The Utah Adventure part two!

After Bryce Canyon, I thought the trip was too amazing and probably almost over, but Mommy said we were just getting started.  We rode a beautiful highway WAY high above the clouds, then a dirt road that went back and forth and back and forth… Mommy said we were going to ride a Bullfrog Ferry, and I couldn’t wait to see what that was! 

When we got there, I looked and looked for Bullfrogs.  Mommy asked me what I was doing, and when I told her, she giggled.  She explained that we were in a town called Bullfrog, and there was a ferry across Lake Powell.  I felt a little silly, but then I got excited about the idea of riding the motorcycle onto a boat!

There it was!  It was a very small boat, and I was a little nervous being on Mommy’s bike getting onto it.  There was a ramp, but you could see right down to the water.

Once we were on the boat, I hopped off the bike to explore.  I wanted to go up and meet the captain, but Mommy said that I couldn’t while she was working.  I waved to her and took a selfie!

The land next to the ferry was so cool.  It reminded me of a story Daddy told me called Dune about a place with lots and lots and lots of sand.

That night, we camped in a cool place.  Mommy hung up all the motorcycle clothes to air out, and she said that stinky monkeys should air out in the tree too.  I told her I wasn’t a stinky monkey, but I climbed the tree anyway.  Then…. I spotted a cave!

 

While Mommy and Daddy cooked dinner, I went off to explore.  I climbed and climbed and climbed, but I still didn’t make it up to the cave.  It was way higher than the trees.  I wondered what lived in there… Bears?  Lions?  I got scared, and ran home.  I curled up in Daddy’s motorcycle boot and fell asleep.

The next morning, we went to a place called Natural Bridges.  There were huge bridges that glaciers and erosion had carved out of stone. 

 I took a view from way up high in a tree. 

Then Mommy and Daddy took me to a part where we could see old clay ruins where people had lived.  They farmed way  up high, and carried the grain down to the protected areas to store. I thought about how much work that sounded like, and was very curios how they farmed, because the land was pretty dry and rocky.  I started wishing I could build a time machine, and go back in time so I could see how the people farmed.  Maybe when I grow up I’ll be a physicist and build a time machine!

After the park, we rode a SUPER CURVY road.  See that curve?  We went from way up high to way down low very quickly, into a super amazing road called “Valley of the Gods.” 

Valley of the Gods had so much red dirt!  Mommy loves red dirt and so do I.  Daddy went very very fast down this road, even though sometimes there were big campers coming the other direction!  He had some exciting moments.  I liked all the cool rock formations. 

While Mommy and Daddy had lunch, I hung out with this cool dog.  I never learned her name, because she was surprisingly quiet for a dog.  I told her all about Moto, our puppy at home, and how Moto will sometimes think I am not a travel monkey but one of her toys and will try to carry me off with her teeth, and how Mommy has to rescue me. Then I told her about Utah, and how pretty it is and how big it is.  She didn’t say a word the whole time, but I think she was a pretty good friend.  It kind of made me miss Moto, but it was nice to hang out with a dog that didn’t try to carry me in her teeth.

Moto’s in Moab was a lesson in contrasts.  This was the beautiful, serene, idyllic view from our tent.

This was closer to the reality: Quirky bikes, 850 people, lots of noise.  I kind of liked it. I wondered what it would be like to ride in a side car, or on one of those really really really loud bikes that don’t even seem to have a muffler at all. 

In the evening, the organizers lit the BIGGEST bonfire I’d ever seen.  They used blow torches to light it!  It was huge and amazing! 

Then people got their motorcycle and started riding around the bonfire.  Mommy, Daddy, and I didn’t want to miss out on that, so we got our motorcycles too!  It was fun, but very hot.  

The next day, Mommy and Daddy went exploring, but I decided to rest.  They told me their next big adventure was a place called the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands.  I woke up early that morning, excited for an adventure on a famous road. 

The White Rim trail was very pretty, but I wasn’t sure why it was called the White Rim.  We rode on all different colors of dirt and rock.  But I sure understood why the park was called Canyonlands.  There was canyon after canyon after canyon.  It was beautiful.

 After this, we had some bike things to do.  We went to a garage, and met this goofy dog.  I hung out with him for a while, but he fell asleep every time I started talking.  I liked my other girl dog better.

We headed out of Moab, and into Ashley National Forest.  It was nice to be in the peaceful forest again.

I went off and played in all of the trees.  Mommy followed me around with the camera. 

In this tree, I pretended I was a lumberjack and sang “I’m a lumberjack and I’m ok.  I work all night and I sleep all day.” 

  

Then I spotted this tree and yelled “Timber!”  Mommy laughed and said well, it’s good there’s no one around.

Then we gathered as a family to watch a peaceful sunset.

Something I have been meaning to tell you about was  a chat I had with Mommy.  I had a lot of time to watch the scenery and animals and everything on the trip.  And I noticed something.  There’s a pretty big difference between cows and horses.  See, we took some adventure cuts and had to turn around a few times to stay on our route.  The horses, they’re pretty with it.  They look at you the first time and are like “cool, a motorcycle.”  Then, the second time they think “hm.  They’re back.”  The third time they shake their head.  “silly humans.”  Cows, on the other hand…. Well, they’re just cows.  They watch you go by, their head bobbing, and then when they see you again, their brains have been wiped clean.  They just watch you go by again, heads bobbing.   It must be interesting to be a cow, and see everything as brand new every single time.  But I think I’d rather stay a travel monkey.

The next few days were a really big adventure!  We followed something Mommy and Daddy called the Backroads Discovery Route. 

When we stopped in Wyoming (isn’t it strange that Wyoming is part of the Utah Backroads Discovery Route?) we saw a bar called “Spanky’s!”  We had to stop and have a coke.

The next day, I think we had our biggest adventure ever.  We were headed to bear lake for yummy raspberry milkshakes.  We were still taking the backroads discovery route, but some parts had snow.  To get around them, Daddy used something called Google Maps.  It found us a road that only the local farmers had used before… We ended up in a field, with the Google Map saying “Turn left” and the only spot to turn left was up a rain runoff.  Satellite technology thought it was a road, and so did our motorcycles!  It took us up out of that field, over the hills and through the woods!

Until we got to MORE SNOW!  We played in the snow for hours, trying to get through, before Mommy and Daddy discovered a snow bank snow big, we couldn’t make it.  So we found another way, but eventually got our raspberry milkshakes.

When we got to Bear Lake, it was BEAUTIFUL! For a few minutes, I forgot all about Raspberry Milkshakes and stared at the deep blue green lake in front of me.  It was worth all of the crazy adventure from the last few days. I almost couldn’t imagine anything more beautiful.

 

Our last stop was Craters of the Moon National Monument.  The earth changed from dirt to rock lava.  Lots of different types of Rock Lava, so it really felt like you were on the moon.  I took a picture of Daddy because it made him look like a cool space astronaut.  I wonder if I’d look that cool if I was an astronaut.  Mommy said I always look cool. 

When we got home, I got to talk to Moto.  She didn’t even try to carry me in her teeth.  I told her all about the trip. She told me all about her other Mommy Tahnee.  Tahnee sounded like a very nice person.  Moto got to have her own adventure and go to Seattle to play for a while with another puppy!  I was happy for Moto.    Eventually we hopped over to her bed, and we both fell asleep.  I could hear Mommy saying “Good night tired monkey’s.”