered...a half-buried baggy of marijuana!! It actually wasn't that suprising, considering the hippies who live at the hostel had been smoking the stuff the whole time we had been there, but I still thought it was hilarious. Especially since Robbie was freaking out a little and begging me to throw the bag away. He's usually not easily riled, but he really hates drugs apparently. I made him take a picture of me with the good stuff, and then after musing whether or not we should sell the baggy to pay for a tank of gas, I threw it back on the ground and we were off.


Greg really wanted to do one last hike, so we drove to Canyonlands National Park, and Robbie and I opted to wait in the car while Greg and Red went on their own little adventure. Robbie graded papers while I listened to music and just took a few minutes to reflect on my life and on the weekend. Robbie is one of those amazing friends that I can talk to for ever and ever, but also we can just sit together quietly without feeling the need to fill the silence for no reason. It was nice.

We left Moab behind us and went back to Provo, and our wonderful Thanksgiving adventure was done. I'm so glad that I went with the people I did, that we stayed in the place we did, that our food turned out the way it did, and that God created all those amazing Moab rock formations for us to enjoy the way He did.


Back in Provo, I was able to eat at one last fabulous restaurant (Zupa's!), watch some great kids spread Christmas cheer, enjoy a free musical, play some intense speed scrabble, and then talk until 3? 4? AM with my friend Glade (thanks, by the way, for the good talk and for being so honest and open with me...I enjoy talking to you more than you even know!) before driving back to SLC, turning in my rental car and getting on a plane to come back home.

Whew! I can't believe I made it through all that. Congratulations to you if you made it through too...I give you a GOLD STICKER! I hope everyone's Thanksgivings were full of good food, family, friends and memories.