Utah - The Worlds Biggest Margarita
Just add a billion gallons of tequila, triple sec, and limes to that lake they have there, and well, you might have a party.
But don’t tell the Mormons - you don’t want to go down in your family tree as a lush.
Utah is a different kind of place. To illustrate this, here are some actual laws in the state of Utah -and yes, they are still on the books today!!
1. No one may walk down the street carrying a paper bag containing a violin.
2. Throwing snowballs will result in a $50 fine.
3. You’re not allowed to sell beverages containing more than 3.2% alcohol.
And here is a double whammy!
1. Women may not swear.
2. A husband is responsible for every criminal act committed by his wife while she is in his presence.
Zoinks! I couldn’t live there. The paper bag for my violin was a gift and I just can’t see parting from it.
The Heel of the Arches
Provo was just a bit of a quick stop for the night to get some rest.
Moab on the other hand, was a nice place to visit and spend a day at the Arches National park.
This is that place you see on the postcards from Utah.
(You do have postcards from Utah don’t you?!) It has those natural land bridges and sandstone arches that were made by erosion over many years. It is quite impressive to stand under one of these things and think about the time it took to create them.
After a couple of hours, I was getting hungry, so it was back to Moab to look for another kind of arches - the golden ones. No we didn’t eat at McDonalds, but there was a local brewpub next door that we wanted to try.
It was quite good, and I even had a beer, which I usually do not prefer. E and I had a nice dinner and then settled back at camp for a nice night’s sleep.
Westwater -water you thinkin’?
The next day, we hitched up and took off for Grand Junction, CO. I had just under a half a tank of gas -ok, maybe it was just under a quarter of a tank - anyway, I was certain that we would make Grand Junction which was only 70 miles away. (You see where this is going)
Well, Grand Junction was 70 miles away and EMPTY was only 50 miles away. Then it turned out that HELP was 64 miles away. We were close to an exit for Westwater, UT. The exit sign also indicated that Westwater had “NO SERVICES”. “No Services”?! What kind of town has “NO SERVICES”? A ghost town it turns out.
I think they leave those exit signs up just to antogonize folks like me that have to sit and look at them for a few hours until help arrives. Why else would you provide a sign for “No Services”?!
While we waited for roadside assistance, E made sandwiches and we had a nice lunch in the Utah desert just 20 miles from Colorado. I also took this time to make a sign that said “GAS?” which I stuck on the back of the trailer. It was this ‘Madison Avenue’ approach that inspired a couple in a really nice camper to stop and offer assistance. They said that they had 50 gallons of gas in their trailer and would be happy to help us!
The fella helped me back my truck (trailer still attached) off the shoulder (and I mean OFF the shoulder) so that he could pull right up next to me without being out in the highway.
He opened a hatch on his trailer and promptly pulled out what looked like a gas station hose complete with the nozzle! He gave me just over a quarter of a tank of gas.
I promised to meet him up the road in the next town and pay him cash for helping me. Right as he was leaving, the roadside assistance that we had called for showed up. “I have three gallons of gas for you”, the guy told us. “You might as well take it since I just dorve 64 miles to bring it to you.” I suspect that this three gallons would have gotten us to the next “No Services” sign.
We took it and thanked him for his assistance.
We caught up with the couple in the camper in Fruita, CO. We gave them one of our bags of jelly beans left over from our jelly bean factory tour and I gave him some cash.
Thanks to Steve and Leigh from Eagle, CO for helping us!
Now, in my defense, I must say that without these pre-planned episodes of running out of gas and getting stuck on beaches, our blogs would surely be boring.
I have made the sacrifices and placed myself in precarious positions on dark beaches and dangerous highways, not to mention the strain on my newly founded marriage, so that you, our dear reader, can have some entertainment.
In the end, I expect that I will be thanked for providing interesting readings to you my dear readers.
Thought for the day:
UTAH -Unleaded Took A Hike!
