Meanwhile, here is the blog of a family enjoying Moab in winter. Perfectly adapted to the mild winter, Moab often experiences.

Fairbanks Alaska Comes to Moab to Go Play Outside

Other terrific winter things to accomplish with the family is hinted at in the above post: Dinosaur Prints! Event the local children scramble over rocks to be amazed by dinosaurs that once inhabited ancient Moab.

Dinosaur Tracks of Moab - Please be Respectful

Workshops

Writing Promotion Workshop with Ann Gordon

January 29 2012

Brought to you by the Moab Poets and Writers organization.

Moab Women’s Workout Weekend

March 2-4 2012

Triathletes in action

Fabric Art Studios

March 2-4 2012

Winter Retreat. Bring your Sewing Machine and project

Shift Workshop

March 28-30 2012-01-09

Free training for teachers K-8 to implement media-based professional development into curriculum to improve students engagement with 21^st Century Skills.

Adventure Rabbi

April 7 2012

Celebrates Passover Seder

Spring Desert Retreat Southern Utah

April 9-14 2012

Silent Retreat Backpacking 2-6 miles, dharma talks.

Alchemy Tours

April 19-22 2012

Brings yoga and meditation toMoabin the spring to kick start an active summer season.

Woman Road Cycling Inn Tour

April 21 – 27 2012

October 27 – November 2 2012

Better Ride Skills Coaching will be inMoab three times for 2012.

April 20-22 2012CoreSkillsMountainBike Camp

April 27-29, 2012MoabMountainBike Camp

May 18-20 2012MoabMountainBike Camp

Wilderness Medicine Institute

April 25-29 2012

A Wilderness Advanced First Aid course inMoab.

Wilderness Advanced Life Support

May 16-19 2012

Both Doctoral and non Doctoral Registrations available for this Wilderness Medicine course

Alison Dunlap taught Mountain Bike skills inMoab in 2011 and has dates ready for 2012.

May 1-5 2012Novice/Intermediate

May 29 –June 2 2012Intermediate/Advanced

October 2-6 2012Intermediate/Advanced

Moab Jam Workshop

May 22-24 2012

Only 85 spots for dancers, registration in February, the actual Jam is on May 24-28.

Foundation of Your Power

June 14-17 2012

A retreat of Mind and Body Examination in the La Sal Mountains ofMoabby ETLyoga

Writing on the River with Page Lambert

August 7-11 2012

Unleash creative energy and receive free flowing facilitation with fiction, nonfiction, memoir and poetry.

Insight Meditation Retreat

October 2012 (Dates to be determined)

Moab Sangha lead this retreat in Professor Valley Field Camp in yurts, teepees and camping.

Adventure Retreat

October 11-14 2012

Silvia Mordini leads four days of mountain bike, hike, and yoga surrounded by sandstone landscapes.

Photo by Leland Davis

Conferences

Moab welcomes the following conferences to our town.

Red Cliffs:

• Utah Mosquito Abatement Association Manager’s Meeting               October 28-30 2012
• Summer Meeting for Sierra Veterinary Medical Association             October 24-28 2012

 Moab Valley Inn:

• Utah Animal Control Officers and Shelter Workers                                    Feb 22-24 2012
• Utah Ground Water Association                                                                    June 8 2012
• Utah Urban Rural Specialized Transportation Association                      May 10-11 2012
• International Plant Nutrition Institute June 8-9 2012

Hampton Inn:

• International Union of Veterinary Cyclists                                             April 20-23 2012

USU Moab Campus:

• Moab Topology Conference                                            May 30 – June 1

The Blu Pig for Meetings during the Day

Spring Break

Here are some of the Spring Break ideas already implemented by universities for 2012. Many are leisure oriented by leaders involved with the university outdoor programs, others are Alternative Spring Break options involving volunteer services toward communities and/or public lands.

The Office of Student Activities at Regis University come to Moab March 3-11th to backpack in the Needles District of Canyonlands. A second trip is planned for March 3-10th mountain biking.

Indiana University Mountain Bikes  March 9-17 2012

University of Northern Colorado combines camping in Moab and Grand Canyon during a  March 10 – 15 2012 sightseeing road trip.

University  of Wyoming Climbing and Canyoneering March 10 – 16 2012

University of Iowa  Hikes, Bikes, Climbs and Rafts March 10 – 18 2012

The University of Texas at San Antonio will Bike and Climb March 10 – 14 2012 with instruction by campus Outdoor Pursuit staff.

Clemson Mountain Bikes March 16 – 25 2012

Colorado State University - Service – Learning with Moab’s Plateau Restoration on March 10-17 2012. Your University can potentially earn credits with advance planning too.

DePaul University are Wilderness Volunteers on Moab trails with BLM  March 18-24 2012

University of Utah Climbs March 23 – 24 2012

The College of Idaho plans to camp, hike and bike March 19-23 2012 in Moab.

University of Idaho Department of Geological Sciences May 15 – 20 2012

Wild Rockies Field Institute Colorado Plateau Course with 12 credits Natural History, Geography, land issues March 22 – May 22 201

Photography by Michael Tallman

Carry delicious sandwiches by Love Muffin Cafe, Red Rock Bakery, Ledgers, or Pantele’s Desert Deli for a lite evening meal and hike to Delicate Arch. Try this hike during a full moon.

Organize a memorable photo shoot  this anniversary. Contract a Moab local photographer, who will advise you about the best time of day for specific backdrops. Hang this anniversary image next to you favorite wedding photo at home or at the office.

Visit the Moab Museum, Daughter of the Utah Pioneers, Moab Movie Museum, Lin Ottinger’s Rock Shop and take in a self guided trail to discover dinosaurs, rock art, movie tour, and more.

Hug looking out over the romantic view from Dead Horse Point State Park. Fortify with a snack or lunch from the Pony Expresso Coffee Shop now located near the visitor center.

Go on an adventure: tandem repel, river rafting, jetboat tour, guided 4×4 tour, go bicycling, and/or drive a side by side UTV on easier dirt trails. (Be respectful of land use.)

Volunteer for a community, public lands, restoration clean up or project, then treat yourselves to a romantic dinner and the awesome views from the cliff where the Uranium Millionaire’s House, now, the Sunset Grill is perched.

Include dancing. Monthly the Community Contra Band performs and coaches on contra dance. There is also a Salsa Group that convenes monthly. Plan ahead to incorporate dancing.  Finish the night with dessert and coffee.

Schedule a hot air balloon ride with Canyonlands Ballooning, usually a day break launch. At the end of the day watch a movie filmed in Moab. Movie rentals can be found at Radio Shack and Sgt Peppers Music & Video. (Of course, you will have to make sure there is a DVD playing at your hotel, B&B, or guest house.)

Purchase local art for a momento of this prestigious celebration.

Partake of wine tasting at Spanish Valley Vineyards and/or Castle Creek Wines. Select a vintage to take home to reflect on this anniversary in Moab.

Take a stroll in Canyonlands National Park’s Island in the Sky district. Finish the day with a local beer at Eddie McStiffs or the Moab Brewery. Their beers are also on tap at Frankie D’s Tavern.

Ride horses across the red earth of Moab with Highpoint Hummer, Red Cliffs Lodge, or Backcountry Mules and Horses.

Smithsonian compiled a short list of dinotourism in which Utah is mentioned. This Dinosaur Diamond is also an official Scenic Byway. Of particular note, Dinosaur National Monument fossil beds were discovered August 17, 1909 by Earl Douglass and fifty years earlier the first Utah dinosaur bones were discovered nearer Moab Utah by J.S. Newberry.  The first Utah bones were those of Dystrophaeus. The discovery was made on August 17, 1859 near Moab Utah. Earl Douglass, a paleontologist from the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania would find the fossil quarry which would later be declared Dinosaur National Monument in 1915. Moab has several dinosaur sites. Look at these brochures.

March 25-30 2012

Medium Format & Panoramic Photography

Peter Lorber

April 7-8 2012

Moab Utah Nature Photography

Jerome Shaw

May 3-7 2012

Nude Model Photography

Rolando Gomez

May 3-6 2012

Moab Photography Symposium

Guy Tal, Dan Ballard, Carolyn Guild, Jeff Foott, Tom Till, Bruce Hucko, Sheila Babbie, and Steve Traudt

May 4-6 2012

Illuminate Workshop

Efrain Cruz and Armando Martinez

May 6-13 2012

Moab Photo Tours with Tom Till

Tom Till

May 13-18 2012

Red Rock Country

Jim Altengarten

May 18-22 2012

The Arches and Canyonlands National Parks Workshops

Alain and Natalie Briot

May 16 – 20  2012

Scenic Light by Bob Evans

Bob Evans

May 20 – 24 2012

Instructional Photo Tour of Arches and Canyonlands

Joseph Rossbach & Richard Bernabe

June 7-10 2012

North American Photo Tours Moab

Art Wolfe and Jay Goodrich

September 9-13 2012

Barefoot Contessa

Margo Pinkerton

September 18-21 2012

Nikonians Academy

Winston C. Hall

October 1-5 2012

Arches Canyonlands National Park Photography Workshop

Salvatore Vasapolli

October 27-31 2012

4^th Annual Full Moon Over Red Rock, Arches and Canyons

Don Smith Photography

November 4-10 2012

Moab Photo Tours with Tom Till

Tom Till

December 2-8 2012

Moab Photo Tours with Tom Till

Tom Till

 Bret Edge has not yet announced his 2012 workshop dates.

The Colorado River, the Sandstones of Moab, Green Lawn of Red Cliffs Lodge

Enjoy the entire album of the above Red Cliffs Lodge wedding from PhotographybyJulie.

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  Marrying in southeastern Utah is a sweet decision. ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words.  ♫
– Plautus

Thanks to Peter Holcombe for putting together another Red Cliff Lodge wedding album utilizing YouTube.

Ceremony by the River; Reception in the Moab Mountains

Michelle of OEIL Photography captured the brilliance of a river bank ceremony followed by a reception in the nearby La Sal Mountains.

Your Moab Wedding will find many planning options on moabutah.info/wedding to perfect the atmosphere you seek. Find hair stylists, musicians, caterers, officiants, venues and, for an outdoor wedding, necessary permits and reservation application where necessary.

Moab Photographer Bruce Hucko

IMEX America Booth 1431

Moab Prepares to network at the Incentive Travel, Meetings and Events Exhibition, aka, IMEX America. IMEX has a long heritage as IMEX Frakfurt (Germany). Moab joins the Meet in Utah group at Booth 1431 for group appointments of interest of all Utah and individual appointments of interest in Moab specifically. Great Lakes Airline supports Moab’s endeavors to market Moab for Meetings and Events. Great Lakes Airline has donated tickets to be given away to one of the new contacts resulting from participation at IMEX America.

Reading “Two Helpful Metrics” for strategies to calculate Return on Investment (ROI) during exhibitions, as well as, studying Tips for Successful Exhibiting. Fine tuning the message: Moab Means Business (Too)!

• Small meetings destination of upwards of 250 attendees
• Daily, Commercial Flights into Moab’s Canyonlands Airport (CNY)
• Moab Travel Council has a department for Meetings and Events to assist planners for free
• Local event rentals and entertainment
• World Reknown destination with 2 National Parks and the Colorado River

In 2010, Forbes identified Utah as the best state for business. Businesses don’t have to relocate to Utah to take advantage of the inspiring surroundings of our indomitable landscapes. Plan a sales meeting, corporate retreat, board conference, team building occasion to take place here, especially in Moab Utah. You will be sure to refresh your spirit here.

Anasazi Photography

IntrepidXJ’s Adventure Blog is quick becoming a favorite. Check out the ten part series of Rock Art Images.

Particularly enjoying the alternative routes between Grand Junction and Moab. Feel like exploring? Here are four routes to consider. When traveling off the beaten path, be prepared. Do not rely on cell phone contact. Carry adequate food, water, maps, and a plan, in case of vehicle breakdown. Be aware of Leave No Trace Ethics. Read those now.