Underneath the Arches....

Lori lookin' super fly in our Mean Black Mutha machine...

Salt Lake City to Arches NP

Slept well last night, after the folks in the room next to us finally finished having noisy, enthusiastic sex, so woke almost refreshed and raring to go for our first full day’s adventure!  As predicted the Howard Johnson free breakfast was a carnival of carbs and sugary cereals but – as its my day off from my protein-tastic body building meal plan – I wrestled a bagel into submission without the least trace of guilt.

Today’s itinerary was to drive out of Salt Lake City, heading south and then east to Arches National Park, the first stop on our Southwestern adventure.  Here’s a map of today's route:

Day 1: 295 miles and 4 hours 

That's a whole lotta balls

Before leaving SLC, we stopped at Wal-Mart to stock up on snacks and plenty of water (no dying out in the desert due to dehydration for this gal, thanks very much).  The Wal-Mart was enormous and full of entertaining people-watching opportunities but was strangely completely devoid of oranges.  Not a single citrusy globe anywhere to be seen.  Are oranges illegal in Utah?  There were, however, plenty of cheddar cheese balls - i guess if you screwed up your eyes hard enough, they could be mini-oranges, right?

After wandering around Walmart for a half hour or so, we finally set off - styrofoam bucket full of ice, water and snacks at around 10.45am for our 4hr drive to Moab.  AS IT WAS MY DAY OFF MY MEAL PLAN (Ashley!!), it wasn't even 11am and we’d already chomped our way through ice-cream and salt and vinegar crisps.  Yey for vacation snackage!  The drive was pretty straightforward, all highway, and wound us through mountains and valleys of an impressive scale.  At times, we really were in the middle of absolutely nowhere - not a sign of human habitation in sight (other than the road, obviously!).  

About an hour or so into the drive, we came upon a series of hand-painted signs by the road advertising FRESH JERKY!  REAL TASTY!  GET SOME!  ELK!  BUFFALO!  JUST AROUND THE CORNER!  ALMOST THERE!!  JERKY HERE!!   It was very exciting.  How could we pass that up?  So we duly stopped, enticed by the advertising, and had ourselves an impromptu Jerky Tasting Menu, happily doled out by Don the Jerky man and his Happy Meat Shears.  I hadn't tried proper Jerky before, so I thought 'what the hell?" whereas Lori is a Jerky Aficionado she knew what was what!

Jerky Don and his spicy meat treats

First up was the Sweet Peppered Beef Jerky, followed by its equivalent in buffalo then elk.  It was actually pretty tasty and was, by far, the best one - I didn't care much for the teriyaki or hot sauce.  A bit too weird for my liking.  Also, the Elk (in case you are wondering what Elk jerky tastes like) had a slightly sweet, gamey flavor to it, so again not my favorite but was fun to try.  Just don't think too deeply about where Don's scissors have been and never, ever, ever read the ingredients list on a pack of  Jerky.   Some things cannot be unlearned.  *shudder*

Anyway, back on the road and, after another hour or so, we arrived at a town called Price where we decided to stop for lunch.  And, where else to go than to a place called "Groggs"?  It had pretty good reviews on Urbanspoon, so Groggs it was - and I proceeded to demolish an ENORMOUS bacon cheeseburger.  Ahhh... the glory of my Meal Plan day off!!  It was yummy but, as I found when we got back on the road, calorie-coma inducing!  The monotony of the landscape didn't help so, to stay awake, I periodically wound the window down and stuck my arm outside, to feel the 104 degree heat and get some wind (other than my own) moving through the car.  

After another 2hrs on the road, we finally arrived in Moab.

It felt like we had landed on Mars.

You'll see in the pictures better than I can explain, but the sheer redness of it all, the weird rock formations, the mountains and vast shifting dunes of red sand were just incredible.  So alien-looking.  I wouldn't even have been surprised to see the Mars Curiosity Rover on the dusty red plains and for its trip to Mars to have been one big hoax, while it hangs out here in Moab!

By this stage, it was about 4pm, so time to check into the Ramada.  I was feeling very smug, as the Ramada was directly opposite the Moab Adventure Center, where we'd booked our tours from, so no driving needed for our Fiery Furnace hike tomorrow morning at 7.15am.  Maximum snoozage time.  

Except we weren't.  

As the poor guy on the front desk searched in vain for my reservation and I waited (very patiently, I might add) for him to spell my name correctly and find it, I dug out my paper copy of my confirmation - to find I'd actually booked us into the Super 8 for this evening, not the Ramada!  The Ramada was for tomorrow night!  Oops!  Feeling rather sheepish, we hopped back into the car and headed over to the Super 8 were we (finally) checked in.   Again, it was fine - the room was basic but it was very spacious and clean, so nothing to complain about. 

Finally!  Huzzah!

We were both still in the grips of lunch coma, plus the added snooze factor of the afternoon heat, so consensus was that it was time for a quick Power nap, before heading out to watch sunset.  An hour later, I woke up in a pool of my own dribble (which was nice) but feeling somewhat refreshed and ready for our first trip proper into the park.  We were following a lead from one of the guys from the Moab Adventure centre to head to a place called The Windows to watch the sunset.   The drive would take about an hour, more or less, and we needed to be there by around 8.15pm, so just after 7pm we clambered back into the car and headed out.  

 Here's a map of Arches NP so you can see (if you have extremely good eyesight, I suppose)
where we were and the location of all the various viewpoints and landmarks:

We started off at the base of the park and then drove up through the Courthouse Towers, through the Petrified Dunes and Rock Pinnacles before turning right at Balanced Rock and heading east towards the Windows Section.  The guy's advice was spot on.  This place is seriously beautiful.   Though there were a few people about, catching the sunset like we were, it wasn't too crowded and there were moments when you could stop, perch on a warm red rock and hear... nothing.  Silence.  Just perfect.

Balanced Rock

Park Avenue

Here are a few of my favorite pics from our first excursion into the park - they don't really do it justice, but I hope they give you some idea of the magnitude and grandeur and sheer scale of these imperious rocks.  I'll load all of my pictures into an online Google Web album so you can see more if you would like.  Just stunning.

North Window Arch

North and South Window Arch

Wheeeeeee!!

Look, Ma - I'm on top of the worrrlllllld!!

Exploring.  And not falling off.

Double Arch, blazing red with the setting sun

Beautiful sunset

The drive back didn't seem to take as long (isn't that always the way?) and it was about 9.30pm by the time we got back in town.  Fending off the severe temptation just to roll in and call it a night, we decided not to be completely lazy arses (plus it was my Meal Plan Day off, so I had to get my full value in!!), so we finished the day by unwinding in a very cool restaurant and bar called Eddie McStiff’s (it had to be done, with a name like that).   There was a great band playing, we were well taken care of by a lovely waitress called Molly and we finished off the day with a kick-ass apple pie.  Along with the best blueberry mojito I’ve ever tasted, I think I did my off-meal plan day proud.

Anyway, now its time to finally head back to the hotel to rest up before our 5.45am (eek) alarm call for our 7.15am Fiery Furnace hike tomorrow.  Am just a little nervous about it - fingers crossed we make it out alive!!

Adventure awaits beneath the clouds!

The Game is Afoot!!

So let the Utah National Park frenzy begin!!  Am writing this from our room at the lovely Howard Johnson motel (or as i discovered by reading through the blurb on the room service menu, a member of the "limited-service lodging industry").  And jolly respectable it is too.  Beds.  A loo.  Free wi-fi and free breakfast of refined white flour bakery products tomorrow, so can't argue with that.  Though our air conditioner seems a little random.  Do AC units have a "post-flight fart" setting?   I just let off a little quiet indiscrete one right next to it - and it roared into action.  A little overkill, I though, but maybe there's a Utah bylaw about farting in hotel rooms and its only doing its civic duty?  I don't think I'll ask the flip flop clad guy manning the front desk when we leave tomorrow morning - it'll just have to be one of those never to be answered questions.  Anyway, enough of that drivel, our road trip proper starts tomorrow with a 4hr drive from Salt Lake City to Moab, where we are spending a couple of days exploring Arches National Park and Canyonlands NP.  There will be Fiery Furnace hiking and paddleboarding a plenty, so its going to be a really fun few days.

Our flight from SFO to SLC took only 1hr 45mins and was pretty smooth with only a few little bumps.  Our pilot for this trip was - I kid thee not - Captain Sherlock!!  Very terribly exciting for all us Arthur Conan Doyle fans.  Alas, no heinous crimes were committed that required his presence to be summoned from the flight deck (although someone did request to KEEP the can of coke during the complimentary beverage service and i think, in United's eyes that counts as grand larceny, so it was touch and go at times).  There was also a rather bemused looking fly on board, buzzing around, occasionally looking out of a window and wondering how the hell he can be flying quite so fast.  Poor little bugger is going to have a very long wing-powered buzz back to California...  Thats was about the extent of the in-flight entertainment, other than the loved up couple in front of us (annoying and young) and the older guy behind us who would comment loudly to his wife sitting in a seat across the aisle from him (I wonder why?) about pretty much anything and everything.  So that was fun.  But all was well - the flight landing was very smooth, so absolutely no complaints about that.

Well, hello back there SLC.  Reckon you can do something
with those pesky temperatures?  Are you trying to kill us??

The bags came through in super-quick time so it wasn't that long before we found ourselves at Tyler's desk at AVIS rental car - and we subjected the poor boy to a charm offensive and wise-crack-athon that he was powerless to resist!  It started out with the other lady behind the AVIS desk who, I believe, was engaged in the very critical role of paper clip counting and moving pieces of paper from one side of her desk to another.  On seeing us waiting, she asked us "Are you preferred AVIS members?" to which I replied, honestly, "no we're not".   To which she replied "Well, Tyler will take care of you then, when he's finished with his customers" and then continued to practice receipt origami instead of any semblance of customer service.  So this triggered my (usually silent) smart arse gene and so I piped up "Yes - we're preferred"...... "We are extremely preferred members".......... "We're actually so preferred its embarrassing, so we'd like you to keep that under wraps if you could"  

Tyler, SLC Avis - top guy!!!

Cue non-response from the lady, but the guy at the end, Tyler, was cracking up overhearing these comments.  So we knew, as we approached him, finally admitting that we were lousy nobodies with no status and who nobody loved, we'd already started to lure him into to our web of flattery in the pursuit of discounts....  He was a totally solid guy and we had a lot of fun bantering back and forth with him.  Proof that sharing a laugh and a smile is the best way to get a car upgrade, we managed to snag a great deal where we added Lori on the reservation for only $10 AND in the process, got upgraded to an awesome black SUV, the Ford Edge.  Holy crap - its badass.  We both need to buy black-framed Wayfarers sunnies STAT to drive this mutha (which will make it a little tricky at night, but we'll manage).  We'll post some pics of it tomorrow, but its the perfect vehicle for the long driving days, so thank you, Tyler - you just made our week a whole hell of a lot more comfortable.

And now its time to sleep.  Free Howard Johnson breakfast tomorrow.  I'm deeply curious.....  Roll on Day 2!!!

The Exploratorium and the Brush Robot

It's my birthday week!  Yep, one day simply wasn't enough for a celebration of such magnitude, so - to mark the occasion, I decided at the last minute to take all of this week off!   My company mysteriously just gave me an extra week's vacation (hopefully this isn't instead of a pay rise...hmm...) so this was my gift to myself!  Of course, this time last year was a rather different affair, what with my turning 39 and all (http://sazzinthecity.blogspot.com/2012/06/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-ja-x_13.html).   This year, it was time for a staycation, focusing on surviving my first sessions with my new body building trainer, Sue and getting used to a new protein-heavy diet plan.  I will keep you posted how I get on....

Anyway, my birthday itself was on Tuesday and - thanks to Mumsie's superb planning skills and the awesomeness of T J Maxx - I woke up to a BIG bag of pressies and about a million cards on my birthday!  The Big Bag of Pressies was filled with lots of goodies, including a bright orange DKNY bag, some kick-ass kitchen knives, an adorably cute miniature Swarovski forget-me-not flower pot as well as various smelly treats for the bath, all manner of tea-related paraphenalia and a Laugh box.  I even had a birthday card with money in it - just like the good old days when I was ten and didn't have to go out and earn it for myself!  

So it was a lovely way to start the day, followed by a quick chat with Loopy before then heading out for my first ever (s)training session with Sue at 10.30am.  I'd been recommended her by Ashley and Kelly (who are both already in enviable shape) and it felt good to be finally getting back into training after far, far too many months absence.   I'll tell you more about it in a future blogpost (when I have progress to report) but, suffice to say, it was a great training session - she's excellent, knows her onions and is very motivational, so I left my session feeling pumped (quite literally) and excited about working out again.

After all that effort, it was time to balance it out with a good dollop of pampering and doing bugger all, so I spent the rest of the day getting a long-overdue manicure and pedicure (my toes are now painted in gold glitter nail polish - tres festive), chatting to Mumsie and re-reading Russell T.Davies's The Final Chapter, an absolutely fascinating glimpse into the mind of one of the best script writers around.  The day was topped off, mid-afternoon, by a delivery from Dad of a lovely birthday cake made of flowers (Loopy helped pick them out), complete with the never-fails Relighting Candle trick!!   It took me a couple of goes to figure it out - of the six candles, two were the kind that spontaneously reignite a few seconds after you blow the little buggers out.   Thanks, Dad.  You got me.

Beautiful birthday flowers, candle and my favorite pic
from my 40th last year

Flowery cakey layers.

All topped off with a big fat pink rose.  

So I had originally planned to go to the Exploratorium on my actual birthday but, after my training session with Sue, somehow an afternoon of sloth seemed irresistible.  I found myself trotting along today instead - a day where I Had No Other Plans and Nothing Booked in The Diary.  A rare event, indeed.  The Exploratorium has been open for about 4 months now, moved from its previous location in San Francisco out by the Palace of Fine Arts (I think in the Presidio).  I've only been once before (a quick - but fun- visit with Jessica and Ruby) but its already become one of my favorite places in the city, so i've been hankering to go back for quite some time and explore further.

Its just too cool for words.  Its simply a brilliant, brilliant place and one that - if you are ever in San Francisco - you simply must visit.  Here is the link to their website:

http://www.exploratorium.edu

Last time I went, it was first thing on a Saturday morning and we got there right as it was opening at 10am.  Of course, being among the first folk there, it was pretty empty and the Exploratorium itself is vast, so there was plenty of space to run around in and play with the exhibits.  This time, it was a Thursday and, as I walked up to the Entrance at just before 11am, I noticed the hoards of tiny people that had been absent the time before.  Now that's a pretty damn cool school trip, if you ask me.  After waiting on line for about 10 minutes in the non-members queue, I decided to join (there was no line for members) and its actually a good deal - $60 for a year's membership which gets you unlimited entry, access to members-only events, discounts in the gift shop (yey!) vs $20 for just a single visit.  Plus no waiting on line.  So double yey for that.

Now - are you quite sure you got my
best side in this picture?

There's certainly enough to see and do to warrant multiple visits plus the restaurant is actually really good, with incredible views from the outside back deck out across the bay.  The entire place is an absolute feast for the mind, the senses, built for the excitement of discovery as well as the quietness of contemplation.  I'd been a little concerned, given it was later in the day, that it would be packed out and that there would be hundreds of badly-behaved screaming children running around, annoying the hell out of me.  Well, there were hundreds of kids about (as you'd expect) and quite of few of them were screaming and running around but - you know what?  It actually didn't matter in the least.  What I LOVE so much about the Exploratorium are those moments that you find yourself in, when you are in a little bubble of discovery, learning something amazing about the world or yourself or nature or whatever.  When that intellectual penny drops and you find yourself going "Oh!"- thats when the world outside seems to recede and fade from notice and its just you, and your brain saying "Wow. That is cool".   A little private moment, played out in public.  The very personal act of learning that rekindles your child-like curiosity about the world.  I think its when we stop learning - or lose the zest and drive to ask "why?" - that's when we truly become old.

He's here????

At least that's what I'm telling myself as I just turn 41...

Well, that's all profound and good but - as Mumsie will tell you, for some reason, I don't remember all that much about my childhood so - needless to say - I learnt a lot. ( (I think I must have been locked in a dark cupboard for 10 years or something - unlike my sister who remembers everything - isn't memory weird like that?).   There are literally hundreds of exhibits and things to play with - I think its probably the most hands-on museum I've ever been too - and there is plenty to keep the adult mind occupied too.  Actually, on a few of more physics-ey ones, I had nooooo idea what they were talking about.  So I wandered off and had a look at a big tree chopped in half instead, and everything was right with the world again.

 I think one of the most fascinating - and weirdly repelling - exhibit had to be of the live chicken egg fetuses developing.  A series of 4 petri dishes, each with a fertilized chicken egg yolk inside at different stages of development - one at 1 day, 2-3 days, 4-5 days and 7 days.   All, apparently, live - though it was the one at 4-5 days that was the most freaky - in this splodgey egg, you could see this tiny rudimentary heart beating.  It was incredible.  I couldn't see it beating in the 7 day egg, so wasn't sure if that one was still alive or not (and apparently, that would then be ready to hatch in another 10 days!) but I found the exhibit disturbing for another reason.  What then happens to that 7 day egg tomorrow?   I guess if you are Petri Dish Number 1 at 1 day old, you're laughing for the next 6 days, but where is there next in the *ahem* pecking order for Petri Dish Number 4?   Your 7 days are up, chicky-dee - time to beat it.   No yolk about it.   I wondered if the siting of that exhibit so close to the cafeteria was solely a co-incidence....

Didn't stop me ordering the chicken for lunch, though.  Delicious.

Might have thought twice about the omelette, however....

Anyway, here are some more pics from my favorite exhibits...

Either that kid is very wise or she's got a great
 speechwriter on retainer.

Good question.
 I think Cheez Whiz is abnormal.
Does that count?

If this were a Doctor Who episode, you'd certainly be bang on....

Wait!...  WHAT??

This was a really cool effect, made up of
lots of wiggly lines.   Love this picture.

This was one of my favorite exhibits.
See.  I just knew my kitchen appliances were alive.

I can't even figure out what this is - but it looks like
it needs a hug.  Hope its nothing electrical....

No - don't cry!  Turn off those waterworks...

Its true!!  All scales ARE evil!!!

That's one crazy-assed looking duck plane.

See.  Handbags ARE a girls best friend.  (apparently)
 (or evil leather money-munchers....)

Hmm....my washing machine always looks like this
when I wash my hiking socks

Jamaican mailbox

Now this one was very interesting.  It took a photo of your face,
split it in half and then showed your face as two left sides or as two right sides.
So, from now on I'll be asking:
 "Does the left side of my face make my face look fat in this?" 

Also at the Exploratorium was a temporary
miniaturizing ray to shrink myself down to size with
(I was just aiming for the left side of my face).
 Alas, the effects didn't last..

Add yellow light to everything and...

....kaboom!!  All the color disappears!!  That's a pretty powerful
effect, to make that rainbow go away  - is that even legal in SF?

It works with white light too!

POW!  Lights, camera, color!!

Perfect day, perfect view.

Me in a tree.

Yeah right.  Only amusing until we get hit
with The Next Big One.
Any.  Day.  Now.

Anyway, after a very happy 3hrs wandering around, I was Exploratorium-ed out, so all that was left was to wander home along the Embarcadero, and reflect on just how damned lucky I am to have such a fabulous place right on my doorstep.

OH!!  I almost forgot.  Well, it wouldn't be a trip to the Exploratorium without finishing the day off with a little Brush Robot action, now, would it? (museum gift shops are just too enticing to resist).

My Roomba need be lonely no more...

Yes.  Its a robot.  Made out of a shoe brush.  It's a very
practical addition to my stable of household robots.

The Before.

The After.  All I need now is a name...
any ideas?