BeaUTAHful

Ten days, four national parks, one national forest, one state park, one national conservation area, multiple hikes, countless memories. For those of you who haven’t trekked to Southern Utah, it’s basically one big outdoor playground. Growing up in Southern California, I never realized just how close and accessible these venues are, just take the I-15 and you’re there. 

The city of Moab was our first stop in Utah, it is sandwiched between two national parks. Our first stop was Canyonlands NP. This park is MASSIVE. In fact, we only were able to drive thru a small portion known as Island in the Sky, a flat-topped mesa with panoramic overlooks. Two massive canyons forged by the Green and Colorado rivers come together to provide stunning views literally as far as the eye can see. I had often felt small when looking up at the massive peaks of the Rockies,  I never imagined that looking down into the behemoth canyons would produce the same result. There is a certain timeless serenity associated with large formations of their stature— they have been here before me and will remain when I pass on. In one gulp these canyons could swallow up all of the greatest skycrapers, bridges, and tower of Babels that man could build. Nature has a subtle way of quieting our giant egos. Arches NP was the other stop in Moab. Cathederals of massive rock formations in all directions, each with unique features that lend themselves to clever nicknames such as parade of elephants, park avenue, or the iconic, delicate arch. You’ve seen this arch before whether on the Utah license plate or the Microsoft Windows background and we were fortunate to make the 3 mile hike to see it, along with a few thousand of our newest friends. 

We headed west to our “layover” campsite in the surprisingly large town of Ritchfield. Along the way we were hit with two minor vehicle issues as if to remind us that we weren’t home just yet. The first was a door ajar warning light that wouldn’t go out. Ordinarily not a big deal, but as you may recall it caused some electrical haywire earlier in the trip and it was in some ways the “monkey on my back”. After some basic troubleshooting, some earnest prayer, I embarrassingly realized that the back window latch wasn’t properly secured….problem solved. Funny how small issues balloon when we allow anxiety into the driver’s seat. The second thing that occurred was I lost my power steering somewhere between Moab and Ritchfield. My first thought was I had Samson-like moment associated with the loss of my hair in which I no longer had the strength to turn the wheel. I was going to try to muscle through it but when I had trouble backing into the campsite I knew I needed to get some help. Fortunately, the local Ford service garage was willing and able to help. Their manager let me know that they were swamped with weeks of work, but after I explained our situation he expressed that he would move us to the top of his list. If you have ever been the victim of such an act of kindness, take the time to reach out to that individual and thank them. Pure, Christ-like love is found at the intersection unmet needs and willing hearts. Thank you Mason of Jorgensen Ford, for showing us kindness on the road!

We headed down the I-15 and parked Hope in the KOA at Hurricane. The camp lived up to its name as I battled 45 MPH while driving, I think I got sea sick! Setting up the tent for our friends in those conditions was also interesting, but fortunately the weather gave us the break we needed. I mentioned friends…. A family from our church group in San Diego and a long-time buddy of mine from the Naval Academy days joined us for our adventure. It was so good to see folks from our hometown. It also further signaled the impending end of what has been an epic trip as we were 500 miles from our home. The bittersweetness of that thought continues to occupy our minds. Nonetheless, we spent some enjoyable time with them. Multiple hikes thru Zion, a ‘beach’ day at the lake, hill races up “tank hill” for extra desert, overweight/overfed squirrels, animatronic deers, Indiana Jones-like adventures thru the slot canyons of Red Canyon national reserve, even a temporary reuniting with our mini-van. My buddy stayed on a little longer so we did some additional treks with him - uncovering dinosaur footprints, hiking Bryce Canyon NP, hitting a lesser known area of Zion NP, and watching a chance “air-rodeo” otherwise known as smokejumper training. Our kids are all hiked out for now, and their National Park passports are full for the Western region of the US. The time with our friends increased our yearning for home. I suddenly realized that your home is the community of friends that miss you when you aren’t around.

At this point it would be rational to assume that we would head SOUTH on the I-15 and go home, call it a trip, celebrate the last year….but rational is overrated. As it were, we headed NORTH. Don’t worry, not going for another lap (although I could be easily tempted to do it if someone would just dare me —we’d hit all the states we missed). Instead we’re doing a “Victory Lap” around the Great Basin. Up to Boise to see our friends, down to Mammoth to spend some time reflecting, and then landing Hope back in Southern California. We’ll stop by our family’s house on June 18th, and then start the next chapter of our lives. We have some pretty good ideas of what God wants us doing, but we’ll share that later. For now, in the words of Johnny Utah, Vaya Con Dias!