We’re at the Wahweap Marina, Glenn Canyon National Recreation Area on Lake Powell. It seems to have many names. The campground overlooks Lake Powell with a very nice view. Unfortunately, we’re not staying at the campground but at the RV park which has a nice view of the laundry facilities. It seems that the campground is closed for the winter, though a sign promised, “Same rates available in the RV Park.” Unfortunately, we used up just about all of the time available for driving such that there would still be enough light left to pitch the tent, which meant that we didn’t have enough time to go anywhere else. Or at least, if we went somewhere else, we’d have to do it in the dark. Fortunately, we have no immediate neighbors and aside from quite a few cars driving in and out, it seems to be a quiet RV park. The nice side is that for the $15 we had to pay to stay here, we get showers! Since we left Dave’s place in Austin, we’ve only taken one shower. We stink. Since it seems that we can take as many showers as we want, we were considering showering both tonight and tomorrow morning, but we seem to have decided against it. The other perk is the laundry facility. They’re coin operated machines, but they’re here, which means we don’t have to stop somewhere else. I’m thinking we can delay future laundering until we reach California. A side effect of the laundry facility is that I’m journaling, since it’s warm in here and there’s power and a chair available. And we have to do something while the clothes dry. Two chairs, actually. Joanna had been simply watching me journal, but she just realized that now would be a good time to write some postcards.

Our original idea for tonight was to camp at the Grand Canyon. But we realized we could get farther than that if we just skipped it. Both of us have been there, and neither of us much felt like going back. Joanna was initially excited at the opportunity to see the north rim, but then discovered it’s closed for winter. We also talked about hiking to the bottom, but it’s probably way too icy for that.

I’m beginning to think that maybe Joanna’s right about journeying through the snow in a miata and tent camping. Last night pointed out a few things. First, the tires on the miata have zero traction on snow. They’re summer tires, not even all-seasons, but I’m surprised at just how badly they behave. We managed to get briefly stuck on a few inches of snow. Second, it was cold. I’m guessing no warmer than 20F. Our bottle of lemonade froze solid. Joanna wanted to close the moisture vent on the tent last night. After waking up to a thick layer of frost INSIDE the tent, she now knows why I insist upon keeping it open. With it open, there is no moisture inside the tent at all, yet heat is maintained quite well. Some heat escapes, but it’s a small price to pay for being dry. This is the first small tent I’ve ever been in that manages to avoid condensation inside the tent all together. Instead, the moisture is vented onto the rain fly where it all condenses and runs down the underside onto the ground.

In spite of all this, we weren’t cold inside our sleeping bags. Packing up the tent proved to be a very chilling experience. We talked briefly this morning of just driving straight to California, but we’ve elected to try to stick it out for a few more parks until we get to the Arches NP in Moab, UT. We’re on the Utah border right now, so I’m not sure how much longer that will take. If we spend a day in each park, 3-4. After Moab, I’m hoping to be able to swing by Flyin’ Miata in Grand Junction, CO and have them look at the Miata. It’s making yet another noise that sounds possibly bad and that I can’t identify. I thought it was detonation, but retarding the timing didn’t help. It only does it under load between 2,500-3,000rpm. Since it turned 183,000 miles today, and it wouldn’t hurt to have an expert look it over…

After our very cold morning, we were driving through St. John’s, AZ when I announced to Joanna, “All-You-Can-Eat pancakes for 2.99.”

“Sounds good to me,” she said.

“Really, you want to?” I asked, since she never wants to eat at restaurants. But she’s got a soft spot for breakfast, so she went for it.

An older guy accosted us as we got out of our car. “Where in Texas are you from?”

“Dallas,” replied Joanna. Which is hardly true on any number of counts, but is a good enough answer.

“Dallas, that’s a little town just the other side of Fort Worth, isn’t it…” He continued, “I’ve got family there.. In fact I’ve got family in San Antonio, Abilene, Fort Stockton. . .” he went on listing cities in Texas for quite some time. He spent the next minute or two telling us about his family. We managed to get away and sat down and a friendly waiter asked us what we wanted to drink while we read over the menu.

“So, are we doing pancakes?” Joanna asked.

“No,” I told her.

“What?? That’s bait and switch!”

“No it’s not, I never told you I wanted pancakes.”

See, it’s not that I didn’t want pancakes, but pancakes all alone are pretty boring. And I was really hungry. Joanna is convinced I’m eternally trying to get us to spend money, which isn’t really true, although she is quite a bit more thrifty than I am. I think she’s quite a bit more thrifty than most anyone. We spent the next ten minutes debating, and eventually settled on the pancakes for both of us, plus an order of hash browns, and a biscuit with gravy. Actually, I’m not entirely sure if we were settled or not. We were agreed on everything but the hash browns when the waitress came over, but Joanna wouldn’t say yes or no.

The clothes are dry.

The postcards are not.

(Any smeared post cards are my fault.)