|
About 10 miles from Moab and of course still on the Colorado, we find another BLM campground called Big Bend. We pull in there, and find this fantastic place to camp. I�m glad to show you some pictures of this unbelievable place! We get the camp all set up with chairs, tablecloths, BBQ stand and cookers, lanterns, trash cans, and whatever else people put out in a campsite. I�m sure we had most of what you need, except salt and peppershakers, which I�ve missed since we left. I hope to remember to get these in Moab when we get there again. Now this day we�ll be meeting Hump and Craig and Diane from Neola in Moab at the Rio Sports bar at 3:00pm. Since we�re set up early, we decide to go into Moab and walk around a little while waiting for them to get there. First, we found the Rio, but also found out it didn�t open until 4:00pm. So we�ll walk around for an hour and be there at the time we agreed upon and hope they are there then too. We walked through a few shops when we got a cell call and it was they and had arrived at the Rio. So we go right over and meet them. Said our hello�s, threw a football around a bit, and headed back to camp, stopping at the City Market in Moab, where they had everything you could want. What an amazing grocery store this is. We loaded up with more food than we needed and left for camp. We got there and helped Craig, Diane, and Hump setup in an amazing tent camping area right next to the main campfire spot. This place looks like Jurassic Park. Again the pictures tell the story. Early in the evening we started to cook some steaks for dinner. Of course it starts raining just as I lit the BBQ. Nonetheless, we got the steaks cooked and sat in the rain to eat them along with several different salads from the market�s deli. We also had BBQ�d squash, portabella mushrooms, and zucchini. Fresh dinner rolls set the rest of it off nicely. Hump and Craig took the jeep and went driving looking for phone reception. They were calling Pretty Boy Boyd, who lives near here and you won�t believe this, but he�s a middle school teacher in Moab. Can�t lose these school connections on this trip. Well, we all turned in about 10:30pm, and immediately thereafter here comes the thunder, lightening, and downpour of rain. |
|
|
Wednesday, May 4th - I�m just having my morning coffee and taking the chill out of the bus with propane heat. I�m hoping everyone did all right during the night. OK, now I haven�t known what day it is since leaving, but we�re on track now I think. I mean at least I�m relatively sure what day it is, and have gone back in this journal and labeled all days correctly I hope. Today we woke up and made breakfast for everyone as planned. We ate eggs, potatoes, and bacon at nine as planned the night before. We left in Craig and Diane�s truck for a ride a little after ten. We went east on 128 for about 20 miles to Castle Valley. The reason it�s called Castle Valley is the cliffs that surround this valley of about 400 people rise up into the sky like castles. We drove in to the residential area hoping we might find Pretty Boy Boyd, who lives there, and as I mentioned is another teacher in Moab. We couldn�t find anyone that knew him, but we did find a small community center that allowed us to use their phone, and we called the school in Moab. We found he was not working, and was out of town since last Thursday. We left driving south out of the valley up into the mountains ahead. We must have climbed to 9,000 feet where the mountains were covered in snow, and what a view of the valley below we had. We took this loop around the mountains and about another 40 miles later ended up in Moab. We stopped at the store again, and bought a few missing items, like the salt and pepper. Craig, had planned to leave today about three and go back to work, but he convinced his self to stay another day. So we went back to camp and BBQ�d a couple of tri-tips, and had corn on the cob, salad, French bread, and some French wine. Hump broke out his drum and tambourine. I got our rattle, and flute out of the bus and we had short little musical session. We spent the rest of the evening goofing like you might imagine, and had a great time with our good friends. We even had some ice cream for desert. |
|
