When you travel in the Miata, you are allotted only so many square feet to put all your stuff in, in order for the game of car Tetris to work. So, what usually happens is that I have to pack light, flexible clothing for the trip. This means I bring out the “As seen on TV” space bags, pack as much as we can in them and then Matt does some sort of tai chi knee squish to get all the air out of them. It’s pretty impressive in the end how much we can pack.
Anyways, in saying that right before we left I bought a blue romper with pineapples on it (the most tourist looking outfit I could find). I know, I know…you all are thinking that I am almost 30 years old and questioning why I am
a. willing to wear a romper period, and thinking
b. just because you are willing doesn’t mean you should.
Here’s the thing people, I like the romper, it’s a funny piece of clothing, and to me it’s the summer version of the footed pajamas and who doesn’t love those? I thought I would pull out the romper to set the theme for Tuesday, which was “fun.” Matt and I head out to “The Needles” section of Canyonlands National Park, and instantly I know what you are thinking. This activity does not involve immunizations of some sort or any methamphetamine use, so no need to freak out. We get an early start to the lower part of the park, make our way in and around the rock formations and guess what happens….the Miata starts overheating again, and we have no cell service, anyone surprised by this yet?
So, my cute, blue pineapple romper went from being super fun to super soaked with sweat. As Matt and I sit in the car while it “cools down” for what feels like the thousandth time since we left Oklahoma, I get acquainted with desert pnats and biting horse flies. They apparently liked the pineapple romper too, and thought it was edible. A nice couple did stop to ask if we needed anything. Matt of course says “No.” Are you kidding me? I’m sitting in the middle of the desert in an overheating matchbox car, no working cell phone service, roasting like a pig in what, just an hour before was a super cute romper, and you tell them “no we don’t need any help.” At that point, I could have and should have said I needed a ride (and left Matt out there-he said he didn’t need anything, that didn’t mean I didn’t need anything) and gone with those sweet old people through the national park, just so I could stop frying like a chicken in the sun, get some water, and have a minute or two of air conditioning.
Why do I succumb to these adventures Matt has in mind? I guess because I would never voluntarily do these crazy thiings myself.
The one big thing I wanted to do while in Moab was to find that awesome rock formation that lady climbs to the top of on that Citi Card commercial. This place is pretty awesome for rock climbers apparently. About a year ago is when that came on the TV. We had already started talking about Moab for mountain biking then, so I said we had to find that place when we came out here. We did this trip at sunset. It’s called Fisher Towers and its just about 30 minutes outside of Moab, next to the Colorado River. After our overheating debacle that morning, we took the afternoon to cool down and then about 2 hours before sunset we went to this fantastic place. What people said was that it was a washout road, I suppose Matt had misinterpreted what that meant, because the road was not meant for our small car. But, we made her do it anyways, she got hot and mad, but who cares (I’ve been hot and mad at her for days too), I wanted to see this place. We hiked the 2.2 mile trail up to the base of these formations to get some great photos. I have to say that although I’m probably not any more fit than I was 2 years ago in the Grand Canyon, being 55lbs lighter made a world of difference with this hiking experience.
Here’s a few photos from the day. My tourist photo in the romper (pre-sweat), Needles, and just for fun I did 5 basic yoga poses once we reached the top.They always do it in fitness magazines (have a nice background for the photo), so I thought I could too!
**Disregard my ghostly looking legs in the romper photo, no time for spray tan before this trip!
