Vacation Memories

Playing in the creek, Zion National Park

So, it's been a long time since I've written! It seems like forever since we were in Utah and there's been a lot of water under the bridge since.... our son was in an accident (he's okay now), school started, and we made the decision for me to home school our daughter (more on that later..). Utah left a big impression on me, and provided the space and inspiration that I'd hoped to have with extended time away. Especially the hiking! Walking those sandy trails with castles of rock rising all around helped clear away lots of cobwebs in the way that beach walking does for many. Since I've been letting my memories simmer for so long, I think I'll leave out the details of our trip for now and catch up with my current life.My camera broke on the first day of our trip (I fell on it when my scooter skidded out in deep sand), and when I returned it was hard to get excited about blogging without a decent camera! After a lot of research, I decided to buy a used duplicate of the Sony DSC H50 on eBay (for less than a minimum repair bill), and it is working out great.The first hat I made upon our return- definitely Utah-inspired colors!

I found some time for fiber arts, but not enough yet since the Midway Festival and other good selling opportunities are fast approaching! I'm enjoying making jewelry using alpaca fiber beads, and it's nice to have another alpaca product that's not dependent on cool weather! Speaking of.... it's supposed to be a cool and beautiful Labor Day weekend, hope you have a nice one.

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Destination: Moab, Utah

We finally got away from the farm after all of the lists and preparations, details after details, and extra training of our helpers who will be caring for our animals and home while we take a good long trip for the first time in ages! Our somewhat unreliable motor coach was finally fixed and we left the same day, anxious to start chewing away at the many miles we hoped to cover.

Munchie and Sushi, of course, got to come along! Some friends have expressed surprise that we would bring the pets with us (not the teens!), but after the third day I can attest that they are, um, a bit easier than the teens can sometimes be.... Spousal harmony has been tested to the max, too, as we have driven many hours a day and experienced the frustration of discovering things still not fixed on the coach as promised.A few rare minutes of sibling cooperation at a rest area near Vail, CO

Sometimes it does become about the destination, and we were all excited as we approached Moab, Utah and pulled into our lovely campsite to stay for at least 4 nights (a big improvement over the Walmart parking lots we parked at for free in Missouri and Kansas). Colorado was gorgeous as we drove through, but Moab is sooo different than anyplace we've ever experienced. We had a great Mexican dinner in town and all had a decent night's rest, finally.We set out today on our dirt bikes (and I on a Honda Reflex scooter), with the goal of getting acclimated and finding some petroglyphs which are in the immediate area. The first place we identified to look for a brochure was actually near a golf course in the back of a cool subdivision of desert adobe homes- not really where you'd expect to find an ancient archeological site. I had become intrigued by these ancient rock drawings while researching a felting commission earlier in the summer. I thought they were awesome!
This lizard wasn't especially impressed.We then rode up a road beside the town's McDonald's to find some more, and within just a mile or two this is what we began to see...We plan to go back to locate the petroglyphs, but for today the beauty of Moon Flower Canyon just kept beckoning us further, despite the heat. Moab has been on Paul's "bucket list" for a long time, and from what we experienced here on our first day it's been a very worthy destination! We still look forward to visiting Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park, which are only a few miles from here... it's gonna be a great trip.The kids climbing around on one of many water breaks- it's HOT, but so NOT humid!
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