~Friday, April 15, 2022~
Day 670
A lovely clear day out for our 60-mile drive to Moab. This would NOT be an official “travel day”, but a day to tackle a few needed errands, check out a few campgrounds, and get a cell signal to call family. The drive was beautiful, yet scary in places where we found ourselves right at the base of massive red sandstone rocks, some as tall as skyscrapers that looked ready to topple at any moment. We even saw boulders the size of a bus hanging precariously on a ledge right above the road, prompting me to pray that we had more time on this earth. On Highway 211, a great deal of the land is open range, so we had the opportunity to photograph a few grazing cows next to a cattle guard. It was kind of comical actually as it seemed they couldn’t decide which one of them should cross first.
Being in such remote areas lately and arriving in a town like Moab is quite jarring with all of the traffic and crowds. It wasn’t the best day to explore it…..a Friday afternoon, a holiday weekend no less, and an annual Jeep Jamboree to add to the already popular town. We’ve never seen so many Jeeps in one place…..hundreds. As I mentioned before, Moab is THE place to be if you own a Jeep and love off-roading. It would actually be a hoot to watch some of these guys and their daredevil antics. In fact, just above our heads as we were driving, on top of a 20-story high sandstone mountain, was a Jeep parked right near the edge. Wow!!!
I wish I could say that we were here for the jamboree fun too. But one of the reasons we came was to be able to touch base with our relatives. Evidently, Hannah had forgotten that we mentioned being out of cell range for about a week or so and became worried when we weren’t responding to texts, nor unable to find our location on her cell phone. It was great to hear her voice and hear all about their upcoming weekend plans for Easter. We also had a nice chat with Shane, though brief since he was working. We’re happy to hear he’ll be with friends on Easter Sunday. Being away from our loved ones during these moments is especially hard.
Even though we have plans on camping in Moab starting Tuesday, we wanted to check out the scene ahead of time….campgrounds, dump stations, water sources, etc. One spot we saw to get water had an interesting sign….$5.00 for water, $5.00 for dump, $5.00 for both. So I guess we’ll make sure to use both then. And because there isn’t anything else for miles (I think the next closest town is Grand Junction, Colorado), they can charge an arm and a leg for everything. Diesel is close to $6.00/gallon, propane $5.00/gallon to give you a slight picture. Groceries however, were not as expensive as I would have thought.
Just 5-10 minutes outside of downtown Moab, is an awesome campground called Goose Island, right on Hwy. 191, but separated by the Moab Canyon Pathway. This bike path travels through 2 miles of red rock canyon to the entrance of Arches National Park and the location, stunning. 10 of the 19 sites are right on the Colorado River with a massive red sandstone canyon that surrounds it. And our AT&T service seems like it will work if we’re using the We-Boost (generator required). We realize our chances of getting into this campground are slim. But we made note of everyone’s checkout dates and the sites that interested us the most anyway. What we found is at least 4 people departing on Easter Sunday and 2 departing the following day (Monday). But here’s the thing…..if we really want to be at this campground, it looks like we’ll have to exit our stay in Canyonlands 2 days earlier than expected. Moving on Easter seems to be our best bet of getting a site plus it would be nice to be in cell range to talk to our family on that special day.
For backup options we headed further up the road, about 20 minutes outside of Moab to Big Bend Recreation Area. Some of the sites seem nice, with quite a few right on the river as well, but not quite as nice as Goose Island. The other idea we have is if we don’t get into either of these BLM campsites, we can just boondock for one night on nearby Forest Service land, giving us an earlier site to nab a site at Goose Island. The last place we checked out was Datura Campground in the Sand Flats Recreation Area. Jeff had read a recent review by someone he follows on Instagram who raved about the views, saying they were some of the best in Moab. Yes, the views are amazing, but only if you are privy to a small tear-drop or van. Our size rig is just too big. The gal at the entrance station even mentioned we’d be pushing it with 29 feet. In any case, it was nice of her to waive our $5.00 entrance fee so we could at least take a look around. Mission accomplished getting everything on our list completed while visiting Moab.
After our last stop of getting groceries, we headed back to Canyonlands at sunset, with just enough time to run the generator to charge a few items. We’ve been really good about not running it much with concern about not annoying our neighbors. You kind of have to feel things out from place to place. Where we’re staying now is one of such peace and tranquility, you want to be “that guy” that annoys everyone else. I’m sure our neighbor (from Canada) dreaded seeing our big trailer arrive the day it did, thinking a rig our size would need constant power, or at least when generator hours were allowed (8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.) But even with those available hours, we rarely ran it. And our full-sun site generates plenty of solar power. Anyway, it was nice that our Canadian friend acknowledged our sensitivity to the matter, thanking us for being mindful neighbors.
Our neighbor, by the way, is traveling solo, which I always find intriguing, especially women doing it alone. Pretty gutsy if you ask me. But, she seems to be enjoying her solitude. Like most things, I’d imagine there are pluses and minuses to it but really wonder if most enjoy traveling alone? Have you ever traveled solo, and if so what are your thoughts about it?