I can’t remember exactly how old I was when I first moved out with my sister.  I can’t even find many pictures from our first place together, which is odd… I know they’re around somewhere.  It was a trailer… swanky, I know.  We lived together for a while and then moved into a bigger trailer – this time a much nicer double-wide, with some decent views.

I think that was one of my favorite things about living in the country – we had quiet neighbors.

Admittedly, the neighbors often woke up early on the weekends and could actually be a little rowdy.  There was also the occasion when the cows would get out and use the side of the trailer as a scratching post, which if you aren’t expecting it, can be a tad startling.  Hey, I was living alone at that point and it was dark – I didn’t know what was going on outside.  Stupid cows.

I can’t remember how long I lived in Casa #2, but finally the high cost of living alone and paying propane bills prompted me to beg my brother to move into an apartment in town, which he did. Not nearly as much space, and not nearly as nice of a view, but I guess that’s the natural progression of things.

Considering we just went camping not that long ago, I was thinking about past camping trips and came across pictures from when I went to Moab with my dad and brother, which might have been the last time we were all camping together… back in 2006.  Yikes.

We did a lot of driving around, and I think it was my first time really exploring any part of Utah from what I recall.  It was beautiful and I’m hoping one day to take Josh and the kiddos there for some exploring/camping as well.  While I don’t remember much from the trip, I do remember how nice it was to be with my dad and brother, maybe knowing there wouldn’t be too many more of those trips ahead… I suppose that happens when you get older and get married and have kids.

It was a fun trip overall with great weather, until one of the nights when there was a pretty big thunderstorm.  I remember we drove around in it a bit – we had nothing else to do, and then the next day we did some more driving around and hit a soft soft…

Yeah, that was probably the low point of the trip, but thankfully the Jeep was still drive-able once someone came along and helped tow it out. My dad’s Jeep has been through a lot over the years… boys and their toys.

And for posterity – me circa 2006.