Chores day

 Last night, I wrestled with the decision to wake up early, for sunrise. In Canyonlands National Park, there is this place called Mesa Arch that looks out over the canyons beyond, and when the sun rises, it lights up the underside of the arch a gorgeous hue of orange, which contrasts perfectly with the cool bluish tones of the background...It's a HUGE draw to photographer types, who will hike in the dark to stake a claim on the best location to capture that perfect moment in time, often times lining up 3 deep to get the picture. I wanted to be one of those people - but looking at the forecast last night, clouds seemed to be the order of the day, and that can make, or ruin, the picture. We've been running non-stop since we landed 4 days ago, and were both pretty worn out last night. We got to bed pretty early. We turned off the alarm. And when we got up this morning, the sun was rising somewhere behind a wall of grey clouds, and the world was more a tapestry of greyscale, and I was okay with not having rushed out to get that shot. Instead, we headed into the park and had breakfast at the trailhead, and hiked into the Mesa Arch with few others, and I still captured a fabulous picture. It's no sunrise shot, but so many people have that, and this is my moment captured. I watched a squirrel climb up the opposite of the rock formation with ease, and heard the whooshing of swallows as they dipped and swooped through the air. And I am okay with my moment. 

Another thing about running non-stop since landing, we haven't taken too much time to "take care of things". The nearby town of Moab is the landing point for most people visiting Arches and Canyonlands, and so it is a natural place to stop to take care of some chores. We hunt down the post office and mail off a couple of postcards, possibly with dinosaur stowaways. We search for what might be competition for that title of "best bakery in Utah", but leave disappointed when the last giant cinnamon bun is scooped up from under our noses. We do a little shopping in the boutiques that line the quaint little Main street, artisan stores and t-shirt shops and the like, picking out a Christmas ornament for our tree. We find a concentration of food trucks in a back lot, and leave with two big glasses of iced Thai tea in hand, WITHOUT boba, thank you. That should tell you what kind of crowd is flocking to this area to explore the National Parks. We head to the Maverick's Service Station on the far side of town to empty and fill all of our tanks, as we are running low on water and the trip is only half over. And we leave pretty Moab, and Arches and Canyonlands, behind us and drive on towards our next stop, Valley of the Gods.

We are driving along huge mesas, or flat areas, in between canyons, which offers a pretty good perspective of the surrounding countryside for miles. We can see huge storms in the distance, and the radar tells me that they are not moving, but we are...right into them. Eventually we drive right into the heavy rain. Which is not normally a problem, but when you are camping in BLM areas that are sometimes dirt, which turns to mud, which turns slippery, or sinky, it can be concerning. Before we drive too far, I look up alternate plans B, C, and D, hedging our bets in case everything else gets rained out. We don't want to be driving all the way to the Grand Canyon tonight. I find out that people have camped in the parking of the Visitor's Center/Museum in the tiny town of Bluff, and have nothing but great things to say, so as the rain falls hard, we pull up and head inside. 

Turns out, the town of Bluff Fort, Utah, was established by missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who were called to travel across the Colorado River and up the Comb Ridge, but back in the late 1800s. They created this settlement to be in a place to befriend the local Native tribes, but also drive out the outlaws, and increase their presence in Southern Utah. A journey that was supposed to take 6 weeks ultimately took them 6 months, as they had to scout out routes through the canyon, and create roads on which to travel. And we learned all about it in a rather entertaining series of movies, from a tour of the settlement recreation outside, as well as from the very friendly and informative guides in the museum, who are also missionaries, and from Alberta, no less! We also got some local information regarding the state of the roads after the rain, and how it is all desert out here, and the rain would disappear quickly, so we likely had nothing to worry about in wanting to navigate our way into the Valley of the Gods tonight. Also, that the zucchini lemons cookies are the best ones at the bakery(they are), and that, should we need a safe place to stay, we could always camp in the parking lot next to the museum, which was a more that welcome offering. 

	We may have found a clue to the "key" from Zion...

We decided to take the chance and drive out to the Valley of the Gods. Turns out, the advice we got was correct. Besides a few puddles here and there, the roads are dry, and easily driveable in our campervan. We chose a large pull-off near the beginning of the road through the area, with an impossible-but-true vista of the rock formations on the horizon, and the sun setting right behind them. It's crazy to think places like this exist, and that anyone with the ability to camp can stay here and experience it. We are so lucky.