~Friday, April 22, 2022~
Day 677
The day started with a slight overcast haze and a light breeze. Within an hour, we were in the midst of high winds, rain, hail, lightning and thunder. The desert certainly has unpredictable weather lest I forget most places can have wonky weather in April and May. Just yesterday we were in shorts and t-shirts. Today we’re bundled up in thermals, beanies, and fleece. Because of the nasty weather, we had to bag our plans of biking to Arches National Park (the entrance station is about 4 miles from our campground). Rain or shine, Moab attracts all kinds of outdoor enthusiasts who would consider mud and muck an even more inviting invitation to hit the trails. I guess if you have the perfect mountain bike and appropriate rain gear, it would be pretty fun to get down and dirty!
Not that we don’t mind the rain, but we decided to have a lay low day. I went to my “hotspot” to do some work while Jeff stayed back to replace a dying water pump (the water pump has certainly been working overtime so we weren’t surprised). From my parking lot vantage point, it was quite the lightning show, and the thunder….woo hoo! Pretty exciting stuff. By the time I was ready to head back to the campsite, the “show” had come to a close with a hint of sunshine to make for a nice sunset. We needed a few things in town, so I got to check out the tourist scene and it appears the nasty weather didn’t keep the crowds away. And the grocery store….10 minutes to find parking and checkout lines extending far into the food aisles. I guess I didn’t time that too well.
I arrived back at the trailer finding Jeff starting an early dinner of Falafels with the fireplace going (thanks generator!) while streaming a creepy movie (thankyou We-Boost) called, “A Simple Favor”. Concerned with overextending our generator use and bugging our nice neighbors, we weren’t able to finish our movie. Another time.
We took an evening walk along the bike path near our campsite and noticed three plaques placed on boulders, memorializing 3 young men who died over a span of 20 years. All were in their mid-20’s. Not sure what caused their demise and why these plaques were placed in such an inconspicuous location, barely noticeable from the bike trail. One thing is for certain…..these young people were gone way too soon.