The Yingling circus returns...

Jeeps outside Moab, Utah

Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve written, hasn’t it?  We had an absolute blast on our vacation to the Southwest, let me tell you!  I hope I can remember enough to tell you a few things here but if I can’t remember it all, I’ll throw stuff out again later in other posts, okay?

We left on Thursday, the 12^th, and stopped first for a delicious breakfast at our favorite restaurant in Kaycee, the Invasion.  No matter what we are doing, if we pass Kaycee, we must stop there, according to Rob.  They have the best burgers in the state and their breakfast is pretty darn good, too.  I like it because it’s one of the few places you can get Basque lukanka sausage.  If you are ever over this way, I highly recommend this garlicky treat!

We had a pretty easy drive the first day, for us.  We arrived in Moab by 3 in the afternoon and were able to go get a nice peek at Arches National Park after we checked into our hotel.  We spent three days in Moab, it’s such an awesome town.  There had just been a huge Jeep conflagration there and the streets were still teeming with red dusted jeeps of every size and year, clear back to the Willy’s! Canyonlands Park is also nearby and we got to see both Upper and lower Canyonlands and Dead Horse Cliff State Park.  Rob got some absolutely stunning pictures that I’ll try to share once he gets them down to a manageable size.  Did you know the photos come out of his camera 6 ft by 4 ft?

We left Moab on Saturday and stopped next at Monument Valley.  I had gotten us reservations at Gouldings Resort, which sits right on the edge of the mittens.  Way back in the 30’s a guy moved there (Goulding) and wanted to make the area into something, so he went to Hollywood and started trying to convince John Ford to do western films on his property.  Well, John Wayne heard about it and the two of them followed Goulding back to the Valley and fell in love. Goulding built the Resort especially for John Wayne and John Ford and their cast so they’d have a comfortable place to stay.  Most of the westerns with John Wayne were filmed right where we stayed!!  It is just magical, let me tell you!  I had reserved us a suite that had a wide balcony that looked out over the valley.  We got to watch the sunrise coming up over the formations while lying in bed!  Rob took lots of photos out at the reservation of all the gorgeous monoliths that grace the landscape.  The next morning, we had breakfast at a cute little spot on an Indian reservation and stopped in to take in the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  It was really gorgeous but as usual, teeming with people.  One of the things we do on vacation is try to avoid crowds, so we didn’t stay there long.  Both Rob and I feel…you see one canyon, you’ve seen them all, anyway. We have some pretty spectacular ones right here in WY so we weren’t missing much.

Our next big stop was Sedona, AZ.  Wow, what a beautiful place and what fabulous rock formations!  Again, it was a little more crowded than we like but the place where we stayed was just beautiful.  We had a private patio that looked out on the rock formations.  We got to visit with my friends, Wing and Laurie while we were there, too.  Wing’s band was there practicing at the house so we even got serenaded while we were visiting!  The next morning, Wing, Laurie, Rob and I went to breakfast at a really cool place that served 101 omelets.  I wish we’d had more time to spend with them, they are such nice people!  Maybe next time, eh?

Not far from Sedona is Jerome, AZ, a really funky little town that is perched precariously on a cliff.  We stopped and looked around there and then headed to Wickenburg, where our friends Don and Judy live.  Don used to live here in Buffalo and it was so good to see the old fart again.  His wife, Odie, who died, used to be my best friend. I like Judy, though.  Don did himself well, picking someone with very similar traits! We had a blast visiting with them and then headed off to Tucson.

Ocotillo at sunset

The Saguaro National Park was more than I think I ever could have imagined! Everything was blooming when we were there, it was just amazing.  I hadn’t seen an ocotillio cactus blooming since I went to school at Radford and it was just as breathtaking as I remember! Rob got some awesome photos, both during the day and at sunset.

On Thursday, the 19^th, though….Rob starting getting sick. At the same time, we are heading back to the hotel and the steering is making a racket!  Turns out, we got a hole in our power steering hose, probably in the desert.  Ford told us they would need 5 days to get a new one.  Thankfully, the mechanic we had it towed to was able to make us a new one from scratch and get us outta there in less than 5 hours.  In the meantime, Rob was so sick, I had to go pick up the truck alone.  We ended up having to stay at that particular hotel for an extra day because Rob had things too fierce to mention shooting out both ends, poor baby.  People at the hotel were telling me that there was a stomach bug going around Tucson and not to worry, it was only a 24 hour bug.

Not for my husband, it wasn’t! So, I had to high tail it back to Moab with a still sick hubby where we got another two nights so Rob could continue to rest.  It was a difficult 12 hour drive for both of us. The folks at the hotel in Moab must have “felt” me coming because when I asked for a room for two nights they told me they only had a king suite but would be willing to discount it.  We got a really nice place with our own patio and a kitchen. He started feeling better, finally, while we were there. Poor baby, his tummy was still pretty rocky but he managed to enjoy a little more of the street life of Moab once last time. 

We made the final leg home on Sunday from Moab to Buffalo, arriving home around 4 pm, not too shabby!

Of course, picking up Miss Thistle from the boarding kennel was a lot of fun!  Barb did the first of her training for us while we were gone and showed us all the new manners she’d been learning. We still have a long way to go and will be seeing Barb twice a week for a bit as I pretty much need as much training as Thistle does! It’s been way too long since I had a puppy, me thinks!

Well, I’m sure I’ve forgotten things but they’ll hold for another day.  I hope you are all doing well and happy!  There’s no place like home!!