October 4, 5, 6

Friday Oct. 4 we leave Flagstaff nice ‘n relaxed with the Mazda in tow on the tow dolly. We change to route 89 in Flagstaff, heading north and then turn right towards Tuba City, to route 160 to Kayente, 163 to Bluff, Utah, and 191 to Moab. Yesterday we passed through Apache lands, today is Navajo. We travel right through the painted desert with all its colors, through Monument Valley with its, eh, monumental and awesome rock formations, and through the canyons east of the Grand Canyon. Fantastic landscape. To our everlasting surprise these deserts do have plants in them. It rained not too long ago and they look green, relatively speaking ;)

It’s not easy to find a camping spot in Moab. Apparently every camper has been chased out of a national park – there are so many here – and there is also some big bicycle event. But Henk prevails and we get a roomy spot just north of town, almost across the entrance road to Canyonlands Nat. Pk as well as Dead Horse Point State Park. We’ll go have a look tomorrow in the Mazda.

Saturday we have a leisurely morning and after lunch we’re off to Dead Horse Point. This is at the very beginning of the Grand Canyon, well before Lake Powell, and the park is at the top edge with great views all around. Not that we get to see it, because the poor Mazda develops a blinking light. We stop to check the manual and to our fright discover we can’t drive it at all anymore anywhere or else. Yikes. Henk calls the Mazda roadside assistance number, and they send someone right away: a nice couple in a pick-up with a rusty trailer, it squeaks badly when Henk drives the car onto the ramps. Her dad will drive it to the nearest dealer, she says, in Orem (Provo), 200 miles away. They drop us off at the campground. We spend the rest of the day thinking about it and tossing ideas around of what to do with ourselves now. Good thing I picked up groceries at WalMart yesterday.

Sunday we enjoy the mild weather – upper 60’s – and go for a long walk out back from the campground, following an ATV trail into a little mini canyon. The recent rain has left puddles in the riverbed and everything looks clean. To the east we can see the “windows” in Arches NP, to the southeast a small mountain range with snow on top, to the south and west tall redstone mesas with turrets on top. Nothing much to the north, but that’s okay.

After we get back we get online to see what we can do around Provo and Salt Lake City. Henk finds a campground in Provo, and we check out Antelope Island State Park north of Salt Lake City. It looks interesting enough for a few days. Tomorrow we’ll drive to Orem to see about the Mazda and we’ll camp near Utah State Park.