We left off in Moab, a town that we've visited before (sans Rocksie and Bago), about 6-7 years ago. My, how it's changed. For Bago's 8-month birthday on Saturday, we resolved to not drive the RV for as long as possible. We spent a good 3+ hours strolling through town (and the dog park and the dog store, the Moab Barkery, to get birthday goodies) and along the creekside trail. Headed back to the RV for lunch, reading, siesta, then headed out to Canyonlands National Park in mid-afternoon. We took in the driving tour, but poor pup wasn't allowed to walk out to any of the viewpoints with us. He just cried and cried--that shepherd whine--when one of us got to walk down a path he wasn't allowed in.
Then we sort of camped out at the farthest viewpoint on Island in the Sky (and it truly is an enormous mesa, with sheer dropoffs, 2000 feet above everything else) to await the moonrise. It was soooo windy and cold all of a sudden (the day before it had been in the 90s), we had to stay inside most of the time. Good thing we had our traveling closet with us--we could add layers. Some of the poor tourists in their tank tops, shorts, and sandals looked pretty miserable. But we occasionally ventured out for pictures.
A goat. But of course.
Now we didn't take THAT road.... But lots of mountain bikers do. These roads are from the land's uranium mining days back after WWII.
Sunset approaches....
Right before the "supermoon" was set to rise, after waiting 4 hours, I got a wild hair that we should drive back toward the gate so we could see the sunset better while we waited for the moon. We got shots of that that we wouldn't have by driving, but doggone it we missed the actual moonrise by about 10 minutes. Oh well. It was still magical, even if there is a smudge on my Nikon lens AND even if I can't get the really cool pic from my Lytro camera to show here (yet)....
Ahh. La bella luna.
And the Lytro shot:
We made it back to the RV park by 9:30, in time for a light supper and downloading photos. Then Sunday morning, Bago just did not want to go for his morning walk. Darn rock/gravel walkways were bothering him. Finally got him out on the street and took him to the grocery store, where there was a grassy area. Well, he's no dummy. He totally remembered that the dog park was another few blocks past the grocery store (it's about 1/2 mile from the campground), and drug me there, half awake. I don't even think I had brushed my hair yet. I certainly hadn't had coffee. But I did get this sky.
Good to remember that it's a privilege to be up and out early in the morning ;-) Forty-five minutes later, we returned for coffee and breakfast. Happy pup again.
On our way out of town that morning, we stopped at Negro Bill Canyon, a lovely creekside canyon hike we had taken when we last visited. Bago really loved the creek....
So, a big dog park visit and a hike. Pup slept soundly in the RV until we reached Grand Junction and its huge city dog park. (Goodness, we are loving the Dog Goes iPhone app!) I think we overdid it there because he got kinda tired-stupid. Really rather glazed looking and totally non responsive to commands. Suffice to say, we have to watch it with him. He'll play himself into the ground. But he did sleep soundly until we got to our next destination.
We decided to camp in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, since it was so far outside of Montrose, the nearest town. There was a loop with electric only (no water--what water there is has to be trucked there from 14 miles away)--perfect for us. And the other good thing was that dogs were welcome at all of the overlooks and on several hiking trails. Yay!
We had a conundrum for the next day, though. There were three routes we could take over the mountains, and all of them had snow forecast. We picked the one that was supposed to have the least. Oops. The weather reports were really wrong. But we did manage to make it just fine (Lisa has nerves of steel) and even squeeze in a dog park visit in the snow. Bago loved that park (and the basketball and the snow) so much that he refused to leave. He had to be bribed with hot dogs....
Made it to a very nice park outside of Colorado Springs. Here's another 6AM photo from the park's dog area:
We are loathe to visit that town, much like I suppose its inhabitants are loathe to visit San Francisco.... Pike's Peak is out of the question, as it got pummeled by the snow, so I think we'll just head up to Boulder and see if we can get haircuts and a little shopping done. Then it's fun with friends time!
P.S. Had to trap this for posterity. The best part about traveling through Colorado Springs (besides some successful outlet shopping) was seeing the "Adopt-a-Highway" sign showing the Gay and Lesbian Fund of Colorado right in front of the highway sign announcing Focus on the Family's Visitor Center. (Focus on the Family is an SPLC-certified hate group that spreads malicious lies about people like me. Lisa and I and our 30+ year relationship are certainly not responsible for the downfall of civilization, as they love to assert.)
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