After nearly a month in Moab, we finally made a successful exit on Monday the 17th. Crazy! Sunday the 16th was our last night at our wonderful Lone Mesa Road campsite. It was also the night of the Hunter’s Supermoon… which would have been awesome except for those 50mph wind gusts.
Yeah. They get some crazy winds in the desert. All day long it had been windy (20mph with gusts up to 35), but after dark somebody turned the dial up to 11.
We stayed outside long enough to watch the moon come up. Once verifying that yes, indeed, it was a full moon, and not particularly super, we climbed up into the tent to watch the second half of Super Troopers.
There are lots of things I love about our rooftop tent. Sleeping through a windstorm is not one of them. The rainfly flaps constantly, and the gusts made me wonder if the whole thing were about to lift right off the truck. So it’s safe to say I didn’t sleep well.
Monday morning we packed up the tent inbetween wind gusts (it had at least dropped back to 20mph by then), then scavenged firewood from all the other nearby campsites. Score!
At some point in the morning, we realized that Bailey had popped another staple on his wound, leaving just one staple, which was not holding things closed very well. Back to the vet. At this point we were on a first name basis with the staff there. Bailey got 2 more staples plus a round of antibiotics. We were given an antibiotic cleanser, along with some sterile wipes, in case Bailey managed to pop the staples again and we weren’t near a vet. The cut would granulate in on its own, the vet said, we just had to keep it clean.
At this point we were quite interested in Bailey keeping those damn staples in place for the next 10 days. Sure, we would continue to keep him on a leash at all times, not let him run around or roll in the dirt. The big challenge would be separating the dogs in the back of the truck.
The solution was one more blow to the budget: a crate. We found one at the Moab Barkery, and it was amazingly enough the right size, even with Bailey wearing the cone of shame. So now we get to drag a crate around with us until Christmas (there is no way I am tossing that crate after Bailey’s staples come out.) Yay.
On the plus side, Bailey is already crate trained and he seems to like it in there. He would often hang out in his crate when we had a house.
After showers, laundry, and one last grocery run, we left Moab at 5:15. At least we knew how long it would take to get to Indian Creek. We set up camp right as the sun ducked behind the cliffs.
Most amazingly, the wind died off to zero. Nill. Nada. Yes! We had a lovely campfire and watched the stars. Then the moon, once it finally came up.
Another plus: my GI issues have finally gone away! That only took 6 days. I’m kind of jealous of Michael and his iron constitution… that guy can eat anything.
Onwards to Canyonlands!