Wednesday, April 23 (continued)
As three boys roar their motorbikes across the campsite in order to jump the boulders that define the perimeter of the site, I find an opening through which to escape!
The Perfect Tow Vehicle, pulling the Best Little Trailer, carries me and my crew out of Camp Ugly in search of a better camp.
I point the PTV southward.
We cross the Colorado and make an immediate left turn onto Highway 128. My map shows several campsites along the river. The road traces the bank of the Colorado as it winds through a massive canyon with tall, red rock sides.
The first campground is full.
Well, of course it is. It’s closest to the town of Moab. We’ll find something further along. A sign reads “Camp only in campgrounds.” Yeah? How do we do that? Campground after campground — and there are several — are packed with people, tents, and small campers.
While driving around curves on the narrow road, I try to enjoy the splendor of the canyon.
Kind of hard to do when a little red car is two inches from the BLT’s bumper. I’d pull over, buddy, but every turn-out has cars in it!
At last we come to a place where I can turn around.
On the way out through the mouth of the canyon I snag a turn-out. A line of vehicles on their way to the emergency ward whiz by. I snap a photo. The greyness of the day and the shadows in the canyon produce a dim image.
(Later I lighten the photo in editing which fades the red rock. Color boosting looks unreal, so I leave it as is. Poor quality but, hey, it’s better than nothing. I think it’s the only shot of the canyon that doesn’t have people in it!)
Gee, a campsite here wouldn’t be much better than our old site in Motorized Vehicle Racetrack. Maybe Potash Road will be less crowded . . .
Ha!
“You know, guys?” Bridget looks at me from the passenger seat. Spike continues to snooze on the bench seat. “Ever since I forgot to fill up the gas tank, we’ve been out of sync. We need a fresh start. I’m tired of Moab.”
I return us to Highway 191 and point the PTV northward.
I can put up with one more night at Camp Ugly. In the morning we will leave Moab and the mob. I waited three days for the wind to die and the sun to shine so we could explore Island in the Sky and Arches National Park. I no longer feel like seeing either of them. I just want to get away!
Thursday, April 24
I wake to noise. Oh yeah, the neighbors. I went to sleep to the sound of generators. Gosh, that’s an awfully loud one!
I pull aside the window curtain to see three men holding taut cables. They’re leaning way backward with bent knees, almost touching the ground with their backsides, exerting all their strength on holding the cables. What is going on?
I look out the other window to see what’s at the end of the cables.
Wow! A hot air balloon!
I grab my hat and the camera case. Together with Bridget and Spike I hurry outside. The sun peeks at the horizon. I run across the campsite to a slight knoll and frame a photo with the sun at my back.
Fellow campers emerge from their rigs.
Spike meets up with a sprightly canine and the fur-raising and ritual posturing begins!
I learn from the owner that his dog is a Japanese breed called the _________?
To think I could be grieving for Spike instead of watching him hop around, happy and excited, playing with another dog.
Quite a way to start a day!
The crew and I eat breakfast. Immediately thereafter I pack us up and we pull out of Camp Ugly for the last time.
It’s a clear and bright day with a slight wind, but nothing the anti-sway bar can’t handle!
Bridget and Spike sit side by side on the bench seat behind me. They look out the windows.
“You know what we three crusty boondockers need?” I ask the crew as we leave Moab in our dust.
“We need some gen-teel livin’!
North on Highway 191 and west on Interstate 70, we arrive at Green River. I stop at a laundromat and wash the bedding. (Spike had an accident last night. My fault! After a night of torment, I slept deeply and didn’t wake up for the second potty run.)
That task completed, we drive through town and make a left onto the road to Green River State Park. The crew and I camped here in 2012. I recall the peace and quiet of that stay.
Not to mention the hot shower!
A site without electric is $18. The camp host points to the two vacant sites at that rate. No, too close to big rigs with generators . . . .
“I’ll take an electric site.” He hands me a list of available electric sites.
“When you pick your site, come back to pay.” Electric sites with shared water spigots are $25 which includes the use of the showers, dump station, trash disposal, and fresh water fill-up.
I thank him and pick a large and pretty site not far from the shower house.
I hook the power cord to the 30-amp receptacle, and then go inside to switch the refrigerator from propane to ac power. Next I retrieve the two sections of exercise pen from the PTV and make a large enclosure for the crew.
“Isn’t the green grass nice, Bridget?”
We share a turkey sandwich for lunch.
“Come here. Let me put you in your suits and we’ll go for a stroll around the campground.”
Many of the campers come to Green River for the adjacent golf course.
They toodle about in quiet golf carts to and from their campsites.
At the day use area . . .
“Look, Spike! There’s the river!” I drop his leash. Spike trots down the boat ramp.
Later, before bed . . . .
I turn on the overhead heat strip (a function of the air conditioner). I like to turn it on at least once, maybe twice a year, if only to keep it functioning. After about twenty minutes I turn the noisy thing off.
All is quiet as we fall asleep. Ahhhhh . . . .
rvsue
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