"THERE'LL BE WIND IN THE CANYON, MOON ON THE RISE"

Bless me Father for I have ...not blogged in five days. I am not sure where to begin. How about chronological order? Yes I think that is better than alphabetical order by CANYON and NATIONAL PARK.

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK @ 5PM

A question first... Have you ever had something that you really,really like, let's say it is ice cream or cake? You eat it for every meal plus in between meals and you do so for seven straight days AND you do it with a big headache. Do you think you just might get a bit jaded when someone brings you another dish of ice cream or _______________ (fill in the blank). Really. Try it someday. I bet you would want a rest from the over indulgence. I bet that ice cream or _____________ (fill in the blank) would not look anywhere as near as WONDERFUL as the first dish....unless maybe you took a bit of time to savor the wonderful taste for a few days instead of gobbling it down.

Patt writes in analogies again.

We drove from Grand Junction, CO to Thompson Springs, UT and set up camp in a flat, dry RV park with no stores around for 30 miles. We were the only tent in the RV place and were given the honor of the only tree shade behind the mobile home that houses the office and laundry. There was a hole in the wall of the building to put our extension cord trough so that we could plug in my electric skillet to make dinner. It actually was a neato spot. The stars were amazing and they felt so close as if you could almost touch them as did the train that boomed by sounding it's whistle in the middle of the night. The next morning when I got up I looked to see just how close the train tracks really were.

After we set up the tent and confirmed that yes indeed we had an indoor toilet to use (never forget to ask that question) we headed off to Arches National Park. If you are in a rush in Utah and have several parks on your itinerary you can skip this one. Skip Moab too. Granted it was a Friday on a long weekend and the weather was fantastic but the traffic going up and down Arches...UGH.

After the Colorado Monument I really am jaded. That park was clear of too many people and felt intimate, as if I had a connection. Arches isn't set up that way. But hey - there are plenty of people to ask to take your photo. I am being positive yet sarcastic. There was an energy there that I didn't like and it had nothing to do with the vistas and the rocks themselves. It had to do with entitled people that knowingly walk right in front of other people taking photos. Now that didn't happen to me as I didn't take many photos but I did see it time and time again with others. I have not seen such behavior in other parks. If you do not like driving in crowds don't bother with Arches. We did it, got it done - and moved on to....

DAWN IN TORREY - SANDY CREEK RV & CAMPING

Torrey and Sand Creek RV and Camping. When I saw the fenced in area for our tent I didn't think the tent would fit. I guess most campers do not have 10' x 14' tents or they would be RVing it. All worked out fine though and there were two fence walls to bungee that sucker to. Goodness it got windy overnight. The dawn was wonderful.

Here are a few shots of Capitol Creek.

LOOKING INTO THE SUN - CAPITOL CREEK NATIONAL PARK

Up again the next morning and in the car with me driving to Tropic, UT which is about 20 minutes from the Visitor Center at Bryce. (Oh did I mention when not driving, putting the tent up and down and driving through canyons we seem to spend the rest of the time getting on slow internet connections to find the next campground? Sounds like I still have a headache huh?) On the positive side as I have been told in the past that I seem to make the best of things... I am considering this a taste of the canyons. I shall return to the places that I have liked and spend true quality time, on my feet and not behind a wheel.

The route from Torrey to Tropic isn't long (2 1/2 hours) but it is slow and driving is tedious. With an altitude headache that started in Denver I became more and more quiet and unappreciative. The views with the aspen so yellow at that altitude should have had be in bliss but instead I was in pain and getting grumpy inside and out. I didn't want to be driving. Inside my eyes hurt, I wanted to be outside in nature softly sitting on a rock somewhere. I kept telling myself that soon, soon that time will come somewhere, someday down the line. I really dislike rushing through nature. I felt like "If It's Tuesday It Must Be Some National Park and Flippin' Canyon Out My Car Window" movie.

NOT STARBUCKS

Bryce Pioneer Village - I LOVE THIS PLACE! I went into the office and paid for two nights as soon as we arrived in tropic. I didn't get back into the car until we needed food for dinner. I was not going to go to Bryce Canyon and drive that too on the same day. Instead I put on my bathing suit and got into the pool and the BEAUTIFUL hot tub. I LOVE THIS PLACE. For $20 plus tax you can pitch your tent on a nice green lawn and have full use of the village's facilities. There are mountains all around with great views, the staff is friendly and it is so quiet at night. Obviously I highly recommend it.

HAPPIER OUTSIDE

MINI CANYON MANDALA

And now for Bryce Canyon. A must see. At first I was not impressed (jaded) as we were instructed to drive to the end of the road up and then turn and come back down as the lookouts are all on the return side of the road. The views got better and better as we made our way back to the visitor center. We didn't get more than an hour of hiking in at the top but we knew what we were going to do the next day. In fact, we added two more days to our tent stay at Pioneer.



Yesterday we got up before dawn and went to the park to photograph the sunrise. Beautiful. I personally was in so many layers of clothing that I could barely move my arms to point and shoot. I am joking but I did have six layers on my upper body and I was still cold. You can imagine how cold it was in the tent at 5am.

Later we went back to Bryce for some real exercise and views that you don't really see from the look outs. I went off by myself as did Ines and that headache temporarily dissipated while the huffing and puffing was brought forward into consciousness. Let me show you what was at the last half mile of the two mile hike..... I stopped being grumpy for a bit because I was just trying to survive it.

(Thanks Ranger Anon who told me that I looked good on the trails - haaaa - I think it was the short blue jean shorts and cowboy hat and not my quick confident pace up that last inclines.)

Well this is long with probably lots of typos as I am tinkling my keyboard outside in the shade overlooking a mesa at the campground and keep losing connection. We're hiking again at Bryce today and then tomorrow I am dropping Ines at her daughter's in Las Vegas. There we will part. Zion Canyon I know is a must see but it is a not must now. I wouldn't appreciate it. Not now. I will hike it another time when my head doesn't hurt and when I am over gorging on gorges.

The day is a-wasting. I must go. Adelante >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"There'll be wind in the canyon
Moon on the rise
As long as we can sail away."

SO HAPPY WITH THIS PHOTO!

And here is your musical interlude with Neil Young from 1979...