So this last week found myself and my two oldest daughters on a camping adventure out west. Sometime in March my oldest daughter had texted from college wondering if I would go camping with her and my response was simply, "when are we leaving?"
Based on her summer work schedules, the last week in May was deemed to be the best possible time to go. Unfortunately, my husband and two youngest would be in the throws of finishing the school year, but I trusted that they could make do to handle the farm for that one week of my absence.
Ella was invited along and plans were made....but not many plans. We roughly had a direction - west, and a state - Utah. I told the girls that I had always wanted to see the arches and felt like this might be a good chance to do that - especially since some of them are very fragile and may not last much longer. The only other thing that we had "planned" was a horseback ride on one of the days.
Two days prior to leaving, Ella told me that her throat hurt a lot as well as her ears. She went to the doctor and got a strep and Covid 19 test - both of which were negative, but (with one day prior to leaving) she talked with the doctor again and got started on some antibiotics. She was unsure whether or not she was going to go because her throat was killing her. She cried on my shoulder the night before we were to leave, torn up about whether to go or not. I told her to get some rest and that I would check in before we left. I woke her up at 4:30 on the day we were leaving and she had thrown a few things into a bag to head out with us - ever the trooper, she was going to give it a go. Armed with not nearly enough clothes and some antibiotics, she crawled into the back of the car and proceeded to sleep for roughly 10 hours as Faye and I drove toward Denver.
Faye and I gabbed away the whole day while driving - apparently some of what we were talking about Ella thought was completely bunk, but her throat hurt too much to respond in any way, so she would just ignore us and go back to sleep. Late in the day, I swapped places with Ella to give Faye someone new to talk to and so that I could rest a bit in case I had to drive through Denver. I woke up in a panic when I heard hard rain on the car and everyone's phones were going off with warmings of a tornado in the area. We were in very western Nebraska where there is literally NOTHING - no places to pull off, no deep ditches, but also thankfully no trees or other possible debris items to fly around. I instructed Faye to just keep driving and attempted to pull up radar to see where this storm might be going. Unfortunately, in western Nebraska, there is also a significant lack of cellular coverage as well.
The wind picked up and the rain turned into hail, but within about 10 minutes, we seemed to have driven out from under it. When I was at last able to pull up the radar, the tornado had probably been about 2 miles from us on the interstate. Ella got back into the back seat and Faye and I headed off again to more black clouds on the horizon and what looked like the makings of another wall cloud and tornado - thankfully, we were able to make it through that one before anything serious happened.
We found a pizza place just west of Denver and called in some pizzas to be picked up and then ate them while driving up into the hazy, wet Rockies. I had isolated some "free" camping sights off of one road just outside of Idaho Springs, CO. We found the site - several people already set up with tents in the area and we quickly claimed and spot and set up. Ella, feeling horrible after going up in altitude and having both ears infected, quickly crawled into her sleeping bag and promptly feel asleep. Faye and I attempted to make a sad, wet fire, but this only lasted long enough to eat a few more pieces of our pizzas and then we too got into our sleeping bags just as the rain started coming down again in earnest. To say that it was a comfortable night is a bit of a stretch - it was cold, roughly 38 degrees and it rained most of the night. At approximately 1 am, Ella asked for the keys to the car and crawled in there to sleep for a bit because she wasn't able to get warm anymore. I woke up at first light and Faye and I had the test down and packed in about 30 minutes. We set off in search of coffee, breakfast and more adventure.
Ella was feeling mildly better after three doses of antibiotics, so we stopped for a hike at roughly 10,000 feet after I almost drove the car into a pothole the size of Rhode Island on an exit ramp. The walk was somewhat short lived, however, because I had assumed (dumby me) that the trail would be relatively dry and it, in fact, was generally snow covered and had melt water running down the middle of the trail for much of it. The hiking sandals I had on, did absolutely nothing to keep out the cold and the water. At one point, I was attempting to cross a drift of snow and fell so deep into it that I was calling for Faye (who was maniacally laughing at me) to help me get out of the hip deep drift. A rapid decent after a few pictures and clean dry socks and shoes did much to restore the feeling to my feet.
We continued on into Utah, discussing all the while relationships, healthcare, politics, school, boyfriends, until Ella popped up with a bloody nose. We stopped to get some Jimmy John sandwiches during which time Ella stayed in the car attempting to staunch the profuse bleeding and apparently googling "how much blood is too much blood?" because when we got back into the car, she demonstrated a large clot that had come out and was thoroughly grossed out by the fact that a similar clot had slid down her throat. I assured her that she was fine - it would take a lot more bleeding than that to exsanguinate through her nose, but she wasn't necessarily convinced. Faye remarked that she felt like we were caught in the Oregon trail game and Little Suzie was sick and we would have to try to keep her alive.
As we approached Moab, which was our general destination, I started looking for areas to camp. Happened upon one camp ground just south east of town called Oowah Lake. As we got into Moab, which was teaming with people and road construction, Faye had hit a driving wall. We stopped briefly at the BLM office for information (but it was closed since it was a Sunday) and so we headed out of town to try to find this campsite. The road was flat and level....until it wasn't. We went from approximately 3,000 feet to 9,000 feet in less than 20 miles which required many, many switchbacks over less then ideal roads with no guardrails on the side with the sheer drop offs. We were all just a little giddy and quite convinced that we would never be able to drive back down that road on the way out. The campground turned out to be 11 sites that were all well spaced and there was only 2 other campers there at the same time as we were. It was situated around a small lake and there were trails that we endeavored to hike before dinner that night. Rice and bean tortillas and a nice fire helped to make the evening chill hold back, but by the time we were ready for bed, the incredibly high altitude make the temps dip into the upper 30s again and the girls were chiding me about the fact that I said we would be camping on the desert and it was going to be hot. None of us had brought warm enough clothes to sleep in, but thankfully, our sleeping bags were rated for cold temps and we all huddled together laughing to stay warm for the night.
The next morning, I woke up early and started a small fire while I filtered some spring water and then we discussed our plans. While the campsite had been nice, the cold temps were something of a problem and we opted to head back toward Moab to see what we could find out and explore Arches National Park. Faye had been talking up her three Luther College friends that were going to be in the area climbing in a few days and we discussed potentially meeting up with them. They had mentioned something about a place called Willow springs that they might be staying, but I suggested to Faye that we look around and see what campsites were available. We stopped again at the BLM office and this time I was able to talk with a gentleman about the camping options in the area. His first response when I told him that we were up for camping rough and wondering about free campsites was a place called "Willow Springs" and then he proceeded to go into details about how to find it. I asked about the BLM campsites and he said, "oh yeah, but those are all likely full, or soon will be this time of day and you have to pay $20/night there - if you want one of those, you had better get on it quick" I thanked the man and got back into the car and looked at Faye and said, "well, I think I know where your boy is likely going to be". And so, given our concern about there not being any campsites, we elected to head out to Willow Springs to see what was available.
Willow Springs, as it turns out, is a tract of land that is generally open to camping for up to 14 days at a time, but there is no running water and you are supposed to have a portable toilet with you, although they do have porta-potties available that get cleaned occasionally? We stated out a place we liked up on a hill overlooking several other campers and set up camp. Faye was clearly psyched because her friend Justin would be rolling into this location sometime the following day and she spent time climbing to the top of the hill to get reception and let him know where we were.
After we pinned our tent down with very large rocks, because it was impossible to hammer any stakes into the ground, we went to check out Arches but found the park closed due to so many people being in there at that time. So, we opted to go for a hike out to Corona Arch and Bowtie Arch instead. Both were pretty incredible and well worth the walk to get there, but we were tired and sun-weary by the time we were done and opted to go back to the camp for a rest and some dinner. After dinner, we made our way back to Arches and this time were able to get in. We drove and explored until it generally got dark - saving the hike to Delicate Arch for the following day.
While driving back to the camp, I happened to pull out the paperwork for the trail riding that I had down for Wednesday only to realize that it was actually schedule for Tuesday (the next day) - a lucky thing I looked and Ella read the top of the papers. We had a wonderful fire under a moon filled sky and tucked ourselves into bed.
I was fairly convinced that my phone was going to run out of power prior to setting off my alarm for the morning because we wanted to head out early to get to the ranch where we were to ride. It was about a 40 minute drive, but with Ella driving, it seemed to be taking much longer because she was enjoying the sights while driving. We got to the ranch and got matched up with our horses - I had a gaited Tennessee walker named Bella, Faye had a gaited paint named Budro, and Ella got a huge, gentle giant named Buddy. Our guide was a man named Mike out of Salt Lake City where he was a professional horse trainer and especially worked with Mustangs. He had come to the ranch at the request of the owners because it had gotten so busy since the pandemic hit and he was training some of their horses for them and would take people out on individual trail rides. It was fun shooting the breeze with him about horses and training and the movies that had been filmed in the area years ago. He had previously been a bull rider, but had a deathly fear of needles so we had more to discuss after he learned I was a vet. After two hours of riding through creeks and along ridges, all of our legs and knees were wiped out and we were happy to get back to the barn.
We stopped off at a winery/restaurant that was having a lunch buffet that was more or less outside - had a cover over it, but no walls so it was open to the breeze. We all had ample servings of chicken breast sandwiches and potato salad before we jumped in the car to head back to the campsite....and Justin and his friends. I had given Faye and anti-histamine prior to the horse ride because she always reports reacting to the horses. It helped with allergies, but it made her incredibly tired and she was happy to lie down and take a nap when we got back to camp. Ella and I rested and read our books and then, about 3 pm we went for a short drive to the ATV trail near the camp and then back. Faye reported that her friends had apparently "arrived" at the site she had told them, but they were no where to be seen. Ella and I headed out for a drive to give Faye some time to find her friends and relax and as we were driving out of the camp area we noted a kid that fit Justin's description to a T. I rolled down the window and said to him, "hey! Faye is down the road that way just a bit." to which to waved and looked temporarily confused before saying, "Yeah, thanks for putting up the chairs!" Faye had apparently told him there were two green chairs set up on our site, but when you are talking to a color blind person, blue and red can also appear green, so he has stopped too soon. I rolled the window up and Ella looked at me and said, "He looks like a Goon!" To which we both chuckled and continued on our drive.
By the time we got back an hour later, they had indeed found Faye and set up their tents where we had left space for them. We sat around and talked and drank some Mike's hard lemonades I had bought (not realizing that they were all underage) and then decided that we would go hike to Delicate Arch. We asked Oskar, John and Justin if they wanted to come because I had already purchased the vehicle pass and it would be good to have them along. The drive was entertaining and the hike was long, but very fun. Delicate Arch was one of the arches that I had long wanted to see. I worry that some of these unique things will not last much longer given the current state of our world and environment and I wanted to see it before anything happened to it. It so happened that on the day we were hiking up to it, it was also the night of the full moon and we were hiking out to it at the time of the sunset and moonrise. We would have been there in better time if an elderly gentleman walking on the path back down hadn't tripped over a rock and cracked his head open on another rock causing him to have several large gashes in his head. Thankfully, there were two young ladies that walked up that had an emergency kit and between myself and them, we were able to bandage the head laceration and sent Justin and Faye for help. Before they were able to get back with help, the gentleman had regained his feet and the girls took him down the rest of the path to his wife who had been waiting in the car. We then had to wait for Faye and Justin to get back before we could even start up the path. It was, however, much cooler climbing in the evening and we had good conversation all the way up the hill. Justin, as it turned out, was a very kind and thoughtful person and very calm in relation to Faye's fiery nature. John and Oskar were also very fun and kept the banter up as we walked, but just itched to bound down the hill on the way back and so we let them, hoping that we wouldn't have to stop and bandage a head laceration on either of them.
We didn't get back to the campsite until about 9:30 and made dinner by light of the moon and headlamps - the boys made rice and beans and we made a boat load of mashed potatoes. It was clean up and then bed for almost all of us....except Faye was a bit late coming into the tent.
The next day, the boys headed out to go climbing as was their plan for being in Moab and Faye, Ella and I took our time getting up and eating breakfast. We dropped Faye off at a wall they were climbing along our road to a hike we were thinking of doing. Ella and I hiked out to Longbow Arch past dinosaur footprints and petroglyphs while Faye tackled climbing various walls. We stopped on our way back to see if she wanted to go back to the camp with us, or further up the road to Potash and she opted to stay and climb while Ella and I decided to continue further up the road to Potash, which actually just turned out to be a potash factory and not a town. We drove to the entrance to Canyonlands National Monument and turned around. On our way back toward Moab, we noted their van parked further up the road and no one around. Ella and I got out and started investigating. I found some trails that leg through a willow wash in a canyon and we tracked them through that until we could finally hear their voices up against a climbing wall at the back of the canyon. The wall was fantastic! With an overhang at the beginning and then beehive like indents in the rocks up to about 65 feet, it was a nice 5.10C climb (according to Justin and John) Ella and I sat there and watched Justin scale the wall followed by John. Oskar clearly had been climbing the longest and had an incredible ability to scale it similar to Spiderman. They Justin asked Faye if she wanted to do it and she did very well, only needing to be "jugged up" a bit twice. Not to be outdone, Ella opted to give it a go as well when Faye made it back down and was impressively good at scaling the rock despite not having ever climbed outside much less a 5.10 C wall. They were all out of snacks and water by that point and were headed back to camp soon, so Ella and I took off and sat in traffic at Arches until we could get through the line and get our water jugs filled. Then we made it back to camp only to find that they had picked up food at a co-op, filled their jugs for free as well AND gotten ice cream in the time it took us to fill our waters.
We took a siesta in the afternoon then and slept, red and Justin and John played a guitar and mandolin for a while before we tackled another walk at arches. This time we were just going to do a short walk out to Landscape Arch - the longest of the arches (and in my opinion, one of the frailest).
The boys offered to make dinner - stir fry with rice because Justin had nicked a 10 pound bag of rice out of the dumpsters at Luther prior to coming on the trip. Not sure what sort of selling point that was, but the dinner turned out fantastically - rice, chicken, vegetables....all good. The girls and I cleaned up with Oskar's help and then we sat around the fire eating smores and talking until it was full dark and the moon was on the rise. We all turned in with the exception of Faye and Justin. Now what follows is likely where my mothering skill set may be drawn into question....given how much Faye and Justin clearly liked each other, it was obvious to me that they wanted more than just a little time together, so when Ella and I had been in Moab to get water and gas, I had also purchased Faye a gift of some condoms so that she could be safe. She hit me up for our spare two person tent as soon as Ella and I got back to camp, which I had already joked she and Justin could use, but this time I said, you can use the tent as long as you accept my gift. I presented the condoms to her prior to dinner that night with the notification that this was not "permission so much as simple protection". She blushed and got all flustered and swore that she would return a sealed box back to me tomorrow.
Thursday morning dawned and it was time to head home. Ella and I broke camp and woke Justin and Faye up on my way to the car with a "Time to get up, Love Birds!" We packed quickly and generally silently and then hit the road after our good-byes. Upon getting into the car and on the road I announced that, "I need coffee." to which Faye quickly added, "I need Plan B" I think the best response came from Ella from the back seat..."WWHHHATTT!!" quickly followed by, "I had to do that once, it is no big deal". For my own part, I was amazingly calm - nothing really to say, she had done all things as she should have and it had just been faulty, but WOW! what a story for a girl's first time - outside in the desert under the moon and stars...just about perfect if it hadn't been for the questionable integrity of the prophylactic her mother had given her. Ella quickly hopped on her phone and tracked down a pharmacy that was right off the interstate we were headed home on and by 11 am that morning, the Plan B had been deployed. Much hilarity and discussion, anxieties and worries were brought up. Faye was concerned that I would not like Justin when, as I pointed out to her, I was the one to give her the condoms AFTER meeting the kid....if I hadn't liked him, I would have insisted she stay in the tent with me that last night.
In general, the Utah trip with my two oldest girls will likely go down in history as one of our best. No plans except for the horseback ride...which we almost missed because I had the day wrong...and a first for Faye (and me as her mom). There will likely be nothing off limits in our discussions from here on out. It was jarring to learn that Ella had already dealt with all of this situation in her first year of college and going out with Seth, but then again, I am not really surprised that she would just handle it, that has always been her way generally. Faye's anxieties and insecurities lead her to call me and worry about things sometimes unnecessarily because, as I pointed out to her, what I think of the person she likes doesn't matter one flying fig so long as he treats her right. I pity the man that hurts one of my daughters as I quite honestly will likely hunt them down and make their lives hell.
But when I need a good chuckle, I will likely always think of Faye's comment in the car and Ella's initial reaction, both were priceless.
