Friday

I'm sure you're as tired of me talking about rain as you are of seeing pictures of red rocks.    If so, don't bother to read any further.




It rained all last night and most of this morning.  There were a few breaks of sun here and there.    After lunch we decided to head into Arches National Park and just do some autohiking.   Gay and Joe went looking for waterfalls there the last time it rained, so perhaps we'd be able to see a few of those.

Parade of Elephants

We did see water running down many of the high walls, but no actual waterfalls.  No matter, we enjoyed revisiting some of the areas we saw the first week we were here and then continued further into the park.

It was sunny at some spots and threateningly dark in others.   Sunny but windy and cold so we limited ourselves to a few walks of under a mile.

At Skyline Arch there were only a couple cars at the trail head so we put on our fleece vests and set out to see it up close.

Skyline Arch

all by ourselves

This arch is interesting because, in l940 a massive boulder broke loose and slid out of the opening, more than doubling the size of the arch.    Large, jagged pieces of that boulder remain below the arch,  behind a smaller rock fin.

We crawl around the remains of the fallen boulder
below the arch

I really enjoyed visiting this arch.   It felt very private as we walked around and behind the large rock formation to the base of the arch.   The wind blowing through the junipers there made a lovely sound and we were serenaded  by a pretty little bird.    A Yellow Rumped "Audubon's" Warbler I think.

Oh Dave......

Lots of greenery and clumps of pretty, gently fragrant flowers dotted the red sand.

We didn't stay too long, however, because the wind was picking up and the sky darkening.

will we make it back before the rain catches us?

We just made it back to the jeep before the sky opened, pelting us with rain and a bit of hail.

We decided to continue on to the end of the park before turning around and we ran through alternating periods of rain and brilliant sun.   We stopped to enjoy the views when we could before making our way home.   Not a bad day all in all.

Thursday

It rained all night and most of today.   Thunder, lightning, light rain, heavy rain, little clearings that fooled us into thinking it was done.....wet dogs, damp towels, but beautiful and dramatic skies.

dark skies over the dog park

Yesterday was an entirely different story.   Once again, the weather ruled our movements.   We left Beluga before lunch, it was in the mid 60's and sunny.   We packed our lunch and drove into Canyonlands National Park, Islands in the Sky, to see the iconic Mesa arch and whatever else we had time for.    We had a late afternoon date with Lumpia, we couldn't be late.

There were only a few cars at the parking lot for the Arch.   We left the jeep and walked the short loop out to the edge where the arch was waiting.

Mesa Arch waits on the edge of the world

We had the end of the trail to ourselves.   Dave was about to walk under the arch when he discovered that it was directly on the edge of a cliff, and very very down on the other side.

Dave crawls to the edge

On a clear day you can see the snow covered LaSal Mountains framed by the narrow arch.   Heavy snow clouds were hanging low over the distant mountain tops so we didn't get that picture, but it was nonetheless a breathtaking view.

We thought we had all afternoon, so we scrambled around the rocks to the left and enjoyed the vistas from there.

can you see Washerwoman arch?
can you envision her in her long skirts?

When we turned to go back to the arch for a another look, we found we were no longer alone.....

Ah well, at least we had her to ourselves for a little while.

On the way back to the jeep we enjoyed the quiet, the birdsong and the little things at our feet.

We stopped at a few overlooks to marvel at the vastness of the canyon lands and then headed back to Beluga.

Around 3 o'clock we walked across the driveway to Steve and MonaLiza's with our chairs, drinks and a small snack offering,   The main attraction was her famous lumpia and pancet!    We had another very nice get together and left with our tummy's full of delicious food.    Thanks again MonaLiza.

Tuesday

The weather has been changeable here in Moab.   We have been touring and running errands and doing chores according to what we find outside our door in the morning.    The weather guessers have been doing just that, guessing.   Sometimes right, sometimes wrong.  

Saturday afternoon it was warm and sunny with a gusty wind blowing.   Perfect to wash and dry Lewis outside, not so good to clip him there.  

Sunday morning Mr. David's A-1 Mobile Poodle Grooming Van arrived to take care of that job and he quickly set up his table and supplies behind Beluga to help mitigate the wind blown clumps of  curly black hair.    I took no pictures, he's an artist and doesn't like photographs of his work.

Monday it was still windy and a bit cloudy but we had a touch of cabin fever so we headed out for a little autohike into Dead Horse Point State Park.

Before we left Beluga the temps were in the mid 60's but by the time we got up to Dead Horse Point the thermometer had dropped to the low 50's and the wind was howling.

Moments of blue sky and sunshine were interspersed with spitting rain and impressive clouds in the distance.   Needless to say we had a quick "look" over the edge, went into the visitor's center for a couple purchases and walked briskly back to the car to eat lunch.    Lunch with a view to be sure, but it was through  the sheltering windshield this day.

On our way home we took advantage of the sunny bits and turned onto this dirt road and that dirt road just to see what we could see.

beautiful blue/green fingers emerging

study in blue and green

A fourteen person blogger get together was planned for yesterday at 4 p.m. and the hope was that we'd be able to sit outside at one of the rv resorts pavilions to eat, drink and catch up,  but the strong winds and cool temperatures made that impossible.         Instead we all (except 2) met in town at Zax restaurant on Main Street.   Our waitress was a saint....she took care of all our needs, separate checks, table rearranging, seat changing, with great good humor.   She even took our picture....

Dave and I, Steve and MonaLiza, Tim and Amanda, Amanda's parents, Hector and Brenda
and Pam and John

We laughed, shared recent adventures, rv mishap stories, future plans, campground recommendations, hiking directions, food stories, family stories, just a great get together of old and new friends before we all set off in different directions again.  

Dave and the moose

Today it rained, all day long.   In between planning and reading, Lewis entertained us with his house squirrel......

Windy Saturday

We're entering a period of unsettled weather.   It was lovely this morning for second cup....sunny and warm but becoming increasingly windy.   The plan for today was to relax, read a bit and wash Lewis in preparation for his "mowing" appointment.    Saturday's are days to stay home.

Wind has picked up substantially, temperature is dropping slowly and heavy clouds are moving in so I'm not interested in getting wet - cancel poodle bathing plans.

zzzzz

It will just have to be a nice lazy day.   No complaints about that here!


I forgot to tell you about our pleasant and peaceful Thursday morning with fellow bloggers and full time RV'ers Gay and Joe (good-times-rollin.blogspot.com).   We picked them up and made the short drive to the Matheson Wetlands Preserve.    We were all looking forward to a nice stroll and the Preserve was just the place.

Dave and I had walked the Preserve last week without seeing many birds so we were hopeful, this time, we would have more success.

Dave and Joe followed Gay and I as we stopped and looked and listened along the gravel paths, raised boardwalks, and viewing blinds.  They were deep in conversation.

Gay and I heard considerable rustling in the brush, birdsong and fleeting sightings but not much else.   We did see a Spotted Towhee and a few Cinnamon Teals in the river, but the highlight of our stroll was a large and extremely loud rafter of turkey.

Some had vivid blue faces and some had knobby red ones.   I don't know the difference between them, do you?

Around 12:30 we left the Preserve and went into Moab for a small Polygamy Porter and a delicious lunch at Zax.     A nice, low key day indeed.