Navajo country and Utah

Hello there blog world it’s been a while…oops. Did I fall off the Grand Canyon you ask? No, no I didn’t. After viewing said lovely hole in the ground, we ventured further into the mid states. Our next destination was set at Moab Utah to see the majestic natural arches. On the drive from the canyon to Utah we past through some of the most desolate area I have seen in the U.S. there was just nothing there except very large rocks and this also happens to be the Navajo nation. There would be miles of nothing but very large rocks and then a trailer sitting out in the middle of the nothingness. As we were putting along through nothing we noticed a sign by the roadside (it was hard to miss since it was the only thing out there). “Dinosaur Prints” with a large arrow pointing to a dirt road was written on a large piece of plywood. We zoomed past but could not resist turning around to investigate; as we did we released about a dozen cars that we had slowly accumulated behind the VW. After rumbling down a long dirt road we came to a tent a three Native Americans just sitting in this vastness. Meghan and I were nervous that we were about to be kidnaped. Clay was smiling and ready to see what this sham was about. Indeed there were prints in the dirt, but no way were they real. We asked what sort of prints they were and the two men mumbled a few things, the only thing distinguishable was t-rex. Ha! There was a woman selling her hand strung necklaces and that was all. I think they might have bullied us some about paying for their sham but most are to distracted by the sight of Clay’s bus and our hippy appearance.

On the way to Arches, we passed through Monument Valley I think it might be the prettiest place I have ever seen. The starch red against the skyline was breath taking. And there were so many huge rocks teetering on each other and all because of rain and erosion. It was like God just picked up those ginormous rocks and balanced them and said “isn’t that neat?”  

We were very excited to go see the arches especially the one we saw on the front of all the postcards in the gas stations as we got closer. Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be. We pulled into Moab and spent the night in a hotel parking lot. The next morning we arose and excitedly prepared to drive into Arches National Park. The road 

Mexican Hat

leading into the park looks like it just goes up an over into another world. We were worried about the bus making it up the road but it did make it up and over… but not too much further. We stopped at a few arches and rock creations but just before we got to the most famous arch the bus engine seized. Clay had done everything he could to watch the gages and keep the oil and maintenance to the bus up though out the trip but it wasn’t enough in this terrain. As the bus coasted to a stop, our hearts dropped… we were in a dessert, a national park with no cell signals, and hadn’t really seen many others out there. Luckily we were just pulling up to a parking lot and Meghan, Clay and I were able to push the bus into a spot. Just as we pushed it up, a French/Canadian couple was about to pull away and asked if they could help. After accessing the bus and deciding the engine was gone, we all agreed we should take up the couples offer and they agreed to take us to entrance of the park (where we would have cell signal). Soon we were rumbling back out of the park in the couples decked out van with comfy seats and soft French rock playing in the back ground. The couple was so sweet, they had been hippying around the country just like us but had been at it for weeks. Soon we were back at the entrance and making arrangements for a tow truck.

Lazy Lizard

We decided since the bus (our home) was in the shop we would stay at the local hostel, The Lazy Lizard. We were lucky and did not have to share a room. I loved the hostel. The feel is just like dorm life. The towel we were give were mismatched and obviously collected from the guest of the years. The beds covers also mismatched. The man at the front desk sooo laid back. And you had to plan your shower around all the other guest in the hostel as there were only two bathrooms in this renovated house. We didn’t care at all, I don’t think any of us had bathed in three days we were just glad for access to any shower. And I was glad not to have to hug the spare tire while I slept.

Since we were stranded we enjoyed milling about the town of Moab, we probably walked 8 miles that first day between all the running about securing the Hostel and trying to find a Mechanic that would could fix a VW bus. So for three days Moab and the Lazy Lizard were home. And do you know what they had in Moab? Tumble weeds! Real tumble weeds. Any where there was a fence it was completely covered with all the tumbleweeds it had caught from the constant breeze blowing through. The first evening we walked out of a convience store and a tumbleweed blew into my leg and I screamed with delight. I shouted “OMG I just got hit by a tumbleweed!” A local man just looked at me irritability.

VW Grave yard just outside of Moab... We feared for Clay's Bus life.