September 26 - 27, 2014
#4 - Roadtrip
This roadtrip turned out to be way more of an adventure than I could have ever imagined. That being said, I couldn't have asked for better buddies to help make even the crazy stuff an adventure. Whitney, Susie and I decided to skip town after work on Friday and head for south-eastern Utah to the Natural Bridges (45 minutes from Blanding). With Whitney's car loaded up with camping gear and snacks, we hit the road to try and avoid rush hour traffic. Because this trip was going to help complete a couple of my adventures, Whitney and Susie started calling it my trip and told me to plan what I wanted to do. I spent a little time looking into places to visit in the general area of our trip and printed out some information on a couple promising spots. Along with the various print outs, I made it a point to print the driving directions to Natural Bridges National Monument.
Turns out putting me in charge of navigation was a BIG mistake! I guess we were having too much fun for me to worry about which exit we were suppose to take. We were about 30 miles past our exit when Susie asked where we were going (unplanned adventure #1). Oops! My printed directions were no longer going to be very helpful. Lucky for us we had smartphones with GPS capabilities to help us find an alternate route. Instead of making our way through Price and Moab, we got to drive through Gunnison, Salina, Hanksville and the middle of nowhere with a couple pit stops along the way.
One of those bathroom pit stops was at a great place called Hollow Mountain. Yep! The store was in the side of the mountain hill. I walked in and was greeted by a 12-13 yr old girl asking if I wanted to buy her iPod. She was trying to make money to attend her bowling field trip and some other adventure. Gotta dream big down in Hanksville! Wasn't too long before we were back on the road to Natural Bridges (and unplanned adventure #2). Little did we know that Hanksville would be the last stop for gas before we reached our destination. The original driving directions had us going through Blanding and then on to our campsite. Our new driving directions didn't include a trip through Blanding. We had been driving for a while after our pit stop when Whitney asked how much longer we had before hitting a city. Susie checked the map on her phone and discovered that we wouldn't be hitting civilization (gas station) at all before Natural Bridges. We kept driving but the feeling in the car had changed. It wasn't too long after I realized that there were more miles to drive than we had gas to cover. More than a few silents prayers were offered up as we tried to figure out what to do. This is when I realized how lucky I was to be on this adventure with Whitney and Susie. Blame was never given, nobody got mad or upset with anyone else. Instead we all started trying to figure out a solution and had faith that things would be okay.
A few miles of silence had past before we decided to vocalize the prayers that had been running through our minds. We asked that we would be guided in knowing what to do and that we would be receptive to the promptings of the spirit. I've got to be honest and tell you that with each bend in the road, I fully expected to see the bright lights of a Chevron or even just a lone gas pump in the middle of nowhere equipped with a credit card reader. Really not too much to ask for, right? Neither of those things were ever around the next corner. We kept driving, watching for the gas light to come on at any time. It came on and Whitney's fancy space car told us that we had about 21 miles left. Our destination was 30 miles away and the closest gas station was another 40 miles past our destination. We reached the point where we had about 8 miles worth of gas left in the car but still hadn't come across a lone gas pump. Suddenly there was a light ahead that turned out to be a camper trailer parked in a pull out spot on the side of the road. There were actually multiple vehicles, trailers, etc. but only one of them had lights on. We drove past it but stopped right in the middle of the road about 500 feet down the road. Whitney asked if we should go back and ask for help. It was decided that we would go back and ask for help. Even if they couldn't help, we would feel more comfortable sleeping in the car until morning in a parking area instead of the side of the road. As we pulled in there was a woman standing outside the trailer. A huge blessing because I don't know if any of us would have been comfortable approaching a man. The woman's name was Susan Brown from Mobil, Alabama. Susan and her husband are part of a group that travels around and they had been staying in that spot for a week or two but would be leaving the next morning. She invited us into the trailer after we had explained our predicament. When we got inside, we were surprised to see 3 other people. Susan's husband and their friend Daryl Young, from Kansas, along with a guy named Loran. Susan explained that the only reason they were up with lights on was because Loran had needed help. He had a big Rockstar energy drink while he was driving and it made him start feeling light headed and his heart was racing. Loran had pulled over for some help and they were all waiting for his family to come pick him up. Daryl was the one to save the day for us because he had 2 1/2 gallons of gas in a can that he brought for his ATVs. Since he was leaving in the morning, he didn't have any use for it. Daryl joked about charging us over $100 for the gas but in the end refused to accept any kind of payment. He gave us all the gasoline he had and all he asked in return was that we would help the next person in need....pay it forward. We thanked Susan and Daryl and were on our way. The gas in our tank was just enough to make it to a the gas station Blanding and completely fill our tank.
This experience had a huge impact on my testimony. It was the perfect example of how God is in the details of our lives. The plan to help save us was put into motion long before we knew we were in trouble. Long before we even uttered a prayer. Because Loran drank a Rockstar and had trouble, he pulled off and asked Susan for help. Susan reached out to her friend Daryl because of his first aid kit. Daryl just happen to have a little over 2 gallons of gasoline on hand even though he was leaving in the morning and wouldn't need it. All of these things happened when we needed help the most. I don't know if these people were religious in any way but there is no doubt that they were instruments in the Lord's hands to bless our lives that night.
#3 - Go camping
Due to our unplanned adventures, it was midnight when we finally got to the Natural Bridges campground. We drove in only to find that all of the campgrounds were full. Most of the spots were taken by camper trailers that weren't even using the tent area we needed. After making the loop once, we thought we had found a spot that was available. To our dismay, this is the sign that was posted in the "open" spot. Contrary to popular belief this wasn't a campsite named "Nota Campsite" but a sign letting us know we couldn't camp there.
After debating whether or not we could get away with just sleeping in this spot if we didn't pitch a tent, our decision was made for us by the rain that began to fall. We figured the camper people probably wouldn't be thrilled if we pitched our tent on their space. The only solution was to sleep in the car. Our camping gear spent the night outside because we figured the rain wouldn't hurt a tent or some tarps. The rest of our stuff was crammed into the driver's seat. Susie slept in the passenger seat with the back reclined as far as it would go. Whitney and I were very cozy in the back of the car with the seats folded down. I never realized how the ability to fully straighten your legs impacts the quality of your sleep at night until this trip. It's a good thing we like each other!!
#100 - Visit 3 National Parks
*I taking a little liberty with this list item to include National Monuments.
After a long night of trying to get comfortable in a cramped space, we were off for an adventure. First stop was the visitors center for the Natural Bridges National Monument. This is where we learned that it was the perfect weekend for our trip....Free National Parks Day! We didn't have to pay to get into any of the national parks.
It was a crazy day with lots of driving to reach our destinations. We spent the morning visiting the three Natural Bridges. There is a loop that you can drive with spots to stop and see all of the bridges. At the second bridge, we decided to take a hike. Susie, Whitney, and I were able to hike down to the natural bridge. There were no other people around so we had the place to ourselves. Lots of pictures were taken (including the obligatory jump picture), some relaxing/napping, and an impromptu dance party happened before we were joined by people. Even the weather was perfect! It had been raining a little in the morning but it had stopped and the skies were beautiful. This also brought the added bonus of cooling things down a little for us.
We finished with the bridges and made our way back into Blanding for lunch. It was while we were sitting at Subway that Whitney came up with our next destination....Four Corners Monument. All of us had heard about it but never actually made the trip to stand in four states at once. The trip required three hours round trip. Not totally convinced it was worth the time but we can all say we have been there, done that!
On our way home from Four Corners we made a stop at monument #3, Hovenweep National Monument. It is a place with the remnants of villages that were built on the the rim a canyon. Some of the buildings sit on top of boulders or the side of the canyon. Not only was it fascinating to see the structures still standing so many years later but the scenery was just beautiful. We also got to see the mountain called Sleeping Ute because it looks like a person laying down. Lots of time spent in the car but it was worth it for the incredible sites we were able to see and experience.
Natural Bridges
Four Corners - Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico
Hovenweep National Monument
#12 - Puddle Jumping
Puddle jumping was definitely an unplanned adventure during this trip. We made a brief stop in Moab in hopes of finding some cool wolf shirts to commemorate our crazy road trip. It started to lightly sprinkle as we were walking down the street visiting all the t-shirt shops but nothing too crazy. That light sprinkle turned into a torrential downpour within five minutes of us browsing in one of the shops. No wolf shirts were found but we got to puddle jump as we rushed 3 blocks back to where we had parked the car. I don't have a picture of this adventure because we were in too big of a rush to get into the dry car. Have no fear thought because parts of my clothes were still wet from puddle jumping when we stopped for dinner at Beto's in Price, UT and I have a picture of that for your viewing pleasure.
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Looking at this picture, I now realize that you can't tell whether or not my clothing is still damp because it's a shot of my burrito. Just trust me on the fact that none of us had completely recovered from the aftermath of our puddle jumping adventure.
It was an action packed 24 hours full of laughing, hiking, memory making, picture taking, knitting, learning adventures and I'm grateful that it happened!!
-Em
