Sunday, April 11, 2010
The infamous first words of the morning - “Should we get gas before we leave or stop on the road?” Me - “Let’s just stop on the road”. Turns out that there’s not one single gas station before our destination, and my gas light goes on in the middle of nowhere. We’re passing the few and far between exit signs, all of which contain hanging signs underneath reading “No Services”. Fabulous. We decided to pass up our exit, because that is an even more remote scenic road, so the chances of there being a gas station are nil. We instead keep heading in the wrong direction, hoping that the next exit, ok, surely the next one, will have a gas station. And then finally, after going about 25 miles out of the way, a Shell! Good news is the pump malfunctioned, and only recorded .29 cents for my fill-up. Total of about 45 miles side tracked...Live and learn!
Back on the road, we get to the exit leading to Moab. We get further into the canyons and the scenery starts to change. We’re heading into red rocks, with giant red walls starting to form. We keep going, and they get steeper and taller and closer. It’s so amazingly beautiful... you’re driving around curves following the Colorado River as it cuts its way through the canyons. The weather was gorgeous too! I have to say this is definitely one of, if not the most, beautiful drives and parts of the country I’ve ever seen. You look around and you’re enclosed by tall, red canyon walls. It’s so remote, and otherworldly, simply amazing.
We passed up secluded little camp sites along the way, which are tucked down right next to the river, so after heading into town for a bite to eat and hitting the visitor center, we decide to head back to a great little site. As I start to ride off, I hear a unusual squeak, ask Kevin to pull over into a parking lot. My side case mounting frame disconnected from the bike and was rubbing up against the bike. Kevin pulled out his pliers and got it fixed up (incident #2!) We set up camp, and went to explore the rocks and little sandy area by the river, and on his way back up, Kevin’s jumping around on some rocks like usual, and he hits his toe on a rock and cuts it open! Nothing serious, but foul #3 of the day. The rest of the evening was very peaceful, listening to ducks quack and water glide by. In the tent now, time to say goodnight.