Thursday, June 9, 2011

The End of the Caravan at Moab

At last the caravan is over. I've noticed my blog is not the only one that is way behind schedule.

Torrey, UT, was a great stop. We bought a few more small pieces of jewelry and had an awesome dinner at Cafe Diablo. We enjoyed the park and hike (Capitol Reef) and then made our way to Moab.

Finally we got some hot weather! And, Moab is a real town. Our campground owner, Doug, took all who wanted to go for a Jeep ride. Claudia and Barry joined us and we had a great time. Moab is the #1 destination for Jeep enthusiasts and we could see why.

Even with a full 3 1/2 days there we didn't get to see all there was to see in the area, so we did the highlights. Hikes to Delicate Arch and Landscape Arch and Windows Arches - and a drive down to the south Needles area of Canyonlands. The latter was on a windy day that caused all the Arizona fires' smoke to blow our way, so we didn't get to see much. And, it was about a 75 mile drive one-way as well.

Yesterday after lunch we took off for Dead Horse Point State Park, as Elna had told us not to miss it. She was right; the scenery was spectacular. We are almost on overload with all the magnificent formations and canyons.

At our final cookout, Peter Grote took a panoramic photograph of all 68 of us. I think it ended up about 3 feet wide! I'm not sure if or how we'll all receive copies of it.

The final night's banquet was delicious and a fun time for all. The guys all tried on Chuck Banker's Super Bowl Rings and Mary took pictures of all the ladies' bling (chest shots) They should be interesting!

It's always a bittersweet affair. We've made some very good friends on this caravan that I'm sure we'll keep in contact with. When morning came, we all scattered in different directions.
Claudia, Barry, Larry and I headed WEST for home. Several are headed for the International Rally in DuQuoin, Illinois, and others are headed for their next caravans. We'll see them down the road.

Cissy and Johnny have already emailed that they saw a very swollen Colorado River along Interstate 70, but made it past safely. It's likely to flood soon.

We have no adventures on the near horizon, thank goodness. Our house needs some tender loving care from its neglectful owners!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Bryce to Torrey, UT

The big news was the horseback ride. The scenery was spectacular, as usual and we went down into the canyon we'd earlier viewed from above. It took about 3 1/2 hours. My trusty steed was Donna, a mule. Once she got the message that she was definitely going on the ride, things were fine. EXCEPT - the first half of the trip my saddle was crooked and my stirrups were too short.
It made for a most uncomfortable ride as I continually tried to adjust. After I got off, the wrangler fixed things and my ride went much more smoothly - for about 10 minutes! Then I went back to being very uncomfortable. It is now 2 days later and I still feel the pain. More Ibuprofen, I guess. Pictures will be downloaded, but it was taking too long, so I gave up. They will be coming, never fear!