RV-Dreams Journal

Devil's Garden Trail - (Moab, UT)

Well, today was the day to take Karen & Jay on their longest hike.  We tried to ease them in to prepare for this one.  :)

The Devil's Garden Trail is the longest and best hike in Arches National Park.  The main trail from end-to-end is 5 miles roundtrip.  If you take the two side trails to four additional arches, it is 6.3 miles.  And if you take the difficult Primitive Loop on the way back, the trail is 7.2 miles.

We chose to do the 6.3 mile option as we didn't think our guests were quite ready for the Primitive Loop.  Of course, walking from the cabin to the trailhead and back probably made our entire walk at least 7 miles today.

Our Calgary friends Steve & Esther joined us for today's hike.  Here we are on our way to the trailhead.

Entering the trail through the fins.

Not very far into the trail is the first side spur to Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch.

This is Tunnel Arch along with a smaller arch to the left.

Then it was on to Pine Tree Arch.

There are far more junipers in the park than pine trees.  But there is a concentration of pines in the cove by this arch.

Back on the main trail.

About eight tenths of a mile into the trail is Landscape Arch, one of the longest (THE longest according to some) natural arch in the world at 306 feet.

The above photo also includes a distant view of Partition Arch on the far right.

Esther took a shot of the four of us at one of the Landscape Arch viewpoints.

A sixty foot section at the arch's thinnest point fell in 1991.  It is one of the most visited arches and it may not be around much longer.

One more shot before we moved on.  :)

Moving on, we had to climb up through the fins.

See the little people in the middle?  :)

We didn't remember that from last year.  Soon, it was apparent why.

This is where Wall Arch fell last year.  See where it broke off?

The arch fell and the rubble blocked the lower trail from last year.  So now they have re-routed the trail on the opposite side of the arch.

Here is our photo of Wall Arch from last year.

The trail passed below the arch on the other side.

This year, the trail climbs over the fins you can see through the arch in the above photo.

Here is the view as we climbed past the fallen arch.

It was quite an accomplishment for our guests to make that climb.

Soon after reaching the top of the fins, we took the second side spur to Navajo Arch and Partition Arch.

This is Navajo Arch.

After that, we moved on to Partition Arch, one of our favorites.

The views are incredible and it's a great place to sit.  The six of us had lunch and, surprisingly, we had it to ourselves for several minutes.

Well, we weren't quite alone.  This chipmunk was hanging around in case we dropped anything.  :)

As others moved in, we didn't want to be "Arch Hogs", so we headed on back to the main trail.  Soon, we approached the fin ridge overlooking Fin Canyon.

Going over the fin with steep drop-offs on both sides was scary for me last year.  But this year, I was a lot more comfortable.  :)

Admiring the views.  :)

Karen & Jay were troopers while crossing over the narrow ridge.  :)

Once over the fins, we made a brief stop at the Black Arch overlook.

I finally got a photo of everyone ....

with Black Arch in the background on the left.

Continuing on the main trail with another great view in front of us.

Another small arch in the distance.

Then we turned to Double O Arch.

Here's a view of Dark Angel through the smaller "O".

But the real beauty of Double O isn't seen unless you scramble up through the smaller "O" and get behind the arch.  Then, you really have some views.  :)

After Double O, we headed out toward Dark Angel.  But we took a detour that only a few people know about.

In our secret place are some very nice petroglyph panels.

We only disclose the location to a few people that ask us about rock art.  We have to be pretty confident that they will not harm the area.

After admiring the petroglyphs for awhile, we headed back toward the main trail.

That was as far as we would go, so we started our return trip and I put the camera away.

It was a great hike with lots of variety in terrain and scenery.  It included a dozen or so arches, but you have to know where to look for some of them.  :)

Everyone enjoyed the hike, but we were all tired and ready to get out of our hiking boots by the time we reached the cabin.  :)

Linda whipped up some dinner and I grilled some chicken breasts.  Once re-nourished, we played cards for little while.

Robbie & Alice came by after 8:00 to do a quick switchover.  It was their last day on duty as the park has hired a full-time employee to be a campground host from the RV site for the summer.  We're not sure exactly how that is going to work.  :)

We'll certainly miss Robbie & Alice, especially since they really have gotten the system down now.  :)

Now we have to train the new guy, Tim, starting tomorrow.  Tim dropped by and introduced himself during our switchover meeting.  He is a full-timer with a large Prairie Schooner fifth wheel.  He has been taking seasonal national park positions for a few years now.

Well, I'll be on my own tomorrow for awhile.  Linda is joining Jay & Karen for their guided Fiery Furnace walk in the morning.

So back on duty with the additional challenges of starting out by myself and doing some training.  But I think I can handle it.  :)

 

 

 

 

March Financial Summary

March 2009 Results

Campground Fees $0.00 (0.00 per day) - Budget $0.00

No campground fees for March while campground hosts for Arches National Park. 

RV Clubs $0.00 - Budget $0.00

RV Insurance $0.00 - Budget $0.00

Propane $39.73 - Budget $40.00

Cell Phones $85.12 - Budget $90.00

Satellite Internet $0.00 - Budget $0.00

Note:  Satellite internet is not included in our regular expenses.  We now classify it as a business expense.  We paid $798 in December 2008 for all of 2009. 

RV Taxes/Registration $503.69 - Budget $550.00

Satellite TV $84.34 - Budget $85.00

RV Maintenance $0.00 - Budget $50.00

Diesel $0.00 - Budget $0.00

We drove the truck 100 miles in March.  Two round trips to Moab from the Devil's Garden Campground while the Jeep was having a lift installed.

Gas $84.88 - Budget $150.00

We drove the Jeep 1,068 miles in March doing local exploring and making a couple trips to Grand Junction, CO to the airport for Linda's sister's visit.

Truck Maintenance $0.00 - Budget $35.00

Jeep Maintenance $109.90 - Budget $20.00

Oil change and alignment after getting a lift kit installed.

Truck Insurance $736.89 - Budget $700.00

Jeep Insurance $0.00 - Budget $0.00

Truck Taxes/Registration $323.04 - Budget $550.00

Jeep Taxes/Registration $0.00 - Budget $0.00

Groceries & Dining Out $213.23 ($6.88 per day) - Budget $450.00

Our Groceries & Dining Out budget for 2009 is the same as for 2008.  It's based on $12 per day per month for groceries PLUS $90 for dining out. 

However, we are trying an experiment.  Since groceries are so expensive in Moab where we are workamping for March/April, we stocked up on non-perishables while in Cottonwood, Arizona in February.  We were under budget in March by $237 which offsets our over budget in February of $183 by over $50.  Hopefully, we will be under budget in April as well making it a successful experiment.  :) 

Laundry, Clothing, Hair Care $36.50 - Budget $75.00

Entertainment $127.33 ($4.11 per day) - Budget $200.00

Insurance - Health, Life, Umbrella, Etc. $323.07 - Budget $400.00

Monthly health insurance premium and annual $1 Million umbrella policy.

Medical & Dental Expenses $192.00 - Budget $50.00

Dental cleanings for 2009.

Miscellaneous $18.00 - Budget $150.00

Emergencies/Budget Cushion $807.51 - Budget $300.00

Had a lift kit installed on the Jeep.  It was one of the things we actually anticipated for this category sometime this year.

Totals $2,877.72 ($95.92 per day) for normal living expenses - Budget $3,595.00

Totals with Emergencies/Budget Cushion $3,685.23 - Budget $3,895.00.

We were $717 under budget in normal living expenses and $210 under in total even with the big Jeep lift kit expense.  A great month.  :)

For a look at the numbers through March 2009, go to Our 2009 Actual Expenses. To see our budget month-by-month click on Our 2009 Budget.

On the business side, we had net profit of $467.  That was a pretty good month and put us well into the black for the year.

Our business income & expense summary statement is available at Our 2009 Business Financial Summary page.

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Corona Arch Trail, Dead Horse Point State Park, & Island In The Sky - (Moab, UT)

As promised, we were back to outdoor adventure with lots of pictures.  :)

We took advantage of the free breakfast at the hotel, then checked out around 10:00 a.m.

It was a cold morning, but there was almost no wind to start.  We decided to go ahead and tackle our longest hike of the day - the Corona Arch Trail.

Corona Arch Trail

This is one of our favorite hikes from last year.  The trailhead is about four miles from Hwy 191 on Potash Road (Hwy 279).  The first part, from the parking area up to a railroad bed, is the steepest elevation increase.

As we continued on, there were some great views of the Colorado River behind us.

Well, there were just great views everywhere as we moved along through the middle (and easiest) part of the hike.

We eventually came to this little section where there is a cable to hang onto if the narrow, slanted trail makes you uncomfortable.

Just past that point, both Bowtie Arch (left) and Corona Arch came into view across a canyon.  We let Jay & Karen discover them on their own.  :)

To go around the canyon to get to the arches, we had to traverse a section where there was a steep uphill climb aided by foot holds in the rocks and another cable for assistance.

Once that is negotiated, there is a small ladder to climb.

After that, it's a pretty easy walk around the canyon over to Bowtie Arch which is pretty impressive by itself.

But the main quest is the massive and beautiful Corona Arch.

You can barely see Linda & Karen standing under the center of the arch in the above photo.

Here, Karen stands alone under a portion of the arch with the red rocks seemingly looking on behind her.

This year, feeling much more sure-footed on the sandstone, I climbed up behind the arch for photos I didn't get last year.

The deep canyon beyond the arch was pretty cool as well.

I finally scrambled back down to the others.  We had several minutes with no one else around to enjoy the peaceful, dramatic surroundings.

Then we headed back toward the parking area.

I took this shot of Jay & the girls approaching the small ladder which is anchored to this little tree.

After everyone got down the ladder and the steep spot with the cable, ....

I had the three of them pose one more time with Corona Arch in the background.

Before going much farther, Karen & Linda decided this alcove would be a great place to rest and take on a little water.

They got pretty comfortable on the warm rocks, and Jay & I weren't sure if we were going to get them out of there.  :)

As we walked back, we were surprised to find this Claret Cup Cactus in bloom.

One last pic of our hike as we got closer to the river and the parking area.

So there you have it for the start of our day.  That was a three mile roundtrip hike.  For all the photos of this hike, click on 2009 Corona Arch Trail Slideshow.

From there, we drove past Arches on Hwy 191 a few miles and then turned left.  About 18 miles later, we arrived at Dead Horse Point State Park for the second part of today's tour.

Dead Horse Point State Park

As soon as you step out of the car at Dead Horse Point State Park, you are treated to incredible views of the surrounding canyons right at the visitors center.

With the winds picking up and it being pretty darn cold on the canyon rim, we didn't take too much time before getting inside.  Just like last year, the ranger waived our entrance fee since we are volunteers at Arches.

By the way, click on the state park link above for the story of how this park got its name.  :)

We did some browsing in the visitors center around the many displays.  But it wasn't long before we were back on the park road headed to the main attraction - Dead Horse Point.

From an observation deck, I took this photo of Linda & Karen as they looked over the wall at one of the most famous views in Utah.

This bend of the Colorado River 2,000 feet below the viewpoint (which is 6,000 feet), is highly photographed for good reason.

I was happy to keep snapping shots as the sun went in and out of the clouds and the shadows kept changing.

There were plenty of views to capture, and we documented the visit of Jay & Karen with some nice background scenery.  :)

Whew, it was cold!  We hustled back to the Jeep.

For more, click on the 2009 Dead Horse Point State Park Slideshow.

From Dead Horse, we moved on to Canyonlands National Park.  The Island In The Sky District is about eleven miles from the state park.

Island In The Sky, Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands National Park is a vast national park with three different districts and three separate entrances.

The Island In The Sky District happens to be the most convenient to Moab and provides a great opportunity to visit both the state park and the national park in the same day.

There is lots to do at Island In The Sky, but today we just hit a few of the highlights.

We started by stopping at the Shafer Trail/Shafer Canyon Overlook.

Shafer Trail is a dirt road of about 5 miles with hair-raising switchbacks down into the canyon.  It connects with the unpaved part of Potash Road so you can drive a scenic back way to Moab.  Linda & I drove it last year and it was wonderful, but we passed this time.  :)

One more look from near the parking area out at some folks on the viewpoint.

It's a shame the La Sal Mountains in the distance were hiding in the clouds today.  :)

We then made a stop and walked the half-mile Mesa Arch Loop.  Mesa Arch may not be as impressive as some other arches at first glance ....

but the location on the edge of a cliff makes for a pretty darn good view.  :)

No standing under that one.  :)

One last angle before moving on.

Then it was on to the Green River Overlook.  The Green River and the Colorado carved these deep canyons and they meet within Canyonlands at The Confluence.

It wasn't the best time of the day for photos at the Green River Overlook, but that didn't stop me.  :)

I did maneuver into position to get a pretty good dead tree photo for the day.  :)

Though we skipped some of the things we did at Island In The Sky last year, we did head out to Grand View Point which we missed during our prior visit.  Oh boy, did we miss out.  :)

The views from Grand View Point are nothing short of spectacular!

The wind left us alone at this stop, and we stood and looked in awe at the carved canyons and spires within.

It was a fantastic way to end today's tour.  :)

For all of today's pics at Island In The Sky click on the 2009 Island In The Sky Slideshow.

 

Well, we certainly made the most of our day.  We walked Karen & Jay about five miles or so and had them in and out of the Jeep quite a few times.

We made the lovely drive back toward Moab and had the gorgeous, early evening jaunt through Arches to the campground.

Once home, Karen & Linda whipped up some side dishes while I grilled some burgers.  After that, we played cards for a little while before calling it a night.

Everyone needs their rest as we have more adventures tomorrow.  :)

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Hunkered Down In Town - (Moab, UT)

As soon as Linda heard the forecast of high winds two days ago, she started freaking out about it.  So, the solution was get two adjoining hotel rooms in town for today.

Our guests wouldn't have to sleep in a rockin' and rollin' trailer.  We could put the satellite dish down and pull in the slides giving Linda a little extra peace.  And we could watch the NCAA basketball games without fear of a power loss.  :)

So we filled up the Jeep with snacks and hiking gear (for tomorrow's hike outside the park), and headed to the Moab Comfort Suites.  Our 11:30 arrival was perfect to get ready for the 12:20 Louisville vs. Michigan State game.

I was optimistic about a Louisville win, but I was also very cautious not to get too confident.  I had seen some pretty bad performances during the year, and the big win over Arizona on Friday was a bad sign - I was sensing over-confidence from the players.  The coach was sensing it too when he said "I think the lack of humility is the greatest killer of potential."

We re-arranged the furniture a little in Karen & Jay's room to make a nice game-watching environment complete with snacks.  And the game began.

It was nip and tuck for awhile, but it became clear early that Louisville was in trouble.  I was seeing the same pattern that I saw in their worst losses during the year.  It was a team that never handled real adversity well, and their lack of mental toughness was showing.

Even though I am one of those "It ain't over 'til it's over" guys, I knew this one was over about mid-way through the second half.  Michigan State out-played, out-hustled, and out-coached Louisville.  They deserved the win.  So I was the one that was bummed out.  :)

But at least Jay & Karen were happy.  :)

After the game, we braved the wind and sand blowing around Moab to go to Zax Pizza & Watering Hole.  Linda quickly suggested that "winners pay".  Jay happily agreed.  As our guests, he was trying really hard not to gloat even though we told him it was quite all right.  And by paying for dinner, he got additional gloating rights.  :)

After our early dinner, Linda finished up the laundry she had started earlier at the hotel.  The hotel machines were lousy, so she completed the task at the laundromat next door.

I watched the amazing Tiger Woods make a sixteen foot putt in the dark on the last hole to win his first tournament since coming back from knee surgery.  I feel privileged to be around during his career.  Talk about mental toughness.  :)

Later, we played cards in our room.  The girls beat the guys in Euchre three out of four rounds.  My only bragging rights for the day came when the boys skunked the girls in our only win.  Still, that didn't make me feel much better.  :)

But basketball aside, we had a great day and it was nice to not have to worry about the blustery weather.  And we didn't feel the cold that came with the late-night snow flurries.

Ah, but tomorrow we'll be back to outdoor adventure and more pictures.  Until then.  :)

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Delicate Arch Trail - (Moab, UT)

It was a very leisurely morning.  Our plan was simply to head out sometime around 10:00 a.m. and do the Delicate Arch Trail.

Linda had done a good job of preparing Karen & Jay for hiking.  They bought hiking boots and had been wearing them a little before they got here to break them in and get used to them.  They knew to bring layers of clothes for the variety of temperatures.

I dug out a couple of backpacks and hiking poles, and Linda did the tutoring on the use of the hiking poles.

Soon, we were off.  We made a quick stop at Sand Dune Arch since the crowds had not yet built up, and it's a short hike from the main road into the fins.

After that, we drove on to the Delicate Arch Trailhead.  We knew it would be crowded on a Saturday and the main parking lot was already full.  But it just gets more and more crowded as the day goes on and the lighting gets better for pictures.

We definitely wanted Karen & Jay to see Delicate Arch.  But we also wanted to start them out relatively slow.  This is a mile and a half trail at pretty much a 45-degree angle all up hill.

Here are my fellow hikers at the trailhead and our destination is at the top of the slickrock to the right.

Not far into the trail are the remnants of the Wolfe Ranch homestead.

John Wesley Wolfe and his son settled here in the Salt Valley in the late 1800s.  There was enough grass and water for a few cattle.

Beyond the ranch, is a nice panel of petroglyphs.

The panel is on the dark rock above Linda's head.  This is said to be Ute Indian rock art.  Because it depicts men on horses and horses weren't introduced until after 1540, this rock art is "younger" than much of the Anasazi rock art in the area which may be 1,000 years older.

After the petroglyphs, the long uphill climb begins.  The park brochure doesn't list the difficulty of this hike - easy, moderate, or strenuous - but another publication we have calls it "strenuous".  Lots of people take this hike not really knowing what they are getting into.  :)

Here is a shot of the little "ants" going up the slickrock on the right.

On the hike up, there are some nice views of alcoves ...

and Salt Valley behind us.

It is a completely exposed hike and would be rough in the heat of summer and during high winds.

Nearing the top, there are great views of rock formations and a couple of arches.

I went ahead to get a shot of Linda, Karen, & Jay hiking along the ledge just prior to coming into the Delicate Arch natural ampitheater.

You can see Delicate Arch from the bottom of the trail, but you just can't tell it's an arch due to the angle.  So its magnificence is hidden until you walk around the corner and there it is.  :)

It is such a dramatic effect.  And it's fun just to sit and watch peoples' faces as the arch comes into view for the first time.

As with everything here, the photos don't do it justice.

We just sat and took it in for several minutes.  Karen, Jay, & Linda walked down for a photo under the arch.

I zoomed in.  The arch sits on the edge of a sheer cliff and the drop-off right behind them is more than I can take.  :)

With the three of them back up on the safety of the rocks with me, we took the opportunity to pose for some pics.

These next two shots show the natural ampitheater for viewing Delicate Arch.

As you can see, the views looking away from the arch aren't bad either.  :)

We eventually headed back down.  This is a little different perspective of the ledge just before the arch viewing area.

It's a much easier hike on the way down, but by the time we finished our three-mile roundtrip, both Karen & Jay were done with the hiking for the day.  :)

We decided just to take them to the Delicate Arch Viewpoint where folks who can't do the hike can at least see the arch from a distance.  From the parking area, there are actually two viewpoints.

One requires another hike uphill to get a little closer, and then there is this one where it is just a short, flat walk from the parking lot.

It's a very distant view, but with a good zoom or some binoculars, you can get a good look.

What you can't see is the very deep canyon between the ridge in the foreground and the arch on the other side.  :)

For more photos from both Delicate Arch viewpoints, check out the Arches National Park Visitors Center & Afternoon Drive Slideshow from last March.

And for more photos of Delicate Arch and the Delicate Arch Trail when the lighting was a little better, click on our March 2008 Delicate Arch Trail Slideshow.  It has a couple of different perspectives including some shots of Delicate Arch from a window just before the main viewing area.  Pretty cool.  :)

The lighting on the arch is much better for photography later in the day and the crowds swell.  Today, we wanted to get up there before it got crazy.  :)

After the Delicate Arch Viewpoint, we called it a day.  We went back to the cabin for a late lunch, basketball, and naps.  I think we all got a little shut-eye.  :)

Strangely, along with Louisville playing Michigan State tomorrow for a trip to the men's Final Four, both the Louisville and Michigan State women's teams were playing on TV today for a trip to the ladies' Elite Eight.  So, in addition to watching the two mens' regional semi-finals, we also watched the women play.

Louisville managed to pull off a slight upset for their first ever trip to the womens' Elite Eight while Michigan State gave away a late lead to lose by one at the end of their game to a higher seeded team.  Bummer.  Of course the Connecticut women are so strong, I think everyone else is playing for second place anyway.  :)

Linda grilled some shrimp and veggies and we had a relaxing evening chatting and looking at the days' pictures.  With the clear sky and no wind, we decided to have a campfire out under the stars.

It was a perfect night for a fire, but we didn't stick it out for long.  Our beds were calling and we didn't put up much resistance.  :)

Tomorrow there is a wind advisory with sustained winds of 20-30 mph and gusts from 45-55 mph.  Ah, but we have a plan.  Guess you'll have to check back to see how that works out.  :)

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Karen & Jay Arrive - (Moab, UT)

We got a good night's sleep.  We were up pretty early as Linda put on a crockpot of soup or stew or whatever it is.  :)

It was our coldest morning yet at 18 degrees.  Brrrrr.

But it promised to be a clear day.  We were able to use the crockpot here last year with no problem, but we were a bit wary this time even with a full day of sunshine.

The day was planned out and timed pretty well for the pick-up of Karen & Jay in Grand Junction.  Based on my calculations, we would not be back before the NCAA games started around 5:00.  So I set the DVR to record the first game which was Louisville vs. Arizona.

We headed out around 8:45 and drove up Hwy 128 along the Colorado River.  It's a beautiful drive and another one we never get tired of.

We arrived at the Grand Junction Walmart a little after 11:00.  We picked up a few items and stocked up for our visitors.

We made the airport right at pick-up time at 12:30.  We parked, went inside, Karen & Jay came down the escalator, we picked up their bags, and we were back in the Jeep by 12:45.

Of course it was almost 3:00 Florida time, and the new arrivals were hungry.  We hit the local Applebee's before jumping back on I-70 west.

We picked up Hwy 128 again and headed toward Moab through the Colorado River canyon.  With the high red rock walls, it's much different than anything in Florida.  :)

We made a brief stop at Fisher Towers.  Here is a link to our Scenic Hwy 128 & Fisher Towers entry from last year.  :)

We didn't hike.  Didn't think our guests, who got up at 4:00 a.m. for their travels, would be up for hiking on their first day.  :)

We made it back to Moab and stopped at the visitors center.  We wanted Karen & Jay to view the park movie to get an idea of how this area was formed.

We then headed into the park and did a driving tour on our way back to the campground.  As Jay says, the pictures just don't do it justice and there is nothing like seeing this place in person.

Linda walked into the cabin.  Uh oh.  No electricity.  Aaaaaaahhhhhh!

That meant the Louisville game hadn't been taping!  Oh boy, I was NOT happy.  I quickly rushed into the fifth wheel, threw on the inverter, waited for the DVR to reboot, and flipped on the bedroom TV.

This was the conversation with myself in my head:

"What's the score?  What's the score?  What's the score?  Oh, it's halftime.  And Louisville is up by ..... 21 points?  What?  Really?  Oh, I feel pretty good about that.  Sure would have liked to have seen how they got there.  Whew."

I rushed over to turn on the generator so we could get the games in the cabin.  Miraculously, it worked.  Otherwise, four of us would have been piled on the bed in the trailer watching the little TV.  :)

Back in the cabin, Linda served up dinner while Jay & I hit the recliners.  Louisville quickly increased their lead and the network switched off their game.  I certainly wasn't expecting a 39-point victory, but I'll take it.  :)

We then settled in to watch the Michigan State/Kansas game.  Jay is a Michigan State grad and the winner of that game plays Louisville on Sunday.  So we were all rooting for the Spartans.

It was the closest game of the day.  The Spartans were down by five with two minutes to go, but somehow managed to pull out a win.  Now we're set for an intra-family rivalry game on Sunday afternoon.  Somebody is going to be bummed out Sunday night.  :)

We made our plans for tomorrow.  And since Jay & Karen are staying in the fifth wheel while they are here, Linda gave them a quick run-through on the electrical and water system.  We probably need to write it all down - push this button, don't push this button, leave this one on, make sure this one is off.  :)

Hopefully, we'll all sleep well and can get to exploring tomorrow.  I think we are all excited about being here together.  :)

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Early Start, Hectic Morning, Light Afternoon & Evening - (Moab, UT)

So, from yesterday you know we were up at 4:00 a.m. dealing with some loud, drunk campers.

As soon as the chief law enforcement officer for the park came on duty around 7:30, I called her to report the incident and to see what we should have done differently.

She said there was no question that we are to call the sheriff's office in those situations no matter what.  I had a feeling that would be her answer.  :)

She decided to drive up to the campground to get more details and to figure out the next course of action.  She arrived at the same time a camper was coming up our side walk to present us with a "petition" from other campers to have the late night offenders kicked out of the campground.  I was hoping she would go have a chat so the surrounding campers could at least see that we didn't just ignore the whole thing.

It seems many folks were willing to sign a formal complaint.  As it turns out, that wasn't necessary as our obnoxious young campers admitted their actions and received a citation.  Oh, but the story didn't end there.

As our law enforcement officer/ranger was running their license plate and driver's licenses, the sheriff's office radioed back that our drunk young man had a warrant out for his arrest in a small town elsewhere in Utah.  Well, that complicated things a bit.

The ranger had them pack up their stuff while she waited for information confirming the warrant was valid and that the other Utah county was willing to extradite.  It was valid and they were willing to extradite.

She told our folks she would follow them out of the park.  As far as they knew, they were just being cited and kicked out.  But there was a behind-the-scenes coordinated effort to have them intercepted by a county deputy to make an arrest.  I don't know for sure, but from what we heard, the outstanding warrant was for a parole violation related to alcohol.  Imagine that.

At any rate, a night of drinking and disturbing our campground ended up with a trip to the slammer for one of them.  But I'm sure all they fun he had was worth it.  :)

Throughout the morning, while all that was going on, we had a little rain, a little sleet, and a little snow.  The temperature fell and the winds picked up.  It never got above forty the rest of the day.

Due to the weather, rather than "selling out" of campsites at the front early, people kept coming in on a staggered basis.  And some folks left the campground early.  We had quite the task figuring out who was in, who was out, and who was on the way.  Some of the people with envelopes from the front apparently decided not to camp after all, so we were short on the numbers we expected.  Then we had to make executive decisions as to when to offer the open sites to walk-ins.

Also, Esther & Steve, our Calgary friends we met in Benson, AZ earlier this year, arrived.  We had a nice spot picked out for them.  Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to chat.  :)

We also had to track down some campers for a message.  We allowed another lady that couldn't get cell service call to check on her friends who were late returning from town.  And we provided RV repair information to a guy whose jack on his pop-up camper failed.

That was the guy who had a site reserved last night where five guys "squatted" with tents.  As you may recall from yesterday, they were warned he might come in.  Well, he came in - his trip took him five hours longer than he thought it would.  Fortunately, he was a good sport, and his family and the five guys all shared the site for the evening.  That easily could have been another knock on the door in the middle of the night.  :) 

It was a crazy morning.  I had to make several rounds through the campground and with the wind and dropping temperatures, it was the coldest day since we've been here.  I dreaded getting on that golf cart.  :)

Then, our new delivery of wood showed up.  We had asked for it to be delivered Friday or Saturday, but it arrived this morning in the middle of everything else.  :)

Finally, somewhere between 1:00 and 2:00, things calmed down.  It just seemed like a good time for a fire, so we got one started and kept it going until about 7:00.  :)

During that time, we just gave out a few sites and sold some firewood.

Our boss, Annie, sent us a City Market gift card for our efforts - that was really sweet.  :)  Later, she called to say she had a meeting and the solar situation for us camphosts was a top priority.  Soon, they would be sending a solar expert to look at everything.  Nice.

Esther & Steve and Robbie & Alice came down to the cabin.  It turned out to be too windy to sit around the fire, so everyone came inside.  I watched basketball and sort of listened to the conversations.  I was feeling a bit zombie-like, but I tried not to show it too much.  :)

Eventually, Robbie & Alice took over.  They are working the next five days as Linda's sister Karen arrives tomorrow.  We've taken two of their days, so they could work two of ours this weekend.  It's great to work with folks that are flexible for each other.  Thanks guys!  :)

Linda enjoyed some wine with Esther & Steve, and we offered tips of things to do while they are here.  By the time they departed, there were no clouds, the stars were out in force, and the wind had died down.

It's supposed to be cool, but very pretty over the next few days.  And that's great news for Karen & Jay - a couple of Florida flat-landers coming to this area for the first time.  We are really excited to show them around.  But we'll have to go slow to get them used to the altitude.  :)

Well, as you can imagine, we're really tired.  And we have to get up early to drive to the airport in Grand Junction, CO to pick up our guests.  So, good night all - hope no one's sleep gets interrupted tonight.  :)

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The Dreaded Late Night Knock On The Door - (Moab, UT)

So we went through the usual routine.  Nothing tricky or out of the ordinary this morning.

During the day, a few sites left early.  But those were snatched up pretty quickly.

Around noon, we got a call from the visitors center that we needed to notify one of our sites of a "medical emergency with an infant at home".  Of course, those folks weren't at the campsite, when Linda went looking for them.

But I noticed their vehicle pass the cabin shortly thereafter and I chased them down at their site.  Apparently, someone back home was pregnant and expecting a baby any day.

I picked up the grandma in the golf cart and drove her to the top of the hill in the campground where most people can get cell service.  However, her service wouldn't work.  So I hauled to the cabin so she could use our phone.

Turns out it wasn't an emergency at all.  The new mom had just gone to the hospital and they were notifying everyone.  In fact, the grandma, after getting the pertinent details, followed up with "So what do you want me to do from here?"  The way she said it was just kind of funny to me.  :)

Right after that, we loaned out a phone book as a camper that just came in threw her back out.  The family had to rush her into Moab to a Chiropractor.  They had just paid for three nights, but had to go home.  Bummer.

Let's see.  We let someone use our hatchet to chop up some kindling.  And we loaned out our small inverter for someone to charge their camera battery.

Other than that, things were pretty calm.  We just answered the question "What's the weather going to be (choose one: this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow, over the next few days, or on our way home)?"  :)

We answer the weather questions over and over and over, usually with "You just never know, things change daily".  When we point them to the forecasts posted at both camphost sites, then it's "How current is this?" and "Do you really think it will be that way?"

Of course, our favorites are "Is it always this windy?" and "How long do you think it will stay like this?"  :)

We made it into the evening and checked in a family that had reserved eight sites all together for a family reunion.  Nice folks.

We called three more sites into the front late in the afternoon and they were given out before closing time.  Two of the three showed up, and we ended up turning people away waiting for the third one.  The third one never came, so we handed out our last site at about 8:00 p.m. to three people that had to scrounge up $20 to stay.

I did my "generator walk" around 8:20 and all was very quiet.  The big family was sitting in one site singing around the campfire, and my twenty college students were very well behaved.

I did a 10:00 p.m. "quiet hours walk" as well.  I don't always do those, but I wanted to make sure our family had broken up and that our college students were still quiet.  I had just a few people talking in normal voices that seemed loud in the silence, so I just requested that they keep it down.

Then I found a group of five guys that came in and set up in one of our reserved sites.  I collected money from them and told them the site was reserved.  The reserving party hadn't shown up the first two days of the reservation, but we had talked to him on the phone and said he was coming.  It was 10:30 at night and I didn't think he was still going to show up, but I warned them they might get kicked out.

All was good, or so we thought.

We were winding down and finally went to bed.

Then, it was the dreaded knock on the door .... at 4:00 a.m.  And it was not due to the five guys in the reserved site.

Oh no.  Here was the deal according to the reporting party.

Two people were drunk, stuck up on the rocks (they dropped their flashlight), arguing and yelling profanities.  Apparently that had been going on for several hours, but no one came to let us know until 4:00 a.m.

I quickly got dressed and Linda & I tried to determine whether a call to the sheriff's office was necessary.  If we call, we get cops with lights and wake up the entire campground.  Plus, everything could be resolved by the time they arrived.

I decided to drive down and assess the situation to determine whether or not to make a call.  If they were in fact "stuck" I would definitely get search & rescue out and if they were loud and profane, I would definitely call the sheriff.

I had a feeling I knew who my culprits were - the three people that had to scrounge up money to get our last site.  Sure enough.

By the time I got there, the third person in the site had the couple down from the rocks and they were quiet.  He was trying to get things calmed down.  I asked the drunk guy to sit in their car and went back out to find the girl.  With no light, she was just standing by herself out in the dark.

We found her and got her back to the vehicle.  They were cooperative and apologetic.  I left them to sleep it off.

I got their vehicle information and description in case they bugged out.  As long as they stayed put and nothing else happened, I would just call law enforcement in the morning.

Well, it's morning, I'm still awake and needless to say, I'm still not a happy camphost as I type this.  Law enforcement is on their way.  More to come later.  :)

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The Arches Camphosting Saga Continues - (Moab, UT)

We pulled the camper tickets for those leaving today.  Then, it took longer for the campground to fill than usual.  We only gave out six sites this morning and it took until 8:30 a.m. to fill them.  :)

It was a really big wood gathering day.  We should be set for the rest of the time we are here.  :)

I had to do some shuffling this morning.  We had a father/son that had one site reserved last night, a different site reserved tonight, and no reservation for the third night.  Rather than have them move twice, I moved them into a non-reserved site of their choice for their last two nights.  That's why we always hold back a couple of sites.  But it freed up a reserved site for one night.

Back at the cabin, the head of maintenance popped in to check on our solar issues.  He is not a solar guy.  He told me his solar person retired and he is trying to hire another one.

He went in search of the mystery fuse that we couldn't find yesterday and he couldn't find it either.  It exists on the comfort stations, but not here at the cabin.

Through trial and error, he finally found a breaker out in our back yard away from the solar shed that has to be on when the generator is on.  He hadn't know about that either.  :)

Apparently, when we were running the generator before, we were getting nothing in and the solar was charging the batteries to the point where the electricity was working.  I hadn't checked the monitors to verify the generator was working since I just took their word for it that it was, and Robbie confirmed it was working for their part of the system.

So that problem is now worked out.  But it still doesn't help the underlying issue of the batteries not holding their charge for more than one day when the sun doesn't shine.

It was pretty quiet until early afternoon.  Then we had one of our reservations arrive.

We have four sites together that are sort of out in the open.  All of them have limited space to set up tents among the desert vegetation.  And they are angled in such a way that tents set up at the back of each site actually look like they are set up in the other sites.  If all four sites have tents, somebody will be squeezed.

Our new arrival had one of those sites and there was no place to set up the very large tent for the family of four.  Fortunately, we had a site leave early and they notified me this morning.  I had forgotten to pull the ticket out of the box, so none of our walk-ins had taken it.

We moved our family to the vacated site and everyone was very happy.  Shortly thereafter, we were full and we started turning folks away.

More quiet for a little while longer.  Then seven vehicles all pulled in at once.  We had noticed two sites that were reserved under the same name and each were reserved for the maximum of ten people.  One site was reserved for two nights and the other site just for one night.  Linda deduced that they were going to want a second night, so she accounted for that in our numbers to call in.

Now, these seven vehicles and twenty people were from a university in Colorado.  They had tried to rent vans, but the rental agency ran out of vans and they had to rent multiple vehicles.

The next issue was that the two sites they had reserved were completely different.  One is one of the best sites we have here in the campground and the other is one of the worst ... right next to the dumpsters.  So it was like the Indy 500 as the seven cars raced to see who could get the better site.

Apparently, they were pretty excited and loud and doing what college students do.  As soon as I made my next round, I got complaints about the new arrivals.  I went and talked to them like adults and asked for their cooperation.

They actually were pretty good considering the size of the group.  Of course, ten of them still needed a site for the next night, so they knew they needed to make me happy.  :)

I offered one of the complaining parties in the site right next to the students the opportunity to move into another site tomorrow.  I could then move the second group of students right next to the group that had reservations for two nights.  That would eliminate a lot of the walking back and forth between sites and the complaining family could move to a quieter location.

The family mulled everything over for a few hours and decided to move, then not move, then move when I offered them a really good site that came open.  Sheesh.

All this time, I'm selling wood off the golf cart (sold eleven bundles in two trips), and checking people in.  Both group sites are full, otherwise I would have put all the college students in one of those.

Linda was dealing with other problems.  She was helping a lady whose four-year old daughter had fallen into a prickly pear cactus.  The little girl had cactus spines in very sensitive places.  Linda suggested a trip to the hospital in addition to tweezers and duct tape.  She told them they were welcome to come to the cabin if they didn't have enough light to see.  They never came back and I don't think they went to the hospital either.  We'll check on them in the morning.

It was almost dark and about that same time, another family with two young kids came in.  They went to their "reserved" site only to find someone in their site.  A quick review of the paperwork revealed that the mom had reserved their space for the wrong night - last night instead of tonight.  Linda felt really bad for them.

We had one reserved site that had a three-night reservation.  The people didn't show up last night and they had not yet arrived tonight.  Linda took a chance and gave the family that site with the warning that it was possible the people could still show up even though they technically forfeited their site as of 10:00 a.m. this morning.

Rather than have the people worry about being awakened, Linda made a phone call to the folks that had the site reserved.  It turns out they had a medical emergency and were not able to come.  They apologized for not calling.

During my generator walk, I told the family that they could rest easy and they would not be pushed out of the site.

We also had three other sites where the folks hadn't shown up for the first two nights of a five-night reservation.  From the paperwork, we knew two of the sites were the same family and we guessed the other one was as well.  Linda decided to call.

She learned two of those three sites were not coming at all and the third would be arriving tomorrow.  Wow.  Having the phone numbers and using them makes a big difference.

Of course, when people see a Louisville area code come up on their caller ID, sometimes they don't answer.  But after Linda leaves a message, they usually call back.  It takes away a lot of the guesswork about whether people are still going to show up or not.  And it allows us to re-rent sites when we know they aren't coming.

Whew!  It was a busy afternoon/evening.  But we weren't disturbed at all the rest of the night.

By using the golf cart to sell wood, not only do we sell more and make more money for the park, but we head off some of the late night requests for wood.  And we also answer a few of the questions that might have resulted in knocks on the door later.

Just another day in the Arches camphosting saga.  :)

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More Electrical Issues - (Moab, UT)

Well, our electricity went off at 5:00 a.m.  Nice.

I didn't want to get out of bed to start the generator (it's a mile away), so we slept in until about 8:00.  I started the generator at 8:30, but we still had no electricity.

I turned on the transfer switch in our solar shed from solar to generator - still nothing.  Clearly, the generator was not getting power to our batteries or the cabin directly.  Sometime after 9:00, the sun got high enough to charge our batteries enough for the electricity to come on.

Robbie & Alice's electric went off in the middle of the night as well.  I just happened to beat him to the generator.  We need a solar expert to come up and diagnose the system, but that will probably take mounds of government paperwork and a couple years.  :)

Linda went into Moab to do laundry, make a grocery stop, and go to a meeting with our boss, Annie, to go over needs for the camphost manuals.

She also had the opportunity to meet with the head of maintenance about the generator not creating anything for the cabin.  He handed her a couple of fuses and told her that a fuse needs to be replaced every four months or so in the solar shed.

Of course, we never found a fuse in the solar shed and we removed every panel door in there.  Sheesh.

Oh well.

Since we have switched schedules around a bit so we can have more time off when Linda's sister arrives, we were going back on duty tonight after only being off two days.

Robbie cooked spaghetti for dinner and Linda supplied some garlic bread.  We ate inside rather than at their picnic table because it was still breezy and the 70-degree temps we had enjoyed last week were gone.  We are looking at highs in the 50s and low 60s for the next few days.

Everything was quiet for the 8:00 generator run.  We had a motorhome that snuck in and parked illegally, but we got the money and left it parked in the group site parking lot rather than trying to squeeze it into a small site we had available.

No other issues for the evening, and no one else arrived looking for a site.  Hopefully, it will be an uneventful night and our electricity will stay on.  :)

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