I was originally from Montana and raised in the Great Outdoors. From the 1950s through the 1970s, I galavanted around with my father in his assortment of Chevy Carryalls around the Powder River region of the state. We went places seldom seen by men in those days, and those adventures resonated with me as family time.
Susie was originally from Utah and experienced outdoor fun in their family pickup and camper. Though she was raised in a city, she felt the same appreciation for rural life.
In the early 1990s, we took our then-four kids (eventually, we had six) for a week of vacation in Southern California, visiting Disneyland, Universal Studios, Knott's Berry Farm, and the beaches. The following week, we visited my ancestral home in Montana and my cousin's country Ranch house, set in the Wolf Mountains.
Upon completing our two-week vacation, we drove back to our home in Phoenix and asked the kids what their favorite vacation experience was. Their resounding and unanimous answer surprised us. All agreed that the days spent in the country at the ranch house were their favorite—better than Disneyland, the other theme parks, and the beaches.
So we returned home, bought a big family tent and all the associated camping gear, and determined that we would be a camping family. We did that for a couple of years, and the kids enjoyed it, but Susie and I felt exhausted. Tent life has its limitations.
We cooked dinner while camping in the White Mountains of Arizona when a huge thunderstorm struck. The rain poured down, wreaking havoc on our camp kitchen. Scrambling into the tent, I grabbed the lit lantern and tripped while entering the tent; I grabbed the lantern, burning my right palm, dropped the lantern, which melted a large hole in our tent, and realized our sleeping bags were wet.
We waited out the rain, reassembled the kitchen, resumed cooking in the mud, and couldn't wait to call it a day. The next morning, after a fitful night of sleep, Susie and I awoke, looked at each other, and commented that we were not really having any fun at all. Camping was a more excellent theory than reality for us.
That revelation began a search for a property in a rural setting that we could enjoy with family. We searched high and low until we found one that we all agreed met our criteria: the setting must be picturesque, the creature comforts must be in place, and the Great Outdoors must be readily accessible.
We purchased the Moab cabin on the Wilson Mesa and began improving it. Over the years, we have: