I'm up before sunrise, anxious to get back on the road to my next stop...Moab, Utah.
I packed up just about everything last night...a job made easier by my camp mates from Wisconsin. They invited me over for dinner last night..bison burger with bacon and cheese, corn on the cob and another one of those great s'mores. They have two young children (boy and girl) and, after watching them for two days, it's clear that they are both excellent parents. When I'm camping, I have a lot of opportunities to watch the interaction between parents and children...some good, some bad. These folks from Wisconsin just had a good way with their children, both of whom were very well behaved.
So...at 6:00AM, I finish the last of my coffee and hit the road. It's about 134 miles to Moab, and I figure that it will take me 3 1/2 hours or so (not including stops). The first part of the journey is pretty boring. But, not long after crossing the border into Utah, all of that changes. Now there's craggy mountains, rock-strewn valleys, cool rock formations...very interesting scenery.
After stops for doughnuts/coffee and gas, I get to Moab around 10:00AM...and head straight for the Park. Bad news/good news...there's one tiny campground (51 sites) in the main part of the Park, and it's booked solid for the next two weeks. But the Ranger suggests some nice campgrounds, down on the east side of the Park, along the Colorado River. "They're so much nicer than the main campground", she tells me.
She's right. I'm camping in a huge canyon (Hal Canyon), surrounded by huge cliffs, right on the river...it's absolutely beautiful. And, best of all, I've got a pull-through site...no 45 minute backing up the camper adventures.
Once I set up camp, I head back in to Moab for lunch at La Hacienda. Three cheese enchiladas are excellent, but the beer...ah...the beer. This is Utah, and they're liquor laws are...shall we say...antiquated. I can only get 3.2% beer...something I have not encountered since college days!
Back at camp, it's hot...brutally hot. The sun is bright and inescapable...blinding, searing...it's got to be in the high 90's. But...I have prepared for this very moment! Back in April, when I was planning this trip as a "contingency vacation", I read about the sun and heat at Arches in the summer. Serendipitously, I happened to open an REI catalog right after reading about the heat and there, on the first page, was the REI Alcove Portable Shelter. Perfect for erecting over a picnic table to provide shade. And, thirty minutes later, it was (indeed) perfect...welcome shade in the desert!
I sit back and enjoy a cold Margarita and read a hundred pages or so of "No Ordinary Time" by Doris Kearns Goodwin...about the Roosevelts and the American home front during World War II...it's a good read. I read her Lincoln book, "A Team of Rivals", last summer, and I enjoyed it very much.
For dinner, I re-grill some steak and open a package of vegetables (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower)...plus a couple of cold Dos Equis (3.2% unfortunately). The sunset in the canyon is spectacular...and the sunset brings some welcome relief from the heat. The stars come out...it's like you can see every star in the universe. Another beer...time for bed.
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