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Passing the Cisco/Moab scenic-route exit less than an hour later gave Noah an odd sense of déjà vu; he wasn’t driving the same route from the Mexico trip, but the scenery was still starkly beautiful. He wondered how Vanessa and the others were doing. He hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye, under the circumstances. Maybe he could reconnect with some of them if he ended up moving again.
“I’m happy to drive if you get tired,” Chris said, his wild hair brushing the car’s headliner.
“I think I’m good,” Noah said, “but I’ll let you know if I do.” It wasn’t likely. Not only was he hesitant to let anyone else drive his brother’s car, but the prospect of two days with Grace and Alec had him wide awake. At least he knew what he was getting into this time, unlike in Mexico.
Not that knowing made it any more appealing.
Chris kept him entertained during the drive with a running commentary on all rides Moab, lamenting that they could do only one.
“Honestly,” Noah said, “I doubt I’d be able to handle more than one day in the saddle—I haven’t been biking much.”
“It does take some getting used to.” Chris chuckled. “Hey, I think we’re getting close!”
Noah’s excitement to go adventuring in the town that had captured his imagination in the spring spiked as they passed highway signs for the Canyonlands and Arches National Parks and descended into the red cliffs and green valley of Moab. It seemed to welcome him back, and Noah’s spirits lifted in spite of his worries.
“I’ve heard the float trips out of Moab are awesome,” Jake said as they crossed the Colorado River bridge. The high canyon walls streaked with desert varnish called for Noah’s attention and made him wish someone else were driving, but Main Street and heavier traffic soon refocused him.
Tricked out ATVs, lifted Jeeps, and trucks loaded with dirt-coated motorcycles rolled past T-shirt boutiques, motels, bike shops, and breweries. People of all ages roamed the sidewalks, enjoying the warm evening and relaxed atmosphere.
“Wow,” Melissa said, pointing out yet another adventure-touting billboard. “If we hadn’t already decided what we were doing here, I don’t know how I’d ever choose.”
“Right?” Jake agreed.
Chris directed Noah onto a side street through a more residential-looking area, then up into the foothills east of town. The narrow, steep road put them right onto the rim of the sandstone cliffs, drawing a gasp of delight from Melissa as she looked back at the city below them. Noah caught only a glimpse as he drove.
An entrance station announced their arrival at the Sand Flats Recreation Area. They paid their fees and continued uphill past trailheads for Hell’s Revenge and Baby Lion’s Back.
“Look at that!” Jake said, pointing to the latter. A Jeep crept up a fin of sandstone steep enough that the vehicle appeared on the verge of rolling off the narrow ridge.
Melissa leaned across him to get a better look. “Ah! I don’t think I’d want to be inside there!”
The guys chuckled, and Jake assured her the ride was safer than it looked.
“Besides,” Chris said, “they have roll bars. Even if they roll, they’ll probably be fine.”
“Maybe,” she said, “but what about the poor Jeep?”
As they rounded a corner, domes of sandstone rose out of the desert soil, looking like great whales surfacing in a sandy ocean. Campgrounds surrounded by sagebrush and sparse trees dotted the flat areas near the road.
“There it is,” Chris said, voice reverent as they passed a large, nearly empty parking lot signedSlickrock Bike Trail. The sun setting on the western horizon behind the lot highlighted the Colorado Plateau and Moab Valley stretching before them and reminded Noah of the framed landscape in Matt’s apartment. They definitely needed to come back here together.
Much as Chris wanted to go check out the trail, they figured they’d better get a campsite first. The weekend crowd hadn’t thinned much, but they lucked out and found a site with a few trees big enough for hammocks and a bit of shade. Jake and Melissa clambered out and lowered the back seats so the gear could be unloaded without taking the bikes off the rack.
“Looks like the lovebirds are about an hour away,” Chris said, getting out of the car and slipping his phone back into his pocket. “I sent them a pin.”
One hour, Noah thought, annoyed by Chris’s label.
Setting up camp occupied his hands, if not his mind. Once the car was unloaded, they hung their hammocks and set up chairs around the firepit. Melissa was almost finished staking the tent she and Grace would share—with some unneeded but apparently welcome help from Jake—when The Couple arrived.
Alec hopped out first. “Party’s here!” he said, working his way around to Grace’s door just as she opened it.
Noah braced himself for the worst, but things weren’t completely terrible as they finished setting up and Chris lit a fire for their tinfoil dinners. He could almost pretend everyone wasjust friends, until the food was ready and Alec claimed Grace with an arm around her back as they sat together on a log.
Regardless, conversation flowed easily around everyone’s different adventures and travels, eventually landing on the trip to Mexico half the group had shared.
“That day at the beach was the best,” Alec said.
Grace agreed. “I think that’s where we really started connecting.”
