Canyonlands Motor Inn Monticello

... load up the trailer, drive 4 hours out to the Beef Basin cabin, (where Silas and I were going to be staying) unload the trailer, then T & R would drive to the Sweet Alice cabin and stay there for the night and we'd meet up again in the morning to drive out.
Well, that was SUPPOSED to be the plan, but when T arrived at the BLM she told us that she had had to jump her truck because the battery was dead when she got in it that morning ...

... were still in Missoula, and after we got here and saw that so many places are only accessible to vehicles with high clearance and 4wd, we've REALLY been wanting one. So we've been looking on craig's list and even went to Flagstaff one weekend to take a look at a truck that his brother has at a house that he owns there, but up until last week, we hadn't really had any luck. Then all of a sudden there were 3-4 late 80 ...

... us over 2 hours.
The site at the bottom was underneath the natural bridge - nice and shady and cool. It's a petroglyph site, with some fairly enigmatic and very crude clay structures along the wall below. Two of the structures were low clay walls with very little in the way of stone encorporated (as opposed to the more common stone structure with clay mortar and plaster). One of them was only about a metre across, and contained painted figures on the walls. The other was ...

... and I weren't sure what to expect. But today the temperature was in the fifties and there was nothing but blue sky. We knew there were around eight different cliff dwelling and ruin sites up the canyon, but we didn't know where. This made the hike a lot more exciting, because not only were we hiking up a beautiful canyon, but it was also like we were on a scavenger hunt trying to find all eight sites. They can be ...

... find some more- the thought of being able to use the walkie-talkies was the only thing that was making the fact that we were driving seperately bearable! So we went to Target and found some cheap ones- I have to say- I am SO glad we bought them. Not only was it fun to get to play with them, they were also very helpful when we were trying to find things and figure out directions. So anyway, our plan had been to get to Brigham City, UT and spend the ...

... in the high 70's, great riding weather. Answer this question.... Where do you do your best thinking? Before today I would have said the pot. Its true I always remember things on the pot. However, after today Im going to have to change that answer. When you are alone for long stretches you really think about things that you always wanted to think about but just never had the time. For example: Would my sister let her ...

... dark, I would have suggested to Dave that we turn around and go back through. Wait until you see the pictures. Wheeew! That brings us to a close for the night. We stopped for the night at the Blanding Comfort Inn and it certainly is. Just outside our window we witnessed three cars pulled over by the local police presumably for speeding or maybe looking cross without a license. The town is nice but we discovered one of the serious drawbacks of many Utah towns. They are dry. As ...

... sand and large gusts of canyon wind greeted us at 5AM. It was quite a beautiful and exciting experience and fortunately our tent held up well. The following day we hiked in Arches National Park, home of thousands of natural arches created by underlying salt beds, wind and erosion. We hiked the 'Dark Angel' 5 mile hike, crossing rock bridges, various arches and ...

... us to di Rosa Preserve, a land preserve/modern art gallery. A very cool gift. About and hour outside of Napa we get look at the info on this place. Kim reads closed sunday and monday and as anyone who travels knows, the date and day of the week, quickly forgotten! Excellent it's Sunday!!! So we go anyway to peek through the window, look around the grounds and pound on the very locked front door!!! Thanks Jon, sorry we are idiots and didn't ...

... colours and the power of the scene can be imagined. Our tour rounded up back at Gouldings Lodge fit for the short burst home. Desre and I rose early the next day to catch the sunrise - Desre knew how much the sunrise meant to me and convinced me that I would be kicking myself if I did not see it. She was right - if the place is amazing during the day, it is total enchantment at sunrise. The colours on ornaments in the local shops seem over the top (purples murging ...