OK folks, I have a serious problem with rain. It is now understood that when I camp, there is a 90% chance of rain. The rain that we received in Loma last night is pure evidence of this thought, as it never rains in the desert.
We awoke this morning with the "pitter pat" of rain on the tent fly. It had rained(poured) all night long. We stayed dry in our humble abode. Maddie once again looked at me from her sleeping bag and said, "see Daddy, isn't this so peaceful". She was right, until it came time to pack up and move further Westward. That is when the "bad words" from Daddy began. To keep a long story short, we are currently trying to dry out a soaked tent, fly, and footprint in our hotel room in Moab.
Again, nothing could stand in our way of adventure and discoveries. We had a phenomenal day of exploration, even with the "rain gods" fighting back against our previous attempt to "smite them in the noses".
First we made an impromptu trip through Colorado National Monument Park. This was a place that I unfortunately had passed up many times before. Jenny read some very good reviews online previous to our trip, and made the recommendation so that we could let the storms clear before heading into Moab. We were suprisingly amazed at what an awesome place it was. There were extreme canyons as well as many vast overlooks. The pictures don't do it justice.
As the storms began to break up over UT, we headed west on I-70 towards the Scenic Byway into Moab. As soon as we turned off 70, the sky opened up and the sun felt so unbelievably good. Keep in mind we still had 40 lbs of wet tent packed into the rear of the van:-). The drive through the Scenic Byway was incredible as usual. For those of you that have driven it, you will remember passing the Dewey Suspension Bridge (http://www.takemytrip.com/colo/34a.htm), which used to be the longest wooden suspension bridge west of the Mississippi that allowed for motorized vehicles. Unfortunately, a fire that was allowed to get away from a nearby camp consumed the wooden structure of the bridge and left only the suspension cables. This is an absolute travesty, as the bridge was what I've often considered a welcome sign to the Moab area. We pushed on, and enjoyed the awesome colors that the sun purged from the walls of the canyon as we followed the overflowing CO River towards Moab. Again, that stretch of highway can not be fully described and pictures do not do it justice.
Upon hitting Moab, we decided to grab lunch to go and head straight to Canyonlands National Park. Canyonlands is not for the "height weiry" sort of folk. I've never been to the Grand Canyon, and I'm sure that it is deeper, but I really don't know that I can be more impressed by the extreme depth and distance in which you can see the contours in Canyonlands. We hiked out to Mesa Arch and took some family photos, as well as watched a German tourist try to walk over the arch. All I could think is I hope his shoe laces are "gootentight" or he might be meeting a quick demise. Luckily he stopped short and went on about his "lively" way.
We then moved up to the "Grand Point View" where you really think that you can see all the way to China. Many good pictures were taken, as the sun was hitting it all just right. After Maddie and Bennett scared us by running too close to the edge, we decided it was time to call it a great day and go find our hotel. I can remember when things like falling 4000 ft. didn't scare me. Wasn't that just yesterday?
So, here we all six sit (or in the case of the kids, sleep) in our hotel, with a wet tent, waiting for the sun to rise on our next unbelievable adventure tomorrow.
Tomorrow we head into Arches National Park, one of my most favorite places to be. Again, I'm glad that Jenny and the kids can be here for this adventure, as I've been waiting to share this place for awhile. Will we hike the "dangerous" hike to see the Delicate Arch?
Tune in tomorrow...
Oh, I'm really getting used to this not showering thing. Showers are overrated. What's that Jenny? I have to sleep in the car again?
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