Nope. We’re still in Moab.

We tried to quit you, Moab.

And damn, was it hard. Did I mention that the sushi place in town (yes, there is a sushi place in the middle of the desert, and it’s not bad) had a sign in their window – hiring for a kitchen chef and a dishwasher?

When we saw that sign, we knew we had to leave before we walked in and applied.

The original plan was to leave on the 10^th. We got ready by hiking out to Corona Arch on the 9^th.

The view from the arch wasn’t too shabby, either:

That just seemed to whet our appetite for arches, though, so on the 10^th we went to Arches National Park one last time, to hike the Devil’s Garden. And what a hike! 7 miles of sandstone fins, arches, and fun.

By the time we were done, we knew we’d never get showers, food/water/gas, dog food, plus a meal, plus the drive to Canyonlands before dark. The drive itself is around 2 hours.

We headed in to town, wondering what cheap eats we could find since the Thai place didn’t open until 5pm and it was all of 3:15. We were going to check out one of the only food trucks in Moab, the Quesadilla Mobilla, so we went around the block to find a parking spot. And there, off the main drag, we saw it: Arches Thai. Open 11am-9pm.

We were so there.

Maybe they have lunch specials? But we were on the dinner menu, about $15/plate. But it was delicious. Thai food is the best.

We were actually able to score “our” campsite again, the one off Lone Mesa Road. As soon as we got the tent up it started to rain. That eased off around 8:30, and afterward we spent a good half hour watching the lightning show as it moved northeast.

On the morning of the 11^th we packed up, looking over our fabulous campsite for the last time. We headed in to the park next to the Rec Center and did a CrossFit Workout: ½ Cindy. This is a 10 minute AMRAP of 5 pullups, 10 pushups, and 15 air squats. Sounds easy, right? Try it sometime. It’s brutal. I got through 6 rounds plus 4 pullups, and that was with scaling the moves to jumping pullups and knee pushups. I was gassed afterwards.

My reward? A Palisade peach. And a trip to Poison Spider Bikes for a shower.

We did eat one last meal in Moab, at Milt’s Stop N Eat. The staff there practically knew our names – after all, we’d eaten there 4 times in just shy of 3 weeks. Who knows when I’ll eat another hamburger and fries – when will I need to? It’s hard to top Milt’s. I even bought a t-shirt. Now I cam be a hipster, advertising for an obscure joint in a small town.

We didn’t get the site we hoped for outside of Canyonlands, our site is a little further away but sweet nonetheless. There are even cows.

The morning of the 12^th I woke up not feeling so great. Gastrointestinal distress, let’s say. But I didn’t have too much time to dwell on it. Elvis chose the ripe hour of 7am to barf. He gave us enough fair warning, though, making that horking sound that even woke Michael up. I’ve never seen the man move so fast. We shoved the pillows out of the way (of course Elvis was going to puke by our heads) and then opened up the screen on that side of the tent. Michael held Elvis by the collar and let him puke out the side… and all down the side of the truck.

The next challenge came when I let Bailey out of the back of the truck. I noticed a spot on his hindquarters that seemed to have been licked a lot, so I called him over for a closer look. He had a hole in his skin. About the size of a nickel, and I could see muscle through it.

So all plans for the day were scrapped. We had a cold breakfast (which turned out to be a good thing for me, as I was feeling worse as the day progressed), left a few things at our campsite to mark it as ours, and headed back to Moab. We know there are 2 vet clinics there. The drive took 90 minutes and the vet was able to see Bailey right away. They also had a very nice bathroom, which I used a few times.

Our bill was just shy of $200, which I have to say I found shockingly low. Maybe I’m just used to Boulder County prices? But we set out south again.

90 minutes later, we stopped at the fairly gross pit toilet at the turnoff towards our campsite. I used the bathroom, and Michael discovered that Bailey’s stitches has popped. Or he chewed them off, who knows? We hung our heads. Then we went back to our campsite, packed everything up, and headed back to Moab.

90 minutes later, the vet said they had a few appointments and could we come back in 45 minutes? We said OK and went to this taco joint called Gilberto’s. I had 2 fish tacos (first thing I’d had to eat since breakfast) and about 30 minutes later was pretty damn sorry. And very happy the vet’s office had that nice bathroom.

Long story slightly shorter – Bailey now has 3 staples in his leg. And a cone of shame, which he does not like. We camped last night back out on Lone Mesa Road.

Which brings us to today, Thursday the 13th. Today I feel worse. Michael, lucky bastard that he is, rode Big Mesa while I stayed pretty close to our bucket toilet. I don’t know what I have, but I sure hope it passes quickly. This sucks.

I’ll keep you all posted…