Today was a long day. I thought a lot about writing and now the only motivation I have is to let you know that it’s raining. And I’m in “a city”. Asphalt smells funky even before it rains. I was wondering about the mildewey smell and then it started raining. At least it’s not me. People complain about wet dog smell, I dislike wet asphalt smell more… I hope it doesnt rain too hard so I have a chance at staying dry! Gotta figure out some gap sealing and weather proofing, tempted to spray foam it for the winter… but that stuff isnt water tight either and makes me look blobby.
Where did we sleep last night? Payson at a walmart, aye? I got an early start driving from there. Galixy got woken up a million times by a rowdy chikkie. It was pretty cold, but it wont be tonight! Unless it leaks a lot…
Anyway, I had found a thrift shop I had wanted to go to, but it wasnt open until 11 am and since we left payson at about 9:30 we wouldve been there way too early. The boys both said they wanted to do something to do with dinosaurs so I looked at the maps and found a hike about dinosaur foot prints. It was 2 and a half hours away. It gave the kids a good reason to want to keep driving (oh! Lightning and thunder! Not very far off either…) we did a few potty breaks and one nice rest area stop, but made it to parowan and up Gap road by 2pm.
It was a beautiful area with lots of sun and stickies getting on our clothes. Hiking around I ended up shedding all sorts of winter layers. Besides clearly marked dinosaur foot prints we also discovered some cactus, THE sign I’ve been telling the boys to look for to know that we’re in the desert and warmth. Even chikkie came on the hike with us, probably ecstatic about his chance to be out of the bus! He didnt always take the same path as us, but when he was unsure of where we had gone he’d just meow very loudly and then follow our calls. I hope he sleeps through the night and realizes he doesnt want to be out in the rain anyway! Atreyu got a bloody nose on the hike and when we attempted to clamber up a rock wall Galixy accidentally kicked a rock down that hit atreyu too. The dino prints had been made by hadrosaurs. The rocks and cliffs in general were pretty impressive.
After the dinosaur walk, we were all pretty tired. Atreyu wanted to go swimming and Galixy wanted quiet so the orchestra of cries commenced until we hit the interstate. I couldve sworn with all the driving we did today, we woulda hit 5 hours, alas even less than yesterday! A little over 3 hours when we hit the mcdonalds in st. George. The kids ran around the playplace while I jammed to the music they played. I’d intended on writing some there, but I just played some game and tuned out for a little. The boys ate fairly little there, mainly the yogurt. I wont complain about that and stuffed them fully of healthier snacks once we got back to the bus. I only drove to the truck stop south of town, tired and ready for the kids bed time… just so I could go lay down too…
Matilda the Bugus 