I’m mentally ready to ski again, and to ski out west again, but I didn’t have the right clothes, and with just one day, I didn’t want to go through the production. Another reason to return soon! It was more important to spend time with friends anyway. Catherine made French toast and then she, Don and I went for a walk in the snow; there’s a walking trail (with sculpture) near their house. It was good to get some exercise after sitting in the room and sitting in the car! We looked at videos and pictures and home renovations and caught up in general. Going zero miles made up for 650 the day before!
Don and I went downtown while his son had a class; we went to a coffee shop and played one of my life’s more memorable games of Scrabble (I also played Scrabble with him in Central Park this past summer, though I didn’t note it in my New York Stories). Back at their home, we had a wonderful dinner and played more Scrabble.
Since I thought I would get here mid-day on Tuesday and didn’t, I thought I would stay through mid-day Thursday and get the full amount of planned time. What a nice visit! Too short, though (as I said, a recurring theme). In the morning, we had time for one more game of Scrabble. Then I went to Park City’s Main Street for lunch with Katie, the RPCV from the year ahead of me who was in Timhadite and whom I saw a lot of in my first year in Morocco. She’s doing great! I wondered if I would be that removed and yet still attached in a year (answer – my feelings are skewed by additional feelings for the Philippines!).
And then it was back on the road. I passed the area used for the biathlon in 2002 – the surprise fun event of the Olympics for Beth and me. From throwaway ticket in our package to drama and joy! 250 miles later, I was in Moab. I’ve been wanting to go to Bryce and Zion for a long time now – but those are far away. Arches and Canyonlands, on the other hand, were more or less on the way. Not on I-80, mind you, but I was planning to dip down to I-70 to visit friends in Boulder anyway, and that made Moab kind of on the way. It was a beautiful drive! For the first half, there was snow all around (to the point where all I saw was the black road and white everything else – no land, no sky), and then I went over a pass and there was no snow.
I had a nice conversation with the owner of the B&B where I stayed; this one too is one of the legacies of the trip. He told me that he and his wife used to come down to Moab and they just knew that was where they wanted to be. I told him I have never felt that way about a place, and I’ve been waiting for a place to say this is it. He said, “maybe you’re just meant to be a nomad.” Hm – he might be right. And my other line that came out of this – “ epiphanies don’t happen on demand.”
Moab has a nice tourist infrastructure, and I ate at a great pasta place recommended by the B&B owner. It would be interesting to come back in the summer and perhaps go rafting! Don and Catherine have often mentioned how nice Park City is in the summer, too. But the National Parks near Moab are beautiful in the winter too, and much less crowded.
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