So I’m at Arches National Park (well, at the moment, technically in a cafe in Moab). I think if anywhere is going to teach me to appreciate sand, this is it. The sandstone formations are SWEET, but after arriving here at 7:30 AM from Aspen to get a campsite and then hiking for a couple hours, it got too hot to move. At 10 AM, my car thermometer read 95 degrees and I was unable to hike in more than a sports bra and shorts. My camelbak was sticking to my shoulders. Thus, after some consideration of the intentions of this trip, I decided to camp out tonight and then stay in a hotel for the next two nights. Lame, I know, but I can’t hide out in this cafe for 3 days during the mid-day heat. Also, I don’t smell that great :).

Other than the ghastly heat (bochornoso, I’d call it in Spanish), all’s well. Aspen was fun, especially the 3 days I spent camping just outside the town. And now I’m here being romanced by the desert. Hopefully I’ll also find something to do in Moab, since I haven’t yet found the hippie mecca everyone talks about. This cafe is a start, but I have a feeling there’s more. In any case, the writing and reading are going well when it’s cool enough to sit outside. It feels good to be out of ritzy Aspen, into somewhere new.