April 2 – “The Very Creepy Kid”

I started the day out with a modicum of success.  I pulled off an April Fool’s Day prank on Chris.  Not that I have EVER done anything like that before.  Just thought I’d try it on for size.  So, it was a simple thing.  I told her that Canyonlands National Park, our destination for the day, had just announced that they were requiring reservations just to get into the park.  Starting that day.  It had just enough potential truth in it to make it believable, since Arches Park is actually starting that practice tomorrow.  She bit hook, line and sinker.  Being the wonderful husband I am, though, I didn’t make her suffer long.  I confessed to the prank right away.  She only punched me once.

 

But speaking of Canyonlands …

When we headed that direction, I have to admit that I was kind of skeptical.  After all, the park was just a few miles away from the Arches Park on the other side of the freeway.  How different could it be?  Well, first of all, it was the freeway exit that was just a few miles away.  Once we took that exit, it was another … miles before we hit the actual camp entrance.  And the terrain was somehow completely different.  More vegetation.  Not all red.  Totally different landscaping.  This side was reminiscent of Colorado.  And here the views were down, rather than up.  It was, after all, CANYON Lands. 

 

We did several of the required mini-hikes to get to the viewing sites.  The hikes were easy.  The sites were stunning.  Photos just can’t do them justice.  Along the way we met an older couple from Georgia.  This is becoming a pattern, don’t you think?  Lots of “older couples” around here.  We met a young family from Chicago, too, so it’s not just an old folk’s home field trip by any means.  But the older couple was determined to get the best picture they could to send to their kids.  We understood that concept, so I became their “official’ photographer.  Every site they drove up behind us and I took a picture of them.  They returned the favor for us.  My favorite photo op was when we walked up on a couple that seemed to be posing precariously on the edge of a rather skimpy-looking cliff.  It was so perilous-looking that three ladies traveling together walked up and started yelling at them to come away!  It turned out to be a perspective issue, though.  When you got closer to them, you could see that there was a wide area beneath them, a mere four feet or so away.  Certainly a survivable fall.  We laughed together when we showed them the actual situation.  Pretty perfect April Fool’s joke, and they played it on themselves.  And of course after that they wanted a picture of themselves doing the same balancing act.  They were a bot goofier than the previous couple, though.  And yes, we jumped right up there for our turn as well.  Um … I jumped up.  Chris had to be dragged kicking and screaming.  But she made it.  Still wouldn’t get too close to the edge, though.  As were finishing up, who should arrive but … Georgia.  And of course, they wanted a picture, too.  How could we refuse?  It took a while, but they finally positioned themselves near the edge for the shot.  She even got a little feisty and threw her arms out to the side.  At the next pull out she told us that the last photo was for sure going to be their Christmas card this year.

 

We lost our Georgia friends when we elected to do a two-mile hike.  They passed.  Good thing.  As shaky as she was on her feet, there would have been no way she could have made this one.  We rated it as a moderately difficult hike.  We never had to scramble up cliffs or anything, but there were spots where Chris had to hang on to my arm or rest for a few minutes before continuing.  We made it all the way, though.  We even became masters at locating the trail markers – large stacks of rocks indicating which way to go next. 

 

We did have a few critter sightings.  The park bird, ravens, were everywhere.  Several chipmunks, of all things, crossed our path.  A few small lizards did, too.  And on the way out of the park, a cow crossed in front of us.  Speed limit at the time was 65 mph.  The cow was doing about point two.  The bonus baby we picked up to join us on the ride home?  Rudy Ruby.  He’s a red-throated hummingbird who always wanted to be a raven when he grew up, so every year he comes back to the park to hang out with them.  We assured him that he could have all he wanted to eat from the Geran’s bird feeder, and if he wanted to migrate north, Cailyn has a feeder in Santa Fe as well. 

 

Now … Chris found a new, uncharted site for us to visit.  It was called Sego Canyon.  You have probably never heard of this one.  It was supposed to have some ancient Indian graffiti on the cliff face.  Sounded interesting, so we decided to take a look.  Only the directions were strange.  The instruction Chris found online was something like, “Go through the town and past the railroad tracks …”  No address was given for Google Siri to look up.  And the final instruction he did give was, “Be prepared to park your car.  You will have to walk to your destination.”  Well, OK then.  We took the exit and started off.  Right away we could sense that this was something very strange.  We did find the town, but there was not a human being in site.  Well, except for the fake kid sitting on the side of the road.  And across the street from him was a sign that said simply, “Slow Down.”  We did.  As the road continued, it got progressively worse and worse.  Potholes everywhere.  Maybe 25 mph was as fast as you dared go.  And then there were the very deep dips in the road for water to pass through during the rainy season, I guess.  Chris drove about 2 mph through them.  Still heard the front bumper groan a bit.  We did see some Indian graffiti, though.  Very clear on the cliff face.  Now, according to Chris’ now-somewhat questionable online source, there was also a ghost town about five miles up that nearly impassable, now-dirt road.  Nope.  That ghost town with the creepy little kid directing traffic was enough for me.  Chris managed a back-up turn-around, and we were out of there.  I did wave to the kid as we left.  Even took his picture.  Hey.  Gotta keep the locals happy.  We rated this little side excursion right up there with Coon Dog Cemetery in Alabama.  First side trip ever to earn that distinction.

 

We finally made it back to the freeway and headed west.  Chris loved the 80 mph speed limit.  She did have to borrow my cap to fight the sun, though.  She was just a bit too short for the visor to do any good.  We made it into Lehi, Utah around seven and checked into our hotel.  We have two free nights there.  And after we checked in, we could see why.  The room was nice enough, I guess.  But  it felt like this one was a victim of time and maybe bad luck placement.  I guess it'll be OK for just two night, though, so we can check out Temple Square and a few other places around Salt Lake City (Like the Salt Lake).  We also have a few friends around here we hope to say hi to as well.

 

Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

 

Father, thank you for driving with us through that eerie excursion.  And through yet another mountain pass.  Amen.