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No home, no car, no worries. On the road since 1996, a TechNomad couple share their travel secrets and adventures.



Stargazing in Utah


From Luxury to Primative
Moab UT

The sun was shining, the sky a beautiful cloudless bright blue as we pulled out of our luxury accomodations in Avon, Co. The front that had caused the snow showers had finally pulled out of the area, temperatures were raising and clear weather was predicted for the next few days. We headed to Moab, Utah to camp in the desert area of Arches National Park.

Expecting chilly evening’s we made one more stop for camping equipment. In the camping section at a convenient WalMart we pondered over our choices. Should we get the really cool bedding set designed and prepackaged just for our air mattress or should we go for the fleece inserts for our sleeping bags. We choose the inserts avoiding a wrestling match for the covers.

We drove out of “Colorful Colorado” and into beautiful Utah departing I-70 heading south on Hwy 191. As we got closer to our destination the traffic picked up. Unusual for a Thursday, we thought. And then we got the bad news. It was a school holiday weekend in Utah. Who would have though all the campgrounds would be full this time of the year!

At Arches National Park we picked up an information sheet that listed the National Forest campgrounds located in the area and began to search for any available spot. We got lucky and found a site along the Colorado River on Hwy 128. We quickly set up our camp.

Next on the list was relaxing with a cup of freshly pressed Starbuck’s coffee while gazing at the beautiful scenery that surrounded us.

I was struck by one scene in particular. At the top of the mesa, the play of light from the setting sun on the tall spires made it appear as if frozen in stone; an Indian Maiden sat before a fire, relating a tale of long ago to a young child. From a nearby cliff face a grandfatherly figure looked at the scene fondly.

The scene was even more fantastic the following morning. With the angle of the sun just right, the rock cast a shadow that looked just like a motherly figure on the nearby cliff. I had to get out my sketching pad and paints. What do you think?

The only drawback of our site was that during the heat of the day there was little shade. We solved this problem by driving down to the next camping area where there was easy access to the river and several large shade trees.

The evenings were breathtaking. The imposing cliffs turned from a dull red-brown to a bright red-orange, only to be swallowed in shadow and disappear as the sun set. We cuddled up in front of a blazing fire. Overhead we watched the twinkling stars of the Milky Way waiting for the thrill of a shooting star in the black nighttime sky. Occasionally we spotted rapidly orbiting satellites before they faded into nothing.

Slowly the awesome cliffs became more visible as the evening lengthened. The stars began to fade and suddenly over the edge of the mesa a nearly full moon appeared flooding the area with light.
We slept with the rain cover off the top of the tent allowing us to view the sky. With the bright moonlight the shadows from the nearby bushes seemed to dance on the dome of the tent. We snuggled up in our warm bags with the fleece liners and slept comfortable even when the temperatures dropped into the low 30’s overnight.

4 comments:

M G said...

Was that actually a camping spot! Your tent looks like you just layed it down in the trees, or dropped from the sky into a thicket. Looks like fun. We're camping at the Zoo next weekend (Nov 08th). Want to join us?

Vickie said...

Mg Thanks for the comment.

The tent was actually just dropped into place. Its a small two person tent.

We first layed out the tent in the area available, decided on where the door should go, then decided we didn't have a lot of space for setting it up.

We then picked it up, took it to an open space, inserted the supports and picked it up fully extended, held it over our heads and dropped it back in place.

To remove the tent from the thicket we once again picked it up and carried it over our heads.

We then placed the tent on top of the picnic table, removed the supports, folded it in thirds, pressed out the air and rolled it up small enough to fit back into its carry bag.

This process avoids a lot of dust and dirt being left on the tent, plus saves us from kneeling on the hard packed dirt.

M G said...

mOM
Im in bestbuy in lafayette, typing on a little $349 laptop called ASUS intel moble celron. The key board is small but works better than the smaller version for 100 less. This is fun, working on a Verison wireless in bestbuy. Mike

Anonymous said...

Mom,

You need to give me some tips on blogging! I can see dad's pouring your coffee for you.

I linked to you from my new page:

http://www.ldhservices.blogspot.com

Love, your baby girl!