The Rule of Threes

1. Three hundred miles...Stop
2. 3 PM....Stop
3. I couldn't come up with a third 3, but got lots of suggestions from FB friends: 3 glasses of wine, 3 sheets to the wind (I would be).   

A hazy day along I-15 in Utah

This was a very long day!  We left Ogden, Utah, enduring traffic through Salt Lake City and Provo, in air quality that you could cut with a knife, arriving 370 miles later, at 6:30 PM, in Moab.

Overlook at San Rafael Swell on I-70

There were many beautiful drive-bys and scenic overlooks, especially on I-70, as we headed east, but there was the dreaded end of day blooper that happens when you're tired, it's getting late, and you've driven too far!  The ahhh shucks (not my word of choice) moment when you think...What are we doing out here!  


I was chatting with Donna K recently....about beginning to doubt ourselves as we steer these roads of life, and recounting an incident back in the day when we were parked in a full-hookup site, and in a hurry to get going the next morning.  Brains obviously elsewhere, we drove off, and snap went the electric cord, crackle went the sewer hose, and pop went the water line!  The mouths of by-standers best described the scene.  You will  be happy to hear we do not leave our black tank valve open!  But we were Newbies then....

Downhill run..I-70 east

Seventeen years later it's still happening.  There was the time in eastern Montana a couple of years ago when we turned off I-2 for our destination and was confronted with an overhead bridge and a clearance of 12'3"; we won't fit!  We were in the middle of a busy 4-way intersection and had no choice but to stop, humbly step out and indicate with nice sign language that we had to unhook the Jeep, and make a U-turn.  Such nice folks; no rude looks or finger pointing, even help stopping traffic.

Where I thought we were...Nice!

But back to our day...It's late, almost 6 PM by the time we pull into Moab, and we're tired.  Our plan is to park at this glorious BLM site along the banks of the Colorado River Scenic Byway (U-128) where we parked 5 years ago.  It's inexpensive, a beautiful setting in a magnificent narrow and steep red rock canyon.  I was adamant about the turn-off being on this side of the Colorado River.  

Went back the next day for this shot of our ordeal!

Honey, I don't remember this being so narrow, and then the pavement ended, and then we were driving right into the River!  I was so mortified that photos were out of the question as we tried to assess our escape tactic under the watchful eyes of shoreline kayakers.  Our little motorhome looked huge all of a sudden.  But we did the drill with an air of confidence, calmly unhooking the Jeep, then the 20-point turn!  To add insult to injury, once on the right road and driving several miles on U-128, all the BLM sites were occupied...Dang the NPS reservation system!

And our eco-travel theory has been blown all to heck!  Mid September will be a lot cooler and much less crowded after Labor Day, we think, with kids back in school!  And with these high fuel prices folks won't be driving, etc., etc., etc.  We don't do reservations...  Moab is a zoo, and hot!  Everyone that wasn't there is here!  All the RV parks are full, the town is booming.  I finally found a fleeting Verizon broadband signal and a Passport America Park, the OK RV Park & Canyonlands Stables, and called.  They were full but had just, 5 minutes ago, had a cancellation.  We get 2 nights!  Now what?  Contemplate that Third Rule, perhaps...