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New plan. Wake up, see Arches National Park (courtesy of our handy dandy National Parks Pass), drive to Edwards, Colorado (near Vail) see Steve, Patsy, McClain and Z (Laura's relatives) and then drive on to Denver late to drink a few with the boys (Shad, Jugg, CBrown and Craig).
First part of the plan went terrifically. The Arches National Park was simply amazing! The most photogenic place yet (as you can see by the number of photos below).
After we left Moab, about 30 miles from the Colorado boarder, the ABS and Brake warning lights come on. Whatever could that mean? We consulted the manual which said to "Service Immediately." Um, we are in the middle of no where! We drove 30 miles to the closest phone, hoping our brakes would't give out. We were wishing we hadn't lost the cell phone. After an hour long phone conversation (40 minutes of which were spent on hold in 100 degree heat), we were told that we needed to drive to Denver to get the brakes serviced. Shocked, Rick calmly tried to explain to the nice woman that we were about to start driving through the Rocky Mountains and that brakes were pretty much THE critical part of the vehicle at this point. Our other option was to have the brakes checked out by someone locally.
We set off again for the next big town, Grand Junction. When suddenly, Rick spots the ever threatening Blue Lights in the mirror. Our first run in with the Law. Usually Rick fights the law and the law wins, this time, a draw. The extremely nice officers just want to be sure we are ok after seeing our camper sway a little (we blow around like a feather in a tornado in this thing). Rick wants to go for a beer with the officers who are so nice.
We stop at a RV Parts, Service and Sales place but they can't fix the brakes. We stop at a Ford place (the van part of the RV is a Ford), they can't fix the problem. We stop at a Freightliner 18-wheeler mechanic. He can't fix it but tells us that the light most likely is reading air in the ABS line but that if we have brakes we should be ok.
Somewhat reassured, we press onward to Edwards. We get there without incident and get a great dinner with Laura's fam. We share our stories and talk for a few hours. Steve, a vet, offers to look at poor Midget who has slight limp from surgery when he was about 3 months old. X-Ray's at the clinic at 9:30 at night was a fun way to see Steve's new office "Steve's Cat and Dog Repair." Diagnosis? Arthritis in the knee. Thanks Steve. We also got to take home X-Rays!
After Edwards, it was on to Denver. We had some trouble finding the Boys but a call to Johnny Hines proved fruitful as the immortal and recently departed (from Denver) Chris Brown gives us directions to Jeremy's work. So on to Proof in the Pudding. A rather ammusing look at the singles bar for the 30-40 crowd. Probably the most we've laughed all trip.
Phrase of the day: "
The short drive from Moab to Arches National Park.
The rock colors and formations remind us of Bryce Canyon.
Did we make a wrong turn?
Isn't the ocean pretty?
A big rock.
The left half of a suspected collapsed arch.
The right half.
A tall red wall.
More tall red formations.
Our first arch of the day.
The Balancing Rock.
The other side of the Balancing Rock.
Another arch.
One of the Windows.
Arches that have no opening.
Turret Arch.
One of the Windows up close.
Same arch closer up.
Laura's the one in the middle.
Turret Arch again.
Arches.
You guessed it, arches.
A peep hole.
Rocks.
Rocks.
Rocks.
A cliff.
Delicate Arch, the most photographed Arch. This was from about 300 yards away as the hike up into the rocks was not in our time allotment.
The puppy keeps a lookout for us.
The Fiery Furnace named for the color it gives off at sun set.
More of the Furnace.
Fun rock shapes, looks like a little village.
Still more of the Furnace.
Random rocks.
Random rocks.
The La Sal Mountains.
More neat stuff.
Easter Island?
A half arch.
Ooh, an arch.
Rocks.
Tunnel Arch.
Another arch near the Tunnel.
Around Tunnel Arch.
The hike to Pine Tree Arch.
Pine Tree Arch.
Upside down trees! Neat. Now Rick, turn the camera off when you walk with it.
A cool tree.
Spikey rocks.
La Sal Mountains again.
The desert.
Big rock that we wish would fall on the New Yorkers in front of us.
How'd that white rock get there?
A white rock stripe.
Statue rock.
A giant rock sticking up in the middle of no other big rocks.
A big wall with a cave.
The cave.
Another wall.
A rock on an edge of a valley.
The unhappy Man in the Mountain.
So how are you today web site viewer?
We hope you are enjoying this.
Here's a rock about to fall over. Glad it isn't windy.
If you have requests for photos, we take them.
The scary brake warning lights. We'll be getting gas soon.
Up in the Rockies.
The Colorado River. The shortcut to the Grand Canyon.
The tunnel that brings us to outer space.
Rick with Steve and Patsy.
Patsy's nice flowers.
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