On the way out I stopped in Moab UT to get a few things done, like laundry, grocery shopping, fuel, water, and to go by the library and upload some pics and videos. I have to say that I really like Moab, the people were just so friendly and welcoming, I didn't feel out of place at all. When I went into the City Market, a large grocery store in town, it was arranged almost like the Kroger stores from back in KY and they actually had a lot more variety and organic products too.
I was walking up front near the checkout lanes pushing my cart and suddenly this woman, a store manager I think, came walking right up beside me and just started talking like I was her best bud. She was evidently amused at another customer's request and she took no time on filling me in.
(paraphrased) "They said they were looking for salt with dirt in it? I told them we had salt, but no salt with dirt in it. I said I could go outside and get some dirt and put in there for you if you want." Then she just laughed... and veered off to back to the customer service area, I laughed too, mostly over the oddness of the situation, but the story amused me and I still have no idea what she was talking about.
I left Moab about noon and headed for a place I found called Valley of the Gods in Utah. It was only a few hours away and it seemed like a great place to possibly spend the night. I noticed on the way down that my phone signal was spotty, more than usual, but when I got to Valley of the Gods road, and traveled back to find a good spot for the night, I had four bars, but no data service, only phone.
So I took some pics and a video of the beautiful rock formations but rather than to setup there I decided that I would backtrack until I found a decent signal and camp somewhere nearby. Well I had to travel back about thirty miles before I had any kind of data signal and even then every place I went into as soon as I got far in at all I lost signal again. So I kept looking for a place to stay but by this time it was getting late and I wasn't sure where I would end up.
I tried this beautiful place called Recapture Reservoir that had dispersed campsites just north of a small town called Blanding. Great views, great camping areas, but no signal. I only had time to snap a quick shot of the view, but when I topped this hill and turned the corner, I had to stop long enough to take a picture.
I left the reservoir area and headed north again. I found another campground called Devil's Canyon and turned in. It is actually in the Manti-Lasal National Forest outside of Montecello UT. By now it was getting dark, but I had enough of a signal that I thought I would be okay. I kept driving back until I found an offshoot road into the forest area. I checked it out and found where previous campfires had been used, so I crawled the van down into the forest and found a good level spot and crashed for the night. The signal I had gave me the chance to navigate my next day's journey and to check on a few things that I needed to do. Nice place, and I love the forest, but I like open land too, so the next morning I headed south again.
The night before I decided to plot my direction towards Quartzite AR and to take my time and enjoy the trip. There are so many scenic views literally everywhere along the way that I stopped trying to get photos and just took them in. Even though I am sharing a lot of pictures, a small few compared to the amount I took, they don't do justice to the subject unless you have seen it yourself.
Since my last day's journey was a bit convoluted and I didn't get as much rest as I wanted, as I approached Flagstaff in mid-afternoon I came upon the Coconino National Forest, and I had heard this was a good place to camp, so I turned in.
It didn't take me long to find a nice spot under the pines to camp and I had a good signal, so I settled in for the night. A very nice place, low traffic, lots of camping areas far enough away from each other that you felt you were alone, very nice.
I walked around the area as I do most places where I camp to take pictures, enjoy the views, the flowers and rock formations, but what impressed me the most was the girth size of those pines. The wind was really whipping around with some very strong gusts, but these pines had grown up here, they weren't thin and spindly, they were thick and robust. The wind blew but the pines just waved softly and gracefully as it came crashing through.
The next morning I packed up and headed for BLM Open Land in Quartzite, AZ. This is a place that I heard about from many nomads on YouTube and in the forums. Usually it's pretty hot during the summer months, but when it gets into October, the weather is pretty nice. It usually has daytime highs in the 70's and nighttime lows in the upper 30's to upper 40's. Sunny most of the time, but there are also infrequent rain storms and windy conditions, but it's free to stay here, for as long as you want. Most national forests and BLM lands have limits on the time you can stay, usually 14 days, but it varies.
This particular piece of BLM land openly states that they do not enforce the time restraints. Many nomads spend the entire winter here. Quartzite is a popular hub for RVer's year around but especially during the winter months.
I don't know if I will stay here for a while or continue to explore some other places like New Mexico until winter sets in, just have to wait and see...
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