10-20-08 Monday (The Darkside)

Am I the only one who thinks softened water is creepy? It would seem that the park here treats it or perhaps the city here does. Maybe it's over softened? I feel like I can't get the soap off. I think it wastes water in a way. I rinse my hands for way too long. Have you ever gotten fabric softener on your hands? You know the feeling.

I'm glad I was able to get that out into the open. I've been keeping it bottled up inside for days now... ready to explode like a bottle of Calgon Water Softener that reached a 6,000 foot elevation.

We actually got moving today and out of the RV by 10am. It was wondrous. Well, maybe more like tiring. We loaded up the dog and away we went. We were going to consider boarding Dasher but guilt kept us from pursuing that avenue.

Driving through a town in Utah called Montezuma Creek was eerie. The High School had no signs of life, so I confirmed the time and thought "is it a holiday?" Everything looked abandoned. 2 dogs on the side of the road tried to eat at the Cherokee as we passed them. It's as if we were in some Stephen King movie. You know, like the 2 dogs are all that's left of the town, and if we stop, we'll never be able to leave. I'd call it, "Don't Stop In The Eerie Town, Because You May Not Be Able To Leave, So Don't Stop." Crafty, eh? I'll run it by my agent and see what he thinks. Anyway, as we hit the end of the town (it was 5 blocks long), finally I saw 1 person. There was no blood on his face, no screaming, I guess he was OK.

Through the next section of Utah, fields of oil pumps were o'plenty. Reminiscent of that time we lived in New Mexico. OK, not lived, stopped by.

Finally we crossed the border into Colorado (yes again). I guess I should tell you where the hell we were going. We went to Mesa Verde National Park. This park was full of cliff dwellings that were more spectacular than the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. We were able to walk through a set of cliff dwellings but had to leave Dasher in the Cherokee. Some others could only be seen from across the canyon, while others only on a guided tour. We didn't do the tours because we couldn't leave Dasher in the Cherokee that long. We saw plenty without the tours anyway. There were several areas to walk through and see Pithouses (earliest form of buildings), and many Pueblos. An awesome park all in all. I'll just slideshow the slew of photos I have.

After the park, we stopped at Wal-Mart. Jim stayed in the car to call his Mom, while I had the ultimate power to shop. The power, it was strong. I felt light headed; I had to come to terms with the power. I knew I needed to use the power for good. I couldn't resist the darkside and picked up a box of Velvetta Cheese and Shells. I knew it wasn't on the list, but I did it anyways. Ummmmm, yeah.

I'm glad you asked about gas prices. Gas was $2.90 a gallon! Woo-who! It was so nice for a change. In a couple of days we'll be filling up the rig.






Another question? Yes, you, in the pink bunny slippers. Oh, yes, how'd the Garbanzo Bean soup come out? Not even close to Aunt Patty's. I didn't look like it or taste like it. It was flavorful, a little spicy which was probably from the Chiritzo. I'll make it again, but I'll play with the ingredients a little more. Maybe Aunt Patty will realize my unspoken cries for help, and uhhhhh help.












A nice end to the evening was the ever-amazing full bright sky of stars right over the campground. I snapped photos but they came out like black boxes, with a white dot. I'll spare you the photos. We then started dinner. We had a precooked meatloaf that was frozen. It had been thawing in the fridge since yesterday and it was still solid. We shoved it in the oven. Eternity passed. Still frozen. More eternity (silly, huh) passed, still frozen. Jim nuked it. He then nuked it some more. I took it out, prepared the side dishes. He asked if I had checked it's temperature. I told him "no, I don't care if it's still frozen, it's 10 o'clock". It was hot.