Picture Taking Safari to Moab

This winter season has be mostly filled with cold cold days with snowy nights. I know that in church and our prayers, we often ask for "moisture" because we live in a desert region. "Moisture" is another polite word for rain, or snow. Water is the staff of life in these parts.

So why am I complaining? Well, one day all that snow is going to melt, and bring good water or blessings to the land. It also will bring new discoveries, such as piles and piles of dog poop burried for the winter. We figure, well, its our dogs happiness but I abhor the contributions of our neighbors dogs who are let out to fertilize the neighborhood. The law says that they are supposed to pick up after their pets, but do they ever?

Well, this blog posting is not really about picking up dog poop but having a good reason to leave the cold and get out of town for a break. We decided to celebrate our 35th Wedding Anniversary by taking a picture safari. The real purpose is to get some good pictures for Jo to paint from. Since her works are getting quite good, she needs new material.

We planned the trip and set it up, but the weather didn't cooperate. On our drive down to Moab, it rained, sleeted, snowed, and fogged the whole time. We listed to a book on CD and enjoyed the trip. I drove, and Jo and Ipo dozed off. None the less, it was a pleasant trip.

We purchased an annual pass for the National Parks, and you can't get a better deal if you plan to see more than a couple of National Parks within a years time. Fortunately for us in Utah, there are several National Parks, I think four of them and several National Monuments (National Park wannabees). So, we figure on seeing as much as we can, not to mention when we travel in the summer.

After a short drop in to Arches National Park, we drove up the road to Canyonlands National Park. Just before Canyonland, we went to the Dead Horse State Park ($10 daily fee), but it was worth it and except for the cloudy overcast, we got to see some great sights.

Then it was on to Canyonland and the clouds were still there but we tried to get in as much of the sightseeing as we could before sundown. There are some really awesome views to see but the wind and cold air blowing made stops short. Even Ipo was weary about the cold temperature. At least she put up with the whole trip. When she got interested, we would put the window down for her to stick her head out and sniff the area. It wouldn't be long before she pull her head back in and start to lay down.

In Moab, there are several hotels that allow you to bring your pets, and the LaQuinta is no exception. We were pleased with the accomodations and didn't have to pay extra for Ipo.

On Saturday we visited Arches NP and took as many pictures as the sun would allow (with out clouds). The only problem with a car riding dog is that she wanted to get out at every stop. So where we could, we would get her out for a walk and sniff out the area. Pets aren't allowed on the trails. We still had a good time. One thing about visiting the park in the winter time is that there aren't as many tourist clogging up the park.

On our way home, we stopped in at Goblin Valley State Park ($7 fee). It was a unique park with the rock formations like little goblins (Galaxy Quest). We almost had the whole park to ourselves. If you get a chance, you should see it.

On our way home, we took I-70 to Salina. There are several view areas and great places to take pictures. At the Outlaw View point, Ipo got loose from Jo as she was getting out of the car. The view is has no fence to protect one from falling off the cliff so Jo screamed, scared Ipo and Me so finally Ipo slowed down where I picked up the lease and took her back to the car. The rest of the trip was sunny, windy, snowy, rainy and foggy. Ipo, Jo and I were glad to get home safe and tired.

So that's how we spent our 35th Wedding Anniversary.