Grand Staircase Escalante

After a morning of fighting the internet connection, we packed up our final Days Inn camp spot and said goodbye forever. Or at least for now.

Expired Goldfish and Water

Over the mountain and through Dixie Forest, we drove our way to Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. The drive was short, and the views beautiful. We stopped in Boulder Town for ice, toilet paper, trash bags, a bag of expired Gold Fish, and irrigation water. Note to self: check expiration dates on anything purchased in a small town one-stop-shop. And not any red handle water pump is potable water. Yuck, and double yuck.

Burr Trail Road

Taking Burr Trail Road, we found a dirt road for dispersed camping, set up camp, and got busy painting and writing as thunderheads loomed in several directions. Minutes into our plein air session, the wind kicked up and thunder boomed.

“How much time we got?” Rex asked.

“Hmm, well I’d say…maybe ten minutes,” I guessed.

Two minutes later the rain started, a soft sprinkled quickly followed by hard rain morphing into hail. We made quick work shoving bins and panels in the back of the truck. I grabbed a few beers and made for the cab, my hair and shirt already soaked. I held Rex’s hand as he ate cheese curds, and we watched a small river of water form and leak into our camp. The fierce wind rocked the truck as hail bounced off the hood. It was the worst weather we had experienced during the trip thus far. It lasted fifteen long minutes.

Sweet Sage

Slowly the biting hail shifted back to a soft patter of rain and then stopped. We rolled down our windows to the most delicious smell—sage. It was heavenly, refreshing and alive. The sage brush’s thick and thin bodies blackened, slick and damp from the summer shower, swollen with the bounty of liquid gold.

The red dirt after the storm reminded me of beach sand. The raindrops wet the seabed making the rocky grit perfect for building mythical creatures in the sand, like the scaly skin of a sand dragon.