Arches National Park and Stolen License Plates

The limits of possible can only be defined by going beyond them into the impossible.

 

Saturday was such a beautiful day.  Our trip from Phoenix to Moab was amazing with gobs of amazing sights along the way.  Traveling on the road without the motorhome meant we needed a hotel.  I mentioned that in my previous blog.  However, I didn’t mention how noisy a hotel is compared to an RV park.  Every time the neighbors shut their door we heard it.  We couldn’t hear anything else but that door was certainly open and shut often.

The weatherman had predicted sunny skies. You know how we always believe him.  Arches National Park was about five miles north so we were looking forward to a great day and more fantastic Utah views.  Murphy got involved in those plans.  I’m sure you’re familiar with Murphy.  He’s the one with all the Murphy Laws we talk about.

We were hammered with rain and clouds.  Needless to say, our time at the park was cut very short.  It was a miserable morning.  My feet were soaked, my clothes were wet, my camera kept fogging up and most of the pictures came out dark and dreary.   Murphy did a good job.

The photos above were all tone mapped.  The photos below were the original ones.  

The rain and clouds disappeared shortly after we left the park.  The sun was starting to shine again.  We still had more miles to go and continued on our way through Provo and Salt Lake City. The plan was changed again. We originally had planned on another hotel just north of Salt Lake.  That’s when we thought we’d be basking in sunny weather at Arches a little longer.  We didn’t count on arriving so early.  Thus, we continued on our way.  We were off to Burley for the night.  Once we skid through Burley we decided Twin Falls was a great place to stop.  That’s where Saturday and day 2 ended at a daily total of 496 miles driven. 

Our hotel was half the price of the previous night and just as nice except it included breakfast too.  There were no banging doors and we both slept pretty sound. Sunday morning we were up again but skipped the breakfast.  I guess that was a stupid move because it was free but it was just too early for either of us to want to eat.  

Murphy played another trick on us.  Of all the cars parked in the hotel parking lot, ours had been selected by someone to steal the license plate!  We know it was stolen and didn’t just work itself free.  Whoever took it gingerly replaced the license plate holder back with one little screw.  Of course, that was the back plate so we removed the front and put it on the back … making it not so noticeable … we hoped.

And more original photos …..

We moved on through Utah … mountains and more mountains. Then, came Idaho.

Next we were in Oregon and descending into Pendleton and the Mighty Columbia.

We have learned to appreciate the route north in the spring and south in the fall through California.  Sure there may be a couple mountains to cross but it is nothing like other routes. Maybe fuel prices are a little higher but it takes more fuel to go up those mountains than it does to drive on flat terrain. 

Sunday turned out to be day 3. We had put some travel on those wheels. Day 1 was 471, day 2 was 496 and day 3 turned into the longest day yet. We did just what a horse does when you turn him towards the barn. We made tracks and 596 miles later we pulled into the driveway at our little cabin. The only stop along the way this time was to pick up the Wrangler which I had left at the Portland International Airport when I flew out a few days earlier.

We were pleased to see that our block wall had almost been completed. The little worker-bees we had decided to hire to lift those 61 pound blocks and line them up nice and even had done a great job. We had almost a pallet and a half of blocks left. Thus, Robert (our SIL) and Terry finished the job off. We think it looks amazing!

 

That’s it … the car we had had left in Phoenix has now caught up with us.  Our timing was perfect too … the weather is gorgeous.

‘Tis life on the road.