It's been some 20 years since I was in Moab, but I think about it a few times a year when I'm passing through the Salt Lake City area. (Provo and Ogden make great fuel stops on the way between central California and northern Minnesota.) Utah is beautiful, but my husband and I always wonder whether we'd enjoy living there. To the extent you can within the context of a food blog, please talk about the cultural influences. I know beer can now be purchased in some places. Are there wine stores? Do you drink, or cook with, alcohol? What altitude are you at, and what sorts of crops (if any) are grown there?
I agree with you that taking a generator along on a rafting trip is cheating. 
Hello Nancy:
Culturally Utah is still another country, but it is becoming much more cosmopolitan. The liquor situation has changed a lot over the last 30 years. Beer can be purchased in most groceries and convenience stores, other than in a very few small towns. Beer is alos available a large number of cafes and restaurants. Liquor and wine are still only available for off premises sale in state stores which are few and far between. For example there are only 17 state liquor stores in the Salt Lake City metro area............population of 600,000 approx. There are only 32 stores in the whole state. There are, however, concessions made to the tourist industry in that there are mini liquor stores in some hotels and ski resorts. There are two state stores that are designated as "wine stores", both in Salt Lake City. They do now have a much better selection of wine than in years past, but nothing like the rest of the country, and at very high prices. Liquor and wine are available at better restaurants. You no longer have to buy a mini bottle and a mixer separately. The drinks are all one ounce pours, by law, however. The wine and beer at such resataurants are only available if one is dining, or snacking. There are many private clubs, some of which are restaurants as well, that allow drinking without ordering food. Memberships are cheap and there are very cheap temporary memberships for tourists and visitors.
I no longer drink, for health reasons. I have certainly done my share in the past however. It was always somewhat of a challange, but fun in a way. But it was always more fun to go to Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, or California, and sigh..........."Ah, to be able to drink in America again"
. I still use wine in cooking quite a bt. It is illegal to bring liquor into Utah without paying the Utah tax thereon, but this is rarely enforced much anymore, thus many folks here in Moab make regular runs to Colorado for the liquor needs............or runs to California for their wine (or to Trader Joes in Las Vegas for their "Two Buck Chuck"
)
Moab is at 4,000 feet elevation, with the mesas around it at 6,500 and the mountains behind it up to 13,000. Moab used to be known for its orchards. Sadly most of them have gone to make way for condominiums and luxury homes. There are still some good apples and peaches available at the local Farmers Market, but not like in the old days. Melons are terrific here, as well as tomatoes and other vegetable crops. With the extreme heat and the abundance of good water, we have a long growing season for this part of the country............much longer than in the Salt Lake area. There isn't an abundance of commercial agriculture here because (1) there isn't that much private land..............most land is controlled by the National Park Service, , the Bureau of Land Management, or the National Forest Service; and (2) there is no rail connection out of Moab. There are some alfalfa farms, mostly for local consumption by the cattle and horse ranchers. There is some wheat and some beans grown south of Moab around Monticello, at about 7,000 feet.
Overall Moab has been a wondenful place to live..............paradise in fact
. The whole Utah experience is a bit different, but Moab is a little cultural oasis, or at least it has been for me. I still need yearly trips to the coasts and to Europe to get my "city fix" but I wouldn't live anywhere else. I moved here for the beauty and it hasn't let me down yet.
Bill
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) maybe go on a picnic, and cook up some vittals of my own 
at home......just sort of my normal routine.
