Arches National Park

After some much needed rest & relaxation, we finally managed to make it to see Arches National Park yesterday. Wow, pretty awesome. . .but that Colorado River canyon along Hwy 128 from I-70 into Moab still takes my breath away. In fact we returned to that canyon first to visit the free museum at Red Cliffs Lodge. This ranch has been used for lots & lots of movies thru the years, & now has a really nice lodge, restaurant, & winery.

Anyway, I took scads more photos going thru Arches (in spite of the sun being too low in some locations for a decent photo), & sure can’t (won’t) post them on here. You can view the entire album by clicking on the photo below. I finally found out that all this red rock (mostly) around here is sandstone. Who’d a thunk it? Oh, my camera battery died too so I used my cell phone camera for the last few arches. Not a good thing!

So today was getting caught up on some computer stuff, cleaning, & doing laundry. I sort of mapped out where we’d like to visit before finally arriving in Quartszite mid-January. Any suggestions for Bryce, Zion, & Grand Canyon visits? I’m so glad there are quite a few national parks so close to each other (comparatively speaking). But this desert environment is such a surprise to me. It gets uncomfortably hot for a few hours during the day — especially if I’m working hard, but as soon as the sunshine is gone — it doesn’t just cool down, it gets right down COLD fast! I’m just not used to such rapid temperature changes on a daily basis. [I now dress in layers.]

It’s just ever so cozy tho inside the Casita regardless of the weather. It heats up quickly with either a small electric heater or, if boondocking, the furnace, — or cools down just as quickly with either open windows & the Fantastic Fan running, or using the A/C. The three large windows that wrap around our bed prevents any sort of cabin fever even when it’s cloudy and/or raining outside. Closing the shades then at night makes it a perfect, private sleeping or relaxing area.

Most people, especially RVers with Class As or 5th wheels, just can’t imagine living full time in such a small space. Really, it hasn’t been difficult — except for that tendency to continue to accumulate more stuff which we then have to find room for. Plus we don’t have inside guests very often. I guess we just don’t require a lot of space to be comfortable. Maybe that’s the key word — it has to be comfortable & efficient space, regardless of the size of the space. In fact I’ve heard more than a few people comment on getting a bigger rig & then ending up with less storage space than before.

For instance, we don’t have the table set up very often cause we just don’t use or need one. In fact, I’m horizontally challenged. If there’s a flat surface left available for long — I find things to cover up that surface. The table at our house was usually cluttered with stuff & not used for eating anyway, so I definitely don’t miss one. So I use a little lap desk for my laptop or for writing & eating (with folding legs that stores vertically then when not used) while I recline comfortably on the bed, propped up on a pillow or two against the wall. Many people complain that RV dinettes are uncomfortable for any length of time anyway, so we don’t miss hauling that unneeded space around.

Our small space keeps me organized, neater, & cleaner — I can’t make a new mess until I’ve cleaned up the last one. I now only roll our clothes & towels instead of folding them flat or hanging them. I have any item I use frequently (cups, scissors, flashlight, whisk broom, spare umbrella, pill pockets, etc, etc) hanging on a wall, soffit, or door (with drapery hooks in carpet & Command or suction hooks on fiberglass). I use cloth store bags (Wal-Mart) for temporary items or to corral stuff while traveling. I store a clean sheet set all inside a matching pillow case. I make my bed in halves since only half of the foot is accessible by standing. First I spread out both the mattress cover & fitted sheet at the head (against the back window) while I kneel in the center of the bed, then stand up & secure the rest of the cover/sheet at the foot. Then I repeat the process by spreading out the top sheet at the head with the cover on top. Finally I stand up, smooth out everything, & tuck it all in at the foot.

Philosophical wandering: Maybe it’s just getting old that changes a person’s view, perception, or priorities, — or maybe it’s still being young enough to want a change, an adventure, or just a simpler life. Don’t ‘cha wish sometimes that living (or raising children) actually came with foolproof instructions instead of enduring trial & error? Oh wait — it’s the challenge, the excitement, the hope, the surprise of it all that gets us all up in the morning. Isn’t it?