43.) Inquiring Strangers....the Last of the Arches....Thai Strippers...

     The next day is cold and grey with no signs of clearing up in the afternoon like usual so no hiking today. Instead I spend it in town refilling prescriptions, investigating the library, and making cheesy chicken camp stove tacos at a picnic table I find outside a Wendy’s. While I’m cooking I meet Mike, who inquires as to what I’m up to. I give him the quick rundown of this trip I’m on and he seems impressed. So much so that he gives me his email and tells me to look him up if I ever make it to Salt Lake City, he’ll hook me up with a place to stay.

     I’m always a little nervous when someone asked about what I’m doing. Afraid that they're just looking for a reason to kick me out of wherever I happened to be at the time, or that they just won't get it at all and figure I’m just some hobo loser. But it never happens that way, no one is ever critical of my decisions that have led me to this particular spot at this particular time. In fact, it’s usually jealousy and well wishes I’m met with, and sometimes, even sandwiches. The most critical comment I’ve gotten up to this point, outside of those border patrol agents down in Texas, is  “Seems like it could get tough at times, huh?” and without really thinking about it, my naturally occurring response comes out, “Yeah, but so can everything else.” I nod in agreement with myself, it’s a good point and people seem to take it as such.  

After I eat, I have a few beers and Woody's Tavern in Moab, and watch the Blackhawks lose. It’s still raining when I emerge so I retreat to the laundromat to enjoy my buzz while I wash some clothes and then crash out in the Jeep behind the tavern. The next day the rain continues so I’m still hikeless, but it’s Mothers Day so I call my Mom to wish her well and fill her in on the current what, when, and where of my trip.  Blue law says no booze on Sundays (bummer, especially on a rainy Sunday) so I spend most of the day reading ‘Just Kids’ in the back of the Jeep. 

The storm is still overhead the following day, but I can finally see the edge of it, it’s not raining but it’s still cold and overcast. Whenever I reach a new place it seems like summer has finally arrived but then a front comes through and it gets cold again. Earlier in the week I was sweating in the sunshine, but this morning at 11:30 it's only 55 degrees. I slog through another hikeless day, looking forward to warmer weather, but I’m sure once it gets hot I’ll bitch about that too, so ya know….The grass is always greener and <insert platitude>. 

Sweet, pure rejuvenating sunshine finally coats my skin after 3 days of grey, wet, boring everyday chores. Stop at the pharmacy, wash your clothes, make yourself dinner. These were the kind of things I was worried about, being on the road like this, always moving around, not really having an address. But it's all been relatively straightforward.  Give my current bottle of meds to the pharmacist, he makes some calls and I get new jar of meds. Find a laundromat, they're everywhere, to wash my clothes once in a while. I'm not attending any high faulting' get togethers or anything so I don't have to be spotless, or even, all that clean really, so this is almost a treat. Plus it's a constructive way to spend a rainy day. But I'm more than stoked to finally feel some sunshine again. 

   

     I should be able to finish up the rest of the trails in Arches today. The trail system that surrounds and leads to Landscape Arch is the only section of the park I have yet to visit. This section has a bunch of small trails branching off of each other. Some of them run right along the tops of the huge boulders so I play a lot of find-the-rock-carin to remain headed in the right direction.  It wouldn't be terribly difficult to just get caught up in the beautiful scenery and end up wandering off into the desert, but this side of the park is easier to access and therefore more popular.  There's not a ton of people around but it's enough to make you feel less exposed.

     All the arches are worth a gander though, and they're all different. Double O Arch is the most impressive for my taste.  Two window like arches on right on top of each other.  Theres others that lead through through thick rock fins, and one that looks to be on the verge of collapse.  This this ribbon of rock i believe to be Landscape Arch, and there are boulders underneath it that look like they'd fit like puzzle pieces into the underside of whats left of the arch above. Dangerous Territory. 

     

     The sun continues to shine but it’s still sweater weather with long pants and I’m loving it. With the La Sal Mountains the constant backdrop, ice cream sundae mountains with a healthy squirt of chocolate syrup snow to top it off.   I spend most of the day here wandering taking it all in. I’ve hiked nearly 8 miles by the time i’ve covered every trail in this section.  On my way back to the jeep it starts to catch up with me. Three hike less days of rain, and then 8 miles is taking its toll. I kick off my hiking boots and head back in to Moab where i find, McStiffs, another small town dive bar to watch tonights hockey game.

      Enter Byron, an affable Canadian man who ends up being generous with the drinks and the stories. We bullshit about the hockey game, the trip I’m on, and the like. The usual pleasantries that occur with strangers at a bar sorta stuff, until Byron tells me he’s recently returned from Thailand. Where here spent a lot of his time in Tai strip clubs.  one of said clubs one lovely lady asked him his name when he walked in the door. She the proceeds to slide a marker into her most intimate of areas and manipulated across a white board. The result, while not obvious, was still clean enough…she had written ‘Byron” with her hooha….Another act consisted of a different girl placing a ballon between his knees while a third lady of the night shot darts outta her baby maker until she popped the balloon. Needless to say, the experience left him disappointed when he visited American strip clubs for the first time.

    It’s understandable since when he left the club in Thailand one of the girls left with him, and ended up staying with him for the whole weekend.  “I never paid here or anything, I think she just wanted a boyfriend,” he says. 

“Well, so what did you do?” I chuckle in response.

“Oh, I was scheduled to fly out on Monday…..so I did. She was still in the room when I left. Hell, she might still be there.”  Byron might be bordering on scumbaggery here, but I love a good story and thats a damn good one.  I thank him for his chatter and the drinks and I retreat back to the jeep and crash out behind the building.  

I’m slow moving the next morning having had a few more drinks than anticipated the previous night so the morning is spent in the library where I know it will be both air conditioned and quiet.  Once the mist clears from my brain and I'm function more effectively I steer the Jeep towards Telluride, Colorado and state 5 of this trip.