Sick day

It was a beautiful sunny morning and I enjoyed sitting out looking at the mountains while I drank my morning coffee. But then I started to feel rather under the weather. I've had a low grade fever all day.

We decided to set up the HughesNet dish, hoping to have a faster, more reliable Internet connection. We haven't set it up for many many months now so we wondered if we still remembered how to do it. Ken did a great job of getting connected very quickly, but then we could not get our router to work with the HughesNet modem. Very frustrating!

Ken has been taking good care of me and I hope to feel better tomorrow.
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Owls!

Today was a pretty quiet day. We drove from the campground near Afton, Wyoming into Grand Teton National Park. First we stopped in Jackson to do some shopping. Then we headed north of town to go to the Gros Ventre campground in the national park. It has no hook ups and we'll be here 10 days, so we'll have to be rather conservative of water and electric.

The highlight of the day was seeing three very large owls on our walk this evening. They seemed to pay little attention to all the people watching them.

When we stopped to ask what was going on, a very nice French couple pointed them out and then let us use their binoculars. We didn't understand their French, but we did understand their pointing excitedly up into the tree.

We also saw these interesting vehicles.

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On the Road Again

We left Salt Lake City this morning and headed north on US 89 towards Jackson, WY, and Grand Teton National Park. We stopped for the night at a little campground in Bridger National Forest, just off the highway, but in a world of its own. Allred Flat Campground is about 20 miles south of Afton, WY. Little White Creek meanders along one side of the campground, and we found a campsite along the creek. There were few campers, and we arrived at 4:00 p.m., so we got our choice of campsites, which was good.

We’d seen suggestions on the web that this campground was limited to campers up to 30 ft. Venture is actually 31 ft. 11 in., but we decided to check it out. Our campsite #16 is a long open pullout, and we just managed to get into it and actually even level, so we could leave the truck hitched up, always convenient for a one night stay

We walked around the campground and investigated the creek, which provided a nice babbling background sound, along with the bird calls. Looking out across the creek, we saw a steep green hillside, the kind that makes you think of the Sound of Music. We expected to see sheep grazing on the slopes.
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Last Day in Salt Lake City

We were so impressed with what we saw of the Salt Lake City Public Library the other day that we decided to return and see more of it. It's a very impressive building and a wonderful library. We took a self-guided walking tour. There's a lot to see. We were particularly impressed by the rooftop garden. Folks were quick to point out that they now have two beehives on the roof, from which they hope to soon start harvesting honey, which they will sell in the Library Store.

We stopped at the store on the way in, drawn in by the used books offered two for $1--can't beat the price, and that's pretty much the way we get most of our books. I do miss having borrowing privileges at a large library--the world of books at my fingertips.

This library doesn't stop at books, but offers a great variety of audiovisual materials, magazines, a cafe, an attic for children to visit to find a corner to curl up and read, a venue for community events.... One of the library's prizes is an oversize bound book of Audubon's bird prints, one of only 10 published (the printing run was interrupted by the Civil War).

We also visited the Library Gallery, which had an exhibition of Edie Roberson's "Eclectic Paintings and Automata." Very diverse, clever, humorous works!

View from the rooftop garden looking towards the Wasatch Front

After the library, we headed to the Red Iguana restaurant, which we had read about. It's a family owned place that serves authentic (and delicious) Mexican food and great margaritas. It's especially famous for its "killer nachos" and mole dishes.

Killer Nachos!
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SLC Farmers Market at Historic Pioneer Square

We got up early to go downtown to the Downtown Farmers Market. It just opened a couple of weekends ago, and it's rather early in the growing season here. We had read good things about it on the web, and it was all we expected. A large section is devoted to local produce, much of it organic, and other food items. We spent most of our time in this part. When we finished making our selections, we bought a mini strawberry and raspberry pie with whipped cream and sat down in the "food court" section to enjoy it.

After stashing our purchases in insulated bags in the truck, we walked to The Gateway--a large downtown outdoor mall. We went first to Dicks Sporting Goods but didn't find any of the things we're looking for.

Then we went to the Apple Store to join the crowds of people excitedly checking out all the cool Apple products. We'd get an iPhone 4 in a heartbeat if they had Verizon service plans. The FaceTime video phone call was really impressive, as were the remarkably clear print and graphics. Handling the iPhone really brings home how much heavier and thicker our Droids are... And if money were no object, we'd both get iPads and MacBook Pro 13" laptops.

Back to the real world. We drove to the Whole Food market and picked up some groceries before heading home.
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Utah Arts Fest

Our adventure for the day was a trip to the Utah Arts Festival, which is held at Library Square. It's a huge event featuring performing as well as visual arts. Poetry and fiction are included in "performing arts" along with music, dance, street theater, and film. Lots of children's activities were offered too.

After browsing some of the booths, we headed to the Library Urban Room for an organ performance by Richard Elliot, principal organist for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The Urban Room is a large, multistory open space, and the organ music from 23 speakers perched on the third level filled the space. Elliot's fingers danced on the keys as he played by heart a 40 minute concert of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," a very diverse work.

Then we went to a Fear No Film event at the Library auditorium. We saw a showing of eight short films, finalists in the Utah Short Film of the Year competition. The audience got to vote, and our votes counted 49% with a jury's votes carrying 51%. Ken and I voted for entirely different films. Several were definitely eye catching; all were original; some were confusing to us. It will be interesting to see which one wins.

We went to the Plaza Stage to listen to Stonecircle, a Celtic Fusion band. We'd have enjoyed their music more if the sound from the nearby Amphitheater hadn't drowned parts of it out.
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Antelope Island and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

This morning we got up early and closed up the rig and hitched up to go to our appointment to have our trailer brakes looked at. It was another pretty disappointing experience. The mechanic basically said that it would be expensive to take everything apart, he wouldn't know if he'd fixed anything, and he didn't have the computerized diagnostic equipment that might pinpoint any electrical problem. He did crawl under the trailer and say that the wiring looked solid. He talked about the possibility of brakes getting hot and "chattering," but we're not at all sure that the problem occurs only when we've been using the brakes a lot. We've decided to keep a log of problems to help document what's going on.

So we turned around and drove back to the campground and set up again (this is getting tedious). After lunch we drove out to Antelope Island State Park. Antelope Island is the largest island in the Great Salt Lake. It has the largest free roaming publicly owned bison herd in the US. We hoped we would see some of them, and we did--two large groups and some others. We also saw some American Barn Swallows nesting in the Visitor Center building.

After leaving Antelope Island, we went to Bountiful, UT, and picked up our forwarded mail at the post office. Then we walked over to the Farmers Market. We got some cabbage and broccoli and raspberries, but there wasn't a lot of produce available. Then we hit a Deseret Industries Thrift Store. "Deseret" is a word for honeybee in the Book of Mormon. It stands for industriousness and teamwork. We found some things we had been looking for, including a denim shirt with snaps and some Columbia convertible hiking pants/shorts. Success!

This evening we went down to Temple Square again, this time to attend the open rehearsal of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It was quite an experience. The rehearsal was held in the Conference Center in an auditorium that seats 21,000 in comfort, with a giant pipe organ and choir seating similar to those in the Tabernacle.

In addition to the choir, a large orchestra was also involved in the rehearsal. The choir director encouraged, admonished, cajoled, and urged the choir into more and more perfect renditions. At one point he asked that a note be sung 1/4 step sharp--and evidently the singers complied.

In addition to some religious pieces for the next Sunday's broadcast, the choir rehearsed some patriotic songs for their Fourth of July concert. We especially enjoyed Seventy-Six Trombones.

Afterward we walked out into the Temple Square and viewed the Temple lit up against the night sky--quite a sight.

As we walked back to our truck, we passed the symphony hall, featuring a very eye-catching glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly.


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Temple Square and the Capitol

This morning we got up bright and early to go to United Diesel, where we had an appointment to get our brakes looked at. When we got there, it turned out that the man who made the appointment had misunderstood and thought we had a motorhome--they don't work on fifth wheels. He recommended another shop and called to see if we could get in. So now we have an appointment tomorrow with D and A Truck Equipment and Trailer Repair.

Meanwhile we checked in to our campsite at Pony Express RV Resort. It's very conveniently located and a well-kept park with nice level paved sites--but it also has lots of freeway noise and a petroleum refinery across the street. So far we haven't heard any trains, but we probably couldn't hear them over the freeway noise.Once we got settled and had lunch, we decided to visit Temple Square, the center of the city and the headquarters for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). We parked a few blocks away, near the Energy Arena and walked over. Within a block, a pair of Mormon missionaries had greeted us and tried to engage us in conversation, but we told them we were headed to Temple Square. The Square is surrounded by a high stone wall with several entrances. We walked into the South Visitor Center and inquired about tours.

To our surprise, we found that visitors are given individual tours (although groups are also accommodated). The tours are led by pairs of women, called "Sisters," who are apparently on mission. Each wears a name tag and a flag indicating the country they come from. The two young women who led our tour were from Japan and one of the Scandinavian countries--but both spoke English very well.

Giant organ in the Tabernacle, where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing.

Christ in the Universe on the upper floor of the North Visitor Center

The Temple, with the Angel Moroni

After our visit to Temple Square, we decided to walk to the State Capitol, which looked quite close. Although it is just over half a mile, it's an uphill half mile in the heat, so we were glad to walk into the air-conditioned capitol building. We were lucky enough to join a tour that was just starting, and the only other people on the tour were a pleasant couple from England.

We learned a bit more about the history of Utah and its politics (generally quite conservative). The capitol building was restored recently to its original glory-lots of marble and gold leaf and the usual ceremonial rooms etc. The one surprise for me was a statue of Philo Farnsworth, a Utah man credited with the invention of the first all electronic television.

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Moab to Salt Lake City

Today was a travel day. We were sad to leave our campsite on the Colorado River behind. The trip was pretty straightforward. We stopped in Green River for lunch and to pick us some tourist info on Salt Lake City. We also stopped in Sandy, UT, a southern suburb of SLC, to take care of some business and to shop at REI.

We stayed overnight in a Carpet Giant parking lot near United Diesel, so we could get an early start in the morning.

We had to make an unexpected trip to Verizon Wireless--my Droid died. They arranged for a warranty replacement, but I had to pay for expedited delivery to make sure it would come before we left the city. I'm expecting to receive it Thursday, and meanwhile I feel really bereft without my 24/7 Internet connection. Read more!

Happy Solstice! Happy Anniversary!

Today is the first day of summer and our 13th wedding anniversary. How lucky we are to be in such a beautiful place to celebrate.

We made our last trip into Arches National Park this morning, starting at Park Avenue. We made the two-mile round trip hike down into the spectacular canyon named for the resemblance to skyscrapers of the surrounding cliffs and towers. Along the way we walked over rock surfaces smoothed by water rushing through the canyon, with a striped and wavy appearance that made us think of ancient sands.

We passed a couple of small pothole pools, always ephemeral in this desert environment. In one of them, a swarm of little tadpoles were swimming. Where, we wondered, could the parents possibly live in this desert? Later research raised even more questions: could these possibly have been tadpole shrimp? or were they tadpoles of desert toads or frogs--the adults bury themselves to wait for the next rain.

Part of the time we seemed to have this trail much to ourselves, since we got a relatively early start so as to avoid the midday heat. As we walked along, we could look around and see spectacular sights in every direction.

A view looking north through the Park Avenue trail canyon.

Sheep Rock to the left, the Tower of Babel in the center, and the Organ to the right form a panorama viewed from the floor of the Park Avenue trail.

The Tower of Babel

Sheep Rock

After we returned to the Park Avenue trailhead, we drove to the Delicate Arch overlook area, where you can see the famous Utah state symbol from across a gorge. You can get a better view by hiking a half mile up along a ridge line, so of course we did that. Ken got this beautiful shot of the arch--if you look closely you can see the tiny people hiking out to it. We decided to pass on the hike out to the arch itself.

Having completed our morning's missions, we found a picnic area and had lunch in the shade of a pygmy juniper tree. The table had been pushed right up almost against the tree, and the branches were right over our heads. The shade was welcome in the growing heat.
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Fathers' Day

Ken got several phone calls today wishing him a happy Father's Day. It's good to hear from everyone and brightened his day.

We took a day off our sightseeing today to rest up and attend to some things around the rig. It was another hot day and windy enough that we couldn't leave the awning out. We haven't been hanging around here in the afternoons, but soon discovered that it gets really hot.

We got ready to grill some salmon but then realized that the wind was blowing too hard to keep the little grill lit, so we decided to go into town and eat dinner in air conditioning. We decided to make it an anniversary dinner, since our 13th anniversary is tomorrow. Moab doesn't offer much beyond burgers and pizza and steak, so we decided to go to Pasta Jay's. We got air conditioning, but also a screaming baby at the next table. I felt sorry for the young parents, and not too happy for us either, but finally they picked the child up and things got a bit quieter.

The salads with Gorgonzola cheese and balsamic vinaigrette were delicious, the chicken stuffed portabella with spinach was very rich and very good, and the turtle cheesecake was smooth and creamy. Afterward we decided to stroll around Moab for a bit and soon found ourselves descending some steps into a garden area. A path led from it into a park, so of course we followed it and found ourselves in a green wooded area watered by the two creeks for which the park is named.

In a moment we heard a very noisy bird and soon caught sight of it, hopping around in a tree and really making a racket. It was a large black and white bird which we later identified as a Black-Billed Magpie. We could hear some peeping that sounded like nestlings, and then another adult chimed in. Soon Ken spotted a cat on the ground and we surmised that the parents were trying to chase the cat away. As soon as the cat saw us, it left.

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Exploration

We started this morning by going to the Moab Farmers' Market. We didn't find much produce, but we did get one nice loaf of bread. Then we headed south to check out the dump station at Quality RV Service we plan to use Tuesday when we leave.

Next we drove east of town to the Sand Flats Recreation Area, where the famous Moab Slickrock Bike Trail is located. Slickrock is not as flat and level as the word "slick" might indicate--and the challenging trail has plenty of steep climbs and descents and other thrills. The area also has similarly challenging off-road-vehicle trails, like one called Hell's Revenge. You get the picture.

We drove through the primitive camping areas and decided that there were a few sites that might accommodate our rig, but we wouldn't want to take it over the rough roads to get in. We'll leave this area to the mountain bikers and off-roaders.

Then we drove along Highway 128 for about 18 miles, checking out several BLM campgrounds to see if they would be suitable for larger RVs like ours. The verdict is that they all have awesome scenery, but most are designed for tents or very small campers. Besides Goose Island, where we are staying, only Big Bend had a few sites designed for big rigs.

We did get to watch outfitters putting in big rubber rafts full of adventurers eager for a taste of Colorado river thrills.
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Off to Canyonlands National Park

Arches National Park has a lesser known neighbor--Canyonlands National Park. It’s divided into four districts by the Green and Colorado Rivers and the canyons they create. The northernmost district is called Island in the Sky, and that’s where we went today.

We stopped first at the Visitor Center and watched the orientation video and picked up a hiking map. We decided to go first to the Upheaval Dome Overlook trailhead, where we ate lunch. Then we walked up to the first overlook. Although short, this hike is rather steep, and it was in the 90s today. Current theories are that the crater was caused by the collapse of a salt dome or by the impact of a large meteorite.

While we were at the overlook, a family was there. The father had an infant in a front pack and a toddler in a backpack child carrier. Mom had a toddler in a backpack. Three other kids ranging up to about 8 years old were walking along. It takes dedicated parents to want to walk up a steep trail carrying three small children!

We stopped at a few overlooks for views of canyons, rivers, buttes, and other formations. Then we hiked the short trail to the Mesa Arch. The arch is not as large as some we've seen in Arches, but the vista of the canyon seen through the opening is quite dramatic.

These two buttes are said to resemble the Merrimac and the Monitor, two Civil War ironclads.

From the heights of the Island in the Sky mesa, you can look down 1,200 feet to the white rim level and below that another 1,000 feet to the river gorges.

Mesa Arch seen from the trail as you approach.

View through Mesa Arch of the canyons and mountains beyond.
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Hiking Devil's Garden

We got up early this morning to beat the heat and the crowds to the Devil's Garden trailhead. We did beat the heat, but the parking lot was filling fast when we arrived and set out on our hike. The first, and easiest, stretch leads to Landscape Arch, the longest arch in the park (and maybe in the world). Chunks have been falling off the span, leaving it only 6 feet thick in some places. Visitors are advised to see it while they have a chance--and no one is allowed to hike under it anymore.

Once we passed Landscape Arch, the trail became much less like a walk in the park. It required rock scrambling, traversing slickrock slopes, and hiking along narrow fins high above the valley below. At each point the hiker is cautioned to check for the next rock cairn before proceeding. These cairns are rather casual, and in some places they are non-existent, but we managed to pick our way safely along and arrived finally at Double O Arch.

After celebrating briefly, we headed back. On the return trip, we took the side spurs to see some additional arches: Black Arch, Navajo Arch, Partition Arch, Pine Tree Arch, and Tunnel Arch. Each one was different from the others, and all were impressive.

Five hours and nearly seven miles later, we got back to the parking lot, definitely ready for lunch and some rest. We ate lunch in the picnic area and decided to return to the park another day to see some of the rest of the sights. On the way out, we did stop at Skyline Arch, just to take a photo and continue on our way.
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Arches Adventures

This morning we drove from our campground to Arches National Park. The entrance is about 4 miles, but the Devil's Garden trailhead, at the far end of the park, is another 20 miles. Our first stop was the Visitor Center, where we picked up a visitor guide and map and spent some time looking at the exhibits. We thought we might want to do the ranger guided hike of the Fiery Furnace area, but the ranger at the desk said it wasn't recommended for people with back problems, since it involves jumping across some gaps. He suggested instead that we consider hiking the Devil's Garden trail as far as we felt comfortable.

As we drove up the switchbacks and into the park, we immediately noticed the massive fins, like walls of stone, that are characteristic of Arches. It is chemical and mechanical erosion of openings through these fins that created the multitude of arches in the park. The formation below is called Courthouse Towers.

Our first stop was at the Windows area trailhead, where we hiked in to see the North and South Windows and the Turret Arch. The size of the North Window can be seen in the photo below by comparison with the people standing under it.

This view of the North and South Windows shows why they are also called the Spectacles.

We chose to hike out via the primitive trail around the back, from which you can see the North and South Windows from the other side. This trail is not as well marked as the regular trail, and it requires some rock scrambling, but the views are fantastic.

After we returned to the parking lot, we walked to the trailhead for the Double Arch shown below. A short, relatively easy trail leads to the arches, which were formed when a pothole in the surface eroded downward through the rock.

By this time we were hungry and decided to find a picnic area. We drove up to the picnic area near the campground at the north end of the park and found a table. About the time we had everything laid out, we decided it was just too windy, so we ended up eating in the truck.
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Moab, Utah

Moab is one of those places I've often heard of but knew little about. It was a two-hour drive from Hanksville to Moab, and for a change the roads were straight and mainly flat. When we got to town, our first two stops were at the Village Market and the City Market, both on Main Street. Then we ate lunch and headed for the Goose Island BLM Campground, just 1.4 miles up the Colorado River on Hwy 128. It has no hookups, like most BLM campgrounds, but great views of the river and the red cliffs.

We pulled in and found a nice spot, but realized that we had forgotten to fill up our fresh water tank while we were in town. We registered and left some chairs on our site and went back to town. The camp host had assured us that Moab is a very water friendly city. We quickly found a Shell station with a convenient water hydrant and hooked up our hose. I walked inside to get some ice water and noticed that they had a Tuesday special on cold drinks--up to 44 oz. for 45 cents. The sun was beating down and the air was dry (hey, that's Utah), so I got a Diet Coke and Ken and I rehydrated while the tank filled.

Then it was back to the campground, where we set up camp and congratulated ourselves on a good site and an easy back in--and even a nice shady cottonwood tree. Soon we realized that the nice shade meant our solar panels would be shaded--not so good. We decided to wait until tomorrow to see if someone in a riverside site might vacate.

A bit later we were strolling along, checking out the dates on the site posts to see which might be vacated tomorrow. The camp host came by on his bike, and we stopped to talk with him. He told us that a riverside site had just become vacant--the campers had been called away on short notice. He said we could switch to it, but cautioned that it would be filled in 10 minutes. We rushed to the site, and Ken stood there while I went to get our site receipt to move it to the new site.

The Colorado River runs at the base of the cliff, just the other side of our chairs....

When we went on our walk this evening, we followed the bike trail that runs between the river and the highway. Everywhere we looked, we found more to amaze and delight.

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