Canyonlands

Canyonlands

We parted ways with dad and drove south to Canyonlands.  The beautiful thing about this region is the National Parks are surrounded by BLM ground, which makes off-road camping opportunities a dream. Unfortunately the pups couldn't join us on our hike to the canyon, but quite frankly their tender paws couldn't hang anyway.  We spent the eve in one of the best camp locales we have ever found in the bus.  The turn-off was designated as a camp location, but we found an isolated off-shoot that the bus could navigate.  We cracked some homemade wine and dawgs, then Ben busted out some ukelele while I struggled to strum my travel guitar warped by the cold.  This time of year is crawling with climbers and campsites are few.  Two blokes from Germany struggled late to find a spot, so we shared our campfire and exchanged stories.

The morning greeted us with a downpour of rain.  Watching the storm roll in across the desert was profound.  With the weight the bus carries, managing dirt roads is tricky; managing mud is impossible.  We tried to wait it out, but in the afternoon rain turned to hail.  So, the day was spent reading, listening to Duncan Trussell podcasts, and watching to the weather.  There were worse places to be stuck.

Newspaper Rock

Wind Tunnel

Best Campsite

Our homemade wine, aged 3 years

Assessing the situation after the storm

Red Rock Territory, Moab

Moab is one of my most favorite places on Earth.  We opted, as usual, to avoid the Interstate and take the scenic highway that curved and winded along the Colorado River.  The bus was seriously built with this drive in mind.

 My dad chose to join us for a day of hiking before heading back to snowy Wyo.  With dogs, finding the right hike in National Park Territory can be tricky, but Fisher Towers never disappoints.  Surprisingly, our pups were showing signs of burn out before we even hit the halfway point.  It was a warm 77 degrees and mid day, but later we discovered their dainty little paws were no longer conditioned to running the sandstone rock.  Poor Isla is still limping one week later.

Spot Ben

Back in the Bus! Spring in the Southwest

Ben and I have returned from our journeys to Peru and South East Asia (follow us abroad at http://seekingsouth.blogspot.com/) feeling inspired and ready to return to our wheels.  After regrouping in Wyoming for a week and exploring the possibilities of returning to the working world, we decided to hit the road and explore our favorite region in the US- the Southwest.
Unfortunately, we were hit with a road block- we opened the bus to find a chorus of squeaks.  While the wagen awaited our return, it was invaded by multiple generations of field mice.  Ben was forced to strip it back down to the bones, removing 3 nests and 27 mice.  Gross.  It was a real feat to get the bus back to it's current condition.
So, we headed down to Colorado with my pops in tow.  Temporarily retired, he is exploring possible future ventures, which for us meant exploring cider houses and orchards.

 A bonus was meeting my best gal Cass's newborn boy, Trig, and pausing at Glenwood Hot Springs.

Chugging -25mph- up I 70, lines of traffic behind us.

Spring skiing outside

Orchard hopping in Grand Junction, tour courtesy of dad's pal Hal.

 A quick stop at the Black Canyon, then we drove toward Utah.