Thursday,
May 16th, 2017
We had to wait a little while for the snow and ice to
melt off equipment before we packed up, but the sun was warm, and soon we were
heading off to the exciting destination of Moab, Utah – one of the world’s top
mountain bike destinations!
Since off road biking is my biggest passion, I am
dying to give my new bike a real test.
Norm was more interested in the nearby Canyonlands National Park, and to
re-visit Arches National Park just outside our campground.
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| Norm drove his car in some snow last winter while working in Boston, but I have not in about 10 years! It was pretty nerve wracking driving a 32,000 lb motorhome in this unexpected storm! |
As we left Durango we headed up the mountain without a care in the world. When we hit the very same spot where it was weird to be snowing the day before, it sure enough was snowing again! Norm and I assumed it was unique to that mile stretch of road.
A few more miles under our belt, and the snow got
heavier and heavier! Now I am not really
a “worrier” – I prefer to call myself a “planner”. My mind works out emergency plans before it
happens. That’s a good thing, I think.
Even though the snow was not sticking to the road (thank goodness) I was
concerned that as we went into the mountains, and then down into valleys, that
might change. Signs stating “Bridge
freezes before road” warned us frequently of the danger.
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| Snow was sticking to the glass and was clogging the windshield wiper motor. I wished for a place we could pull over to clear it off, but was not safe to do so for miles. |
Barely seeing 50 feet in front of us, the windshield
wipers brushed aside this terrifying white stuff. I wanted to pull off at any
of the RV resorts we were passing by, but Norm was afraid we would get snowed
in for days if we did. So? Better than getting
sliding off a mountain in my book. Norm was behind the wheel, so guess who won.
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| After an hour or so the snow stopped and the beauty of it began! |
After about an hour ( or was it a week? ) the snow
subsided, leaving a winter wonderland. I have really missed New England’s snow,
so I was enjoying its beauty, now that I felt safe. I was very thankful that the route Norm chose
was avoiding the big mountains, because we later learned that Interstate 70 was
closed, and somewhere got about 40 inches of snow!
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| Moab ( pronounced Mo-ab)! A place for the young -at- heart and somewhat crazy! |
As we drove through the tiny town of Moab, people were dressed in hiking/biking clothes highly accessorized with splashes of mud. My excitement mounted as we saw most cars with mountain bikes adorning their back. ATV’s ( all-terrain vehicles) and trucks souped-up with monstrous tires and shocks were even more abundant! Wow, this is going to be awesome! (Not the mud-part.)
Our campground Archview
RV Resort and Campground was about 20 minutes out of town, but more
convenient to the National Parks. Our campsite was once again one of the best
there, with a fabulous view of the snow-capped LaSal mountain range in the
distance, and a desert mesa in between.
The majority of the people staying here had at least one off-road
vehicle and some had several! It appears Moab has also become the place to off
road the hundreds of miles of red dirt trails and slick rock.
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| Most all RV campsites had ATV's |
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| Right in front of us I watched kids of all ages and sizes enjoy the countryside. |
We purchased a couple of maps on which he outlined
which trails were best for our ability, and off we went with visions of red
dirt and slick rock dancing in my head.
Friday,
May 19th 2017
The next morning we were finally going to ride! Norm for some reason wasn’t moving too fast
this morning, so I bustled about getting the gear, lunches and bikes ready. It
was close to noon when we finally drove the few miles to the trailhead. I was bouncing and pacing like an obnoxious
puppy dying to get out there and ride, convincing Norm we could eat on the
trail and to take the lunches with us.
We must have only gone ¼ mile on our bikes when we realized
we had missed the trailhead. While
merely turning his bike around Norm heard a “snap” in his shoulder, and felt
incredible pain! Hearing him cry out, I
stopped and looked over at Norm holding his arm and grimacing. Oh No!
He had been undergoing physical therapy for his rotator cuff before we
left, but it had not been bothering him.
Mountain biking takes a lot of upper body
strength. Maneuvering through and over
rocks and obstacles certainly takes both arms, to say the least, so I strongly
suggested we go back so he doesn’t break his neck as well. I am sure he refused for my sake knowing this
was the highlight of my trip.
As we continued for about a half mile, I realized that
this trail was a little more than Norm might be comfortable riding under the
best of his conditions, and that there was no way he should be even trying this
hurt. Norm readily agreed to turn around. Norm has a tremendous tolerance for
pain, so I knew he was really hurting.
I was not only worried, but I have to admit horribly
disappointed. Norm insisted I go with a
tour group, but finding a group that was not too aggressive, or worse – full of
beginners, would not be too much fun. If I were to get hurt as well we would be
in real trouble! I would have to think
about it.
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| When I couldn't go biking because of Norm's injury, I decided to get my frustrations out by washing the motorhome. |
We went back to the RV and Norm started icing his
shoulder. Coupled with ibuprofen and a
long nap his shoulder felt a little better.
When I get depressed, I work, so I decided to tackle washing our huge 41
foot rig that was also covered in mud and crud from the snow we drove in the
day before. It was so gross I couldn’t
stand it!
After a couple of hours, one side looked fabulous, but
MY shoulder was complaining so I decided to be smart and finish it the next
day.
Saturday,
May 20th, 2017
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| This unnatural blue "lake" is actually part of the potash mining operation here near Moab. They add blue coloring to these ponds to decrease the time it takes to crystalize the potassium. I thought it was quite beautiful, but Norm really thought it scared the landscape. |
Norm woke up with his shoulder feeling quite a bit better. He had maybe 50% range of motion, but the quick, stabbing pain seemed to be pretty much gone. How could it be so acute one day, and so much better the next? Thank goodness we are here for 5 more days so he can heal before trying to drive. God knows, I’m not driving that behemoth rolling condo 1000’s of miles home!
It was a gorgeous day, so we decided to take the 40
minute (or so) drive to Dead Horse Point State Park, which is reported to be
beautiful. The drive was lovely as we passed grazing cattle on the edge of the
road, and wound up and down the mountainside and across mesas, finally arriving
where millions of years of geologic activity created the spectacular views of canyons,
mesas and buttes. Those that are brave enough could walk to the edge of the precipice
to peek over the edge and see the Colorado River wind through the canyon thousands
of feet below.
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| This is a mind-blowing view with dirt roads down below calling to us. |
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| You really have to peek over the edge to comprehend just how magnificent this canyon is. (and deadly should you slip and fall) |
We spent a couple of hours walking along the edge
gaining many vantage points taking a zillion pictures. Here is another one of those places that call
to me. The quiet, rugged beauty, birds
soaring below and the gentle breezes were like a soothing balm for my soul. I
hated to leave!
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| Alison feeling a little "zen" |
We ate our picnic lunch and headed back. We had our naps, then Norm researched the possibility
of renting a 4x4 jeep so we could explore some of the great looking canyon
roads we saw, while I finished cleaning the rig. Norm found a company that allowed us to pick
it up that evening and keep until 6pm the next day, so we hurried off to town
to pick it up.
We stopped at Moab Brewery so Norm could sample the
local brew.
Sunday,
May 21st 2017
I hardly slept at all last night, and woke up feeling
exhausted. The thought of riding 100 miles in that jeep which I discovered had
really no visibility in the passenger seat, nearly impossible for a small
person to get in and out of, and relatively uncomfortable, made me want to
cry. Plus, Norm and I have very
different ideas on how to drive a car on narrow, twisting mountain roads so I
dreaded that as well. Quite frankly, six
weeks into this trip I needed a little “me” time as well.
The roads Norm was going to drive would have plenty of
other drivers, so I wasn’t concerned to send him off with plenty of water and
food.
My day flew by reading, napping, working on this blog
and doing about 5 loads of laundry.
Norm’s accounting of his day will follow.
Monday,
May 22nd 2017
I had managed to find a hair salon that had very good
reviews and most importantly, availability.
My hair was needing a trim and a bit of thinning. I left about 7:45 to head back into Moab to
get, what I must say, was the WORST haircut of my life! Good Lord, it is WAY too short, and she
thinned it so much it just lays flat on my head. Well, maybe by the time I get home 5 months
from now, I will no longer be horrified when I look in the mirror! Haircuts are so difficult when you travel, but
this bad a cut totally kills my self-esteem!
Nothing I can do about it, so I will have to say “It is what it is”. At
least I won’t see anyone I know.
The good news of the day was that Norm felt his
shoulder miraculously felt well enough to go biking. He tried it out while I was getting
“butchered” and was very confident he could handle the trails.
I was sooo happy!
We headed back up to Deadhorse Point State Park where the trails were
very scenic. We packed our lunches, and
vowed to take it slow and try not to get hurt. Let’s just say off road biking
can be a dangerous sport and that anything can happen in a flash.
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| Norm, with his shoulder feeling better, enjoyed the trails at Deadhorse Point State Park. |
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| Alison loved the rocky challenges of the "slick rock". |
A little video of Alison having some fun. It's a lot steeper than it looks on this video.
The trails were incredible! We took a few videos and lots of pictures as
we got a great workout over the next 3 hours.
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| There were beautiful trail signs along the way to keep us from getting lost! |
We rewarded ourselves with ice cream before we headed
further down the road to Canyonlands National Park about 3:30pm. We were too tired to hike at that point, but
we wanted to drive the scenic road to check it out while we were ¾ of the way
there.
Canyonlands is a huge park (337,598 acres) in the
center of Utah’s high desert that is divided into three districts; each with
it’s own character. Unfortunately, there
are no roads in the park that link these areas together. You would have to hike, bike or use high
clearance off road vehicles to visit them. (Norm drove some of these the day
before).We, like most people, visited “Island in the Sky” region, which is the
closest to Moab.
We both agreed that Deadhorse Point was actually more
beautiful, and wished we had visited Canyonlands first, before we were spoiled
by the State Park’s more beautiful vistas.
We also preferred how we could venture dangerously close to the edge at
Deadhorse, where at Canyonlands the public was not allowed to get very close at
all to look down into the canyons.
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| Norm and I once again tempting fate on ledge in Canyonlands. Norm drove the road below in the rented 4x4 jeep ( his story is separate ) |
Norm showed me the crazy roads he drove the day
before, and since it was a pretty long drive back we called it a day.
A long, but fabulous day! One of my favorite, for sure!
Tuesday,
May 23rd 2017
Arches National Park is much smaller than Canyonlands
( a mere 76,519 acres ) but it welcomes over a million visitors each year, astounding
them with balancing rocks, towering fins, spires and the world’s highest
concentration of sandstone arches.
Well, it’s so close, how can we not?
Norm and I left
the RV a little after 8am hoping to beat the huge line of cars and campers we
have witnessed each day when we drive by the entrance. The temperature was in the 40’s and very
windy, but the day was beautifully sunny.
We drove through the park not really in the mood to fight for parking
spaces at each lookout point. I guess we
have seen enough of red dirt and rock for the time being. Tired of looking at
it, feeling it on your skin, on the floor, and when the wind kicks up you get
the dirt in your eyes and teeth! Feeling pretty lazy we drove through the park
and headed back to spend a quiet rest of the day before we head out in the
morning.
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| One evening we got to witness my very first double, complete rainbow! I couldn't get back far enough to capture the entire rainbow. |
