Sistah Pat

This park has very limited connectivity. One minute it’s there, the next minute it’s gone. So, I’ll try to save often.

We woke up yesterday morning and finished the drive to Moab. We had originally intended to stay here for two days but we lost a day at Escalante with all the unforeseen problems so we’ll be hitting the road again this morning.

I’m still questioning if I beat Escalante or if it beat me. I expected to feel some kind of jubilation or something on completing the hike but, I’ll tell you what, that trail whipped my butt! There wasn’t a single part of my body that wasn’t sore yesterday. I could barely move! It left me with a kind of depressed feeling to know that there are some things I am not able to do anymore and I know, without a doubt, that I will never be able to complete that hike again.

We drove through Arches yesterday morning and arrived at the Campground. We’re staying at Slickrock Campground in Moab. We’ve stayed here a couple of times before and it’s a pretty place. Here’s a picture from our campsite and another from Arches National Park of Delicate Arch.

I was so sore yesterday and the RV was really starting to get on my nerves because it needed a good scrubbing so, after we drove through the area, DH and I decided to stay here and not go to the park yesterday afternoon. I did six loads of laundry, cleaned out the fridge and all the cabinets, and scrubbed the RV. DH changed the oil in Manny, topped off the transmission fluid, and fixed a cabinet door that had jarred loose. DS took the grandkids to see Arches National Park. DH and I have seen it twice before and had planned on renting a four wheel drive jeep to do some off roading yesterday but I don’t think my poor aching bones would respond very well so we skipped that part and stayed with Manny. DS has been asking me to make a pot of soup so I made Hoppin John soup while they were gone and we ate it for dinner.

Mr. Scale shows me at 173.5 this morning. At least the whuppin from Escalante accomplished something! Of course, I’ve been eating pretty well and trying to exercise. I’m craving things like watermelon and popsicles and summer rolls. I guess my taste buds have changed because the boys have all kinds of junk in here but I’m not even tempted. The fattening things that have tempted me and tasted good have been things like fresh guacamole and Mocha Monster Java Energy drink but even that hasn’t tasted good this week. I poured out over half of the last one I drank.

I guess I need to get everyone up and moving but I’m not looking forward to today. We have a 7 hour drive planned which will put us close to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone tomorrow. I guess we’ll leave my car off the trailer and I’ll drive it. It was nice when there were three drivers for one vehicle. Now there are three drivers for two vehicles and no one gets much of a break. Wish we’d get out of all the mountains!

1:00 p.m. - Wow! I got outvoted. The guys are perfectly content to stay here another day and rest. So, I’m sitting out here under a nice shady tree at a picnic table where the wifi signal is actually pretty good! It’s allowed me to check in and see what’s been going on with some of my buddies and check my email from work. Maybe I’ll even check my AOL!

I guess I’m going to have to do a little adjusting to the schedule to get us back home on time but I built in a little bit of flex time so it should work out. The grandsons are relaxing in the pool, DH is taking a nap, and DS is on his laptop catching up with all his buddies. I washed my white jeans twice yesterday with a half a bottle of bleach to get the reddish stains out of them from lying around in the middle of the desert at Escalante and wearing them in the pool at the base of the waterfall and they seem to have shrunk a little bit. No, I’m not going to weigh myself, I’m telling you they must have shrunk a little. I’m sure my big butt will have them stretched out again in nothing flat.

Susan, you asked where Escalante is…It’s a fairly new National Monument located around Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Arches National Parks.  It’s actually called Grand Staircase Escalante and was established around 1994.  Fabulous scenery!  If you have a few minutes, check out Hells Backbone on Youtube.  We drove that route a few years ago and that’s what gave me my original grey hairs.  The Calf Creek Recreation area is located within the park.

I suppose I should go and try to generate some enthusiasm for getting in the car and driving 30 minutes to Canyonlands National Park. The boys didn’t want to go yesterday because we were all whipped but they might want to today. I have a hard time just sitting here. I would have liked to hit the road and get at least four or five hours of driving in today. Who has time to rest when you’re on vacation?

 Here’s a sad picture.  What do you notice?  We’ve been to this particular campground three times in the last 12 years and we’ve always had to make a reservation well in advance.  It’s really pretty, lots of shade trees and the mountains in the background, a heated pool and three hot tubs, 7 cats who call this place home, and some really nice owners.  Notice that no one is here but us?  Sad…that’s been the case at almost every campground we’ve visited.  I guess it’s the gas prices.  How long will these places survive if no one drives their RVs?  So sad…