April 26, Moab, Utah

Hi, everyone. This is Don, standing in (or sitting in) for DeeBee tonight. He didn’t feel well today, and asked me if I would handle the blog for him tonight. He even offered me cookies if I would do it for him. I told him I don’t need no stinking cookies, I’d be happy to help. So, here I am.

Before you all get too concerned, he’s feeling considerably better this evening, but, since he didn’t participate to his usual level in today’s events, he would still prefer that I describe them. All of us got up really late this morning, probably due to the effects of overstuffing ourselves with pasta last night. We had been advised when we checked in that we would have to shift to another site this morning, as our site had been previously reserved, so we lost much of what was left of the morning in making the move. After lunch, we went to pile into the truck for a tour, and DeeBee, who had been acting rather lethargic all morning, told us that he wasn’t jumping into the back of the truck today. No, he would prefer to ride in the jump seat area of the cab, just in back of our seats. Fine with us. So, we headed up Highway 281, a twisty, curvy route that parallels the Colorado River heading back up to Highway 70, a route that we had consciously avoided in the motorhome. It is quite a beautiful ride, with sandstone bluffs on each side of the river, a mini-Grand Canyon. A ways up the road, we arrived at the entrance to the La Sal Mountains Loop, which explores an isolated group of snow-capped mountains which are totally divorced from the Rockies, San Juans, or any other mountain formation. The road took us first through some idyllic farmlands and cattle ranches in Castle Valley before it started ascending the mountains in a very aggressive manner. The result in terms of views was spectacular. Our photos don’t really do them justice. At one point, I’m sure that we could see 75 to a hundred miles, way into Colorado. At another, we could see the snowy peaks of the Wasatch Range, east of Salt Lake City. Driving the road required frequent use of engine braking in second gear, and on some slopes, I had use first gear to keep the speed down; never had to do that before. But Geri had no complaints, and DeeBee slept through almost the whole trip.

When we got back to the rig, both DeeBee and Geri went into nap mode, leaving me to the fun of cleaning out my email box. A little after six, we fed the boy and left him to go on an excursion that we had made reservations for earlier, a moonlight ride up the river. The embarkation point was right next door to the RV Park, so we cruised on over and had dinner with about 120 other people who were going on the cruise. Really, two huge tour busses had disgorged their humanity, who were on a Vegas-based desert tour. We sat with some fellow Californians at dinner and had interesting conversations about our travel adventures. As the sun was going down, we boarded the open-air boat, more a barge with seats and very quiet engines, and headed upriver. The skipper gave us a lot of info about the geology and history of the area, facts about the river and its tributaries, and lots of humorous stories. He said that the present level of flow in the river was about average for this time of year, though it looked pretty full to us.
By the time we had gotten two or three miles up the river, the darkness was fully upon us, except for a brilliant, nearly full, moon. At that point a Sound and Light show began, with recorded dialogue and music played on the boat and brilliant lighting on the cliffs and rock formations provided by a truck mounted with high-powered floodlights that followed us on the highway adjacent to the river. It was a unique experience that Geri and I had never envisioned, floating down the Colorado in the moonlight, with the sounds of some appropriately magnificent music, recitations of Indian legends, and lights illuminating the huge sandstone bluffs. It was a bit cold, but we had dressed warmly and the boat operators had provided lap blankets. It was, truly, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I wish DeeBee could have been with us.

When we got home, DeeBee was at the door to greet us, offering one of his favorite toys, and ready to receive his by now very late evening treats. Hope he feels this good tomorrow. He needs to get back to blogging.

Thanks for putting up with this poor excuse for a substitute DeeBee. He apologizes to his readers, and promises to get back to work. Cheers!