Morning in the Moab ER

We started the day determined to take Helen to the Emergency Room at the brand new Moab hospital.  On Tuesday morning she had awakened after sleeping "wrong" with a very painful hip/back.  Learning that she had pain shooting down her leg and a numb toe or two, Liz and I insisted, and off we went to the ER.  She got in right away, had xrays, consulted with a wonderful young lady doctor, and off we went an hour-and-half later with the sciatic diagnosis.  Now we know what we should do to treat it.

Also, we awoke in the night (Wednesday night) tio the beeping of the converter indicating a low battery, despite being hooked up to power.  By morning, nothing registered on the battery indicator, wither connected or stand-a-lone.  This was despite our having power after hookup and during the night through the elctrical hookup as tested by a night light plugged into one of the AC receptacles.  Thinking I may have damaged the battery when i accidentally reversed polarity at Mendocino, I bought a new one while waiting for Helen to go in to the ER.  Tonight, the charge appears to be holding, we have power to to AC receptacles, and we'll see what the night brings. 

We started out at Arches National Park, a breathtaking NP that everyone should visit at least once.  Although it is quite warm--83 degrees  which is warm for us coastal folks--it cools down somewhat at night, making it comfortable to sleep without running the A/C.  The visitor center is interesting, and do listen to the film as it explains how the diverse forces of nature over the millions of years formed Archjes and Canyonlands.  Then, we seto out up the hill along with many others to explore this strange and beautiful area.

Balancing rock represenbts a photographer's dream, and one can walk all around it, viewing the unusual rock formation from all angles.  We expect that the lighting as it changes the shadows throughout the day would also change what we saw.

Helen stayed near the parking area with many others--including at least twelve Cruise America RVs filled with a group of travelling Dutch folks as one large group.   Liz and I walked completely around the red rock formation.  It is an easy walk, and not to be missed.

Another rock formation we drove by reminded us of Queen Nefertiti's head (below right), so we paused a moment to take a picture.  All of the rocks change their shape as you move around them, often appearing as animals, and people--even a red rock bigfoot jumped out at us as we travelled on.





Liz and I walked up a small, narrow path to view Sand Arches--the trail passes through close sided sandstone walls, and opens onto a red grotto, lit from the sunshine above, before continuing on to the natural rock arch.  The pcitures are below.

 

We finished the day hiking to the arch known as "Skyline Arch" and again Helen waited for us as her back/hip was bothering her alot.