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Thursday, May 05, 2005 - It�s a little after five in the morning now. I don�t know why I�m up so early, but thought I�d write a minute while doing so. I�ve gone back in this journal and did some cleanup. Now it�s six in the morning and the day�s light has arrived. The sun comes up so early in the part of the country. Today we�ll be heading to dead horse point. I�m looking forward to this trip. Everyone woke up about nine and had some coffee, cereal, and we packed both Craig�s truck and our Jeep with a cooler full of food and water, stove, BBQ, and condiments. Hump decided he should return to Neola. He doesn�t stay away too long. So we bid farewell, and exchanged gifts, and he left in his Lincoln. It�s always a treat to spend time with him. Craig and Diane in their truck, and us in our unit Sara left going north on 191 to 279 west. Then you turn on a small road. This starts out as the Potash Road and soon turns to a dirt road. We drove not too many miles, but some time later with all the turns and twists, we came upon a bluff overlooking the Colorado River to the south, and a high plateau above us to the north is the area known as Dead Horse Point. In addition to this being the place where some bad folks run herds of wild horses off this point, sending them to their death a thousand feet below - it was also known as a place where the Hole-in-Wall Gang hung out due to being able to tell if anyone was coming towards them two days in advance. This is the gang Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid a part of. It�s also the same gang that one of my ancestors belonged to. Off in the distant south, looking across the Colorado you could see the snow covered LaSal Mountains. These are the mountains we crossed a couple of days ago. We decided to have our lunch here in this area. We fried up four different kinds of peppers with some onions and garlic. Got the Bratwurst that had been marinating in a baggie full of beer and onions, and threw those on the grill. We had some of the left over salads, as well as fresh avocado. It was quite a good lunch. One we wish Hump could have stayed for. Not to mention this trail is extremely beautiful to drive. The pictures could never do justice or to say they could never capture the majestic beauty you see with your eyes while being surrounded by these rugged rocks linked together forming valleys of red, green, gray, and black. As we leave here, the ladies are in the Jeep with Patty driving, and Craig and me in his truck. We have two-way radios; so keep in contact with each other as we traverse this valley ascending gradually towards the top. Next, we enter Canyonlands National Park from the south on this dirt road. This is known as Schaffer Trail. High clearance vehicles recommended, but a car could make it. We�re enjoying this ride and the girls are doing fine when we come to a shear wall of rock that appears to be maybe 800 feet high. The road ascends this rock with a narrow dirt or rock road with severe switchbacks. It was a fun drive for sure! Patty was white-knuckling it when she pulled too close to the mountainside and got stuck in the soft sandstone. Some people on bikes helped her out. I asked her on the radio if she used 4-wheel drive? She replied, �I didn�t even think of that�. So I showed her how to put the Jeep in 4-wheel, and we continued on to the top where we marveled at the views below. This is a place known as �Island in the Sky�. This took us to the highway, where we could return to Moab, and Craig and Diane would continue on their home in Roosevelt Utah. It�s not easy saying goodbye after enjoying the company so much, but they have business to attend and must return. We returned to Moab and took a drive through several RV Parks looking for the FMCA 4-wheelers. This is the club we were with in Ballarat California for last Thanksgiving, and then again in Borrego Springs late December. They are having a Jeep rally here all week. We found a couple we had met through Jim and Ruth Ackley last summer, and had taken a trail with them through the Sierra�s called Strawberry Trail. They are Sherm and Jean Conrow. It should be noted that Sherm is retired, and was � ready? A schoolteacher of course! We visited a short while, and decided we would meet again together the next morning to take a trail ride with just the four of us. So we�ll head out Saturday about 9:30am, and meet them at their RV site in Moab. We returned to our now quiet spot on the river, had some Mexican soup for dinner in honor of Cinco de Mayo. After dinner we retired to continue watching the movie we�ve been watching this entire trip and have yet to finish. Goodnight. |
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Friday, May 06, 2005 � Get up, have some coffee, shower, and hit the road. Got into Moab a quarter after ten, and called Sherm and Jean. They said they�d meet us at the City Market (where we�ve been shopping daily) and go from there. We met them and left for Slick Rock recreational area. They led us on a trail called Fins and Things. It was like a medium type trail, but scared our poop plenty. Now, I�d like to tell you what it�s all about. I mean, Patty was pretty much breathless all day yet, made the comment during a flat spot that at the end the day, all this was pretty much pointless. I agreed, but then so is going to a movie, or even going to Disneyland. You�ve got to find your own Sequim, even if for a moment. In case you don�t know, Sequim is a place on some peninsula in Washington. A fella I work with at home named Jeff Nahigian bought a retirement home there, and it�s his special place. It is his Sequim. A place he�d rather be than any other place. So if�n you follow some this any further, you should know that Sequim is a good thing, and when�n you read somethin else I mighta written, you might recall these journals are all about your Sequim, its nirvana. Regardless, of how pointless it all really is! So I digress � This place (Moab) is nothing more than the largest adult playground on earth. I don�t know if I can ever leave here. Least not till mah mom sez I gotta come home now�..The day ends now, and guess what? We joined the FMCA, 4-Wheelers Club this afternoon! I�m a hope�n we can make it in this club. We have been in three different places in three different states with this group thus far and we�ve found them to be the nicest people. It�s just, well, just that after trying some clubs in the past, I�m a little concerned about it. Oh, everyone we met today seemed just fine. Especially when we�d paid our dues, but I understand that. Then we were invited to dinner with several couples, but we declined. We decided that we�d just meet these folks on the trail. It�s the purpose of our joining a Jeep club � the trail. Past experiences and some wisdom from Hump the other night, sez be cool. Hump said I�m too trusting in believing that people I meet will have the same attitude I do, and my past experiences say he�s right! My only club experiences up to this point have been the Marine Corps, the Mormon Church, and an outlaw motorcycle club. I hope this one�s a better experience. So, sure I�m skeptical, but you might be too. We had lasagna for dinner tonight. I repacked a table and a couple of chairs that we had at the fire pit back into the basement of the bus, as we�ll be leaving here Sunday it looks like. We�ll make a trail with the club on Saturday, and that will be it for this area. We could stay longer, but we�re thinking we�ll make Bryce and Zion�s on the way back. |
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