"Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread." — Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire
Tuesday – Friday (5/21-24) – Monticello, UT
This week we continued our adventures with our friends Hal & Val. After spending two nights in the snows of Colorado, we were dismayed to learn that snow also was predicted for Monticello, where we had a three-night reservation at Mountain View RV Park ($38 per night with Good Sam discount; full hookups). We had hoped to stay in Moab, but everything was booked. Monticello is an hour south and 2,000 feet higher than Moab at 7,000 feet—hence the snow.
We drove all day Tuesday to get to Monticello, including a trip up to Moab to see if there was anything at all available. There were two spots available at Moab Rim Campark, but we didn’t take them: they were no-hookup dirt sites under high-voltage transmission wires. When Dave touched the grass, it gave him a shock. The guy who showed him the spot remarked, “yeah, in your aluminum trailer, every surface is going to give you a shock.” Needless to say, we considered ourselves lucky to have a nice spot elsewhere. And it really was a beautiful spot at Mountain View, next to a horse pasture with mountains in the distance. And it was the best bathhouse since Anchor Down in Tennessee.
On Wednesday morning it snowed, but up north in Moab it was only raining. We visited Dead Horse Point State Park, which had fabulous views (photos above and below). It rained off and on, and was windy and about 45 degrees, but the vistas were spectacular.
Later in the afternoon we visited Canyonlands National Park, starting at the Island in the Sky Visitor Center and then driving all through the northern part of the park, stopping at every overlook. We wanted to take the short hike to see Mesa Arch, but it was raining again at that point and we were chilled to the bone, so we decided it would have to wait for a return visit.
That night we had dinner at the Moab Brewery, which was packed. Not surprisingly, the food was excellent!
On Thursday morning we awoke again to snow. Because Dave had a dentist appointment in the early afternoon (he popped a crown), we visited Arches National Park after he had finished. It was another jaw-dropping drive through a red rock wonderland. This whole area blows my mind. We saw Delicate Arch—the famous one—from a distance, as we had intermittent soaking rains and didn’t want to get caught in a storm. This picture is of Skyline Arch.
That night we met our daughter Kayt and her friends at Eddie McStiff's. The food wasn’t as good, but the company was excellent. (Kayt and her friends were bringing horses from Salt Lake City to Austin, and Moab was a stopping point.)
On Friday we decided to visit the Needles portion of Canyonlands, with a stop at Newspaper Rock (bottom right) on the way. When you’re in the northern portion of the park, you are on top of “the Island in the Sky” looking down on the canyons. In the Needles (southern) portion, you drive through them. They are equally beautiful. I could have stayed for days.
That evening we went back to Moab for Thai food, visited the local bookstore, then had a short visit with Kayt at the stable where the horses were being housed.
We also decided we had had enough cold weather, so our planned trip to Bryce and Zion Canyons, as well as Capitol Reef National Park, was postponed in favor of warmer weather. We decided to head for Petrified Forest National Park instead, and found an RV park in Winslow, AZ, that miraculously was not full on Memorial Day weekend.
Saturday – Monday (5/25-27) – Winslow, AZ
There were high winds all day on Saturday as we drove from Monticello to Winslow, where we stayed at the Meteor Crater RV Park ($38 per day with a Good Sam discount; full hookups). Our drive took us through the enormous Navajo reservation, which was wild and beautiful, and also had some portions of road that felt like we were on a hobby horse. The trailer bucked so much that the trailer brake warning light came on. Dave went out and squirted some WD-40 on the hitch and all was well. WD-40 fixes everything.
It was fun to see the Navajo reservation and Canyon de Chelly National Monument, which I felt like I knew at least a little bit from reading Tony Hillerman’s mysteries. Canyon de Chelly was gorgeous, and we walked around at the various overlooks on the southern route, as we didn’t have time to see it all. At the Spider Rock Overlook, a young Navajo man spread out some of his artwork on a rock, and I bought a small piece featuring a rain dancer. By the way, do you know the difference between a wash and an arroyo? I saw signs for both and was curious. Apparently the terms are used interchangeably. They are both names for dry creek beds or gullies that fill with rain and can cause flash flooding. Maybe this information will come in handy for your crossword puzzle!
On Sunday we woke up to high winds and it stayed that way all day, with some gusts making the trailer feel like it would lift off. We had already planned to have a camp day, our first since getting out on the road a month ago. Camp day = rest, puttering, laundry, a little cleaning, reading, etc. It felt good to just hang out and relax.
The next day, Memorial Day, we drove to Petrified Forest National Park, beginning at the north end at the Painted Desert Visitor Center and winding our way south. Even though it was a beautiful 65 degrees and sunny, the winds were so high that it was difficult to even walk around. Nonetheless we persevered, appreciating the glorious views of the painted desert. We rounded out the day with a trip to downtown Winslow, where there were hijinks aplenty "standin' on the corner."
Tomorrow (actually, it's now "today," as I'm writing this at 1 a.m.), in yet another weather-related change of plans, we head south to Sedona.
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