Moab, Utah
Moab was a dusty little uranium town that just happened to be located in the middle of some of the most spectacular geology on the whole Colorado Plateau. With the end of the cold war, the uranium boom went bust, and Moab continued in the direction it had already been heading. Like Sundance, just two hours to the north, they whole-heartedly embraced the tourist industry, focusing on the stark appeal of the surrounding wilderness and the opportunity for an endless diversity of extreme sports. There are plenty of opportunities for white-water rafting, rock-climbing, mountain-biking, sky-diving, and hiking - and this is just within the city limits.
We pulled into the Lazy Lizard Hostel on the southern edge of town, just off 191 at just past nine. While it initially reminded me of the run-down hippie communes of South Campus at college, it was very comfortable. We were provided with a air-conditioned and clean cabin large enough to sleep five. Not exactly roughing it, but what the hell, why not? They were also unbelievably affordable, and this allowed us to sample some of Moab's finer dining options with impunity.
