Christmas Early, Part IV

Christmas decorations in the Moab hotel

We'd planned to visit Onion Creek on our final full day in Moab. Lizard was worried he wouldn't be able to handle two long drives back to back; we'd have to return home, probably an eight-plus-hour trip, the following day. Onion Creek was at least an hour away. At least an hour up the creek on possibly post-flooded or muddy dirt road, then another hour back. We instead took a short drive up Kane Creek, where he used to ride the most challenging trails, and he reminisched about our many camping trips and rides in that territory. We then went up the opposite side of the Colorado River on the Potash road to Jug Handle Arch.

2008 Onion Creek Christmas Card

Lizard was SO determined to start up his blog again with trip reports from this dream-come-true adventure. I'm still trying to encourage him that it's not too late; we can do it anytime he is able to settle down and think clearly. Hopefully that return blog post will appear soon! He even took his first photos in years at Jug Handle Arch! (Operating a computer, a camera or his phone have become pretty challenging for him.)

I was trying to get a backlit shot of the arch when a large bird's shadow went over my head. I turned just in time to see a bald eagle rest in the tree closest to me!!! I was in heaven for the next 20 or so minutes!!! I was still getting glorious Christmas presents!!!

I had planned to do a session at the new Grand Junction Temple on the way home the next day while Lizard visited with his mom. The mountain forecast forced us to abbreviate our visit with Lizard's mom and rush home. We encountered light flurries outside of Eagle and again while climbing Vail Pass and then Eisenhower Pass, but the roads were great, and we made it home safely. I miss our winter climbs and our cross-country ski trips, but I am so thankful Lizard was able to endure and enjoy this trip! I hope it will be the first of many!

2014 Wave Trip

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Christmas Early, Part III

Lizard was far too exhausted to do anything special in Moab when we arrived during the afternoon we had planned to be Day 1 that had become Day 2 because of the mountain snowstorm that actually left traces of white along the Utah desert, too. Nothing like snow on red rock! I didn't get any photos, however, because I thought we'd be able to get some the next morning. Desert snow just doesn't last long enough!!!

After getting settled in our room, we went to the grocery store for dinner. Lizard had a craving for beef stroganoff. We couldn't find any in the frozen section!!! He settled for Swedish meatballs, and I got a veggie Mexican bowl. We heated them in the microwave in our hotel room, and he fell asleep several times while finishing his dinner. We had planned to soak in the outdoor hot tub that has a grand view of the also still-open swimming pool with a mini Delicate Arch waterfall with a row of flames atop. Lizard was so tired!

Our first full Day in Moab called for a hike up the Delicate Arch viewpoint trail, the scene of our first date. We were so new to each other then, and selfies had not been discovered yet. Sadly, I have no photos of that memorable adventure. We pedaled up to the trailhead 21.5 years ago after meeting in person for the first time (We'd known each other via an online climbing group for about two years) in the Arches National Park headquarters parking lot. No bikes allowed on the trail (and we both knew that). Lizard removed his clip-in shoes and his socks, then carried both our bikes, to the astonishment of all the other hikers all the way up to the viewpoint. Our fellow arch enthusiasts couldn't praise him enough! I carried his shoes and our picnic lunches, which I had made.

2008 on Hurrah Pass

(My choice of cycling shoes back then weren't clip-in. I was terrified I'd fall over trying to unsuccessfully clip out in front of him, as I had done my first time wearing my clip-in shoes. More than a year earlier, when I participated in a Moab cycling event that no longer exists, I fell over in front of all the other cyclists at the start line. I remember hoping he wasn't there because I didn't want him to see klutzy me, although he probably would not have recognized me. Turns out he wasn't there. Nevertheless, I didn't want to make up for it by falling in front of him on our first official date!)

2007 Delicate Arch reflection

There are many reasons for selecting Moab as our Christmas gift to each other this year. Lizard said he'd rather go to Moab than any of the other destinations I'd checked into when we learned we needed to use up some hotel points. Moab offered better return for our points than any other location I'd looked up because it was such off season. We could celebrate our 20th anniversary, which we hadn't been able to do in timely fashion because Parkinson's threw so many wrenches at us during the summer. The main reason for our December trip, however, was my genuine Christmas wish to replace, with pleasant memories, some of the worrisome hallucinations Lizard was beginning to experience again. His hallucinations last year were so traumatic, well, that's why I'm retired now, and that's why our life has changed so radically. I'm truly worried his hallucinations will become horrific again, and I'm trying to help him maintain whatever quality of life I can muster for him.

2012 Moab tranquility

We didn't take our bikes, so there would be no ride to the trailhead this trip. Lizard hasn't been able to get his leg over the bike again (recurring issue every single time we are unable to ride for more than a week), and we hadn't walked very far in so long, I can't even remember the last time. The drive to the trailhead would be difficult on my exhausted and claustrophobic Lizard. Neither of us knew whether he'd be able to walk up the trail again, but we both were determined to try.

All the snow had melted by the time we left the hotel. (Lizard needed a nap after the hotel breakfast.) We had to wait in line to get into the Park, but this gave us time to absorb some of the changes since our last visit, which was pre-pandemic. The Park now operates on a timed-entry system during peak season. Signs along the entrance drive provide travelers with a time estimate to reach the entrance gate. Because the wait is anything but brief. Wow!!! Thank heavens our entrance took only about 20 minutes.

Only two other vehicles were parked at the trailhead. Hallelujah!!! We would have the trail to ourselves! There are no benches for Lizard to rest on the way up to the viewpoint, but Lizard made use of a couple of large boulders. We encountered one other hiker near the top, and a small group of hikers at the top. All were on their way back down. We had the entire viewpoint to ourselves! And... LIZARD MADE IT!!!

We reminisced about our first date and all the glorious trips we've made to Moab since then. I snapped a few photos. We wished each other a very merry Christmas and literally dropped to our knees to thank God for allowing us this trip and helping Lizard surmount incredible odds.

Hallucinations were encountered on the way down. Lizard thought little people were wiring a tunnel along the trail. And he insisted Yoda was watching us. He's a Star Trek fan who also enjoys Star Wars on a limited basis. He spent many years wiring before I met him. I think the "little people" he often hallucinates are memories of his wiring days. If you are standing in a dark water diversion tunnel, wiring lights with a team, the co-workers down the tunnel might appear smaller and smaller, the further away they are. I often tell him his hallucinations are like photos we call up on a computer. Just an image stored in our brain that Parkinson's can't distinguish between reality and memory. We joked how much better Munchkins hanging Christmas lights along the trail (my idea) were than most of the hallucinations he experienced last year.

We planned to eat pizza at our favorite Moab restaurant, discovered on our first date, upon return to town, but the restaurant was closed for its annual party. (The sign even read "Christmas" instead of "holiday"!) Lizard asked if I could make his favorite home meal... southwest salad. So off to the grocery store we headed again, and about two hours later, Lizard was once again entertaining Munchkins in his much-needed slumber.

As we were descending the trail earlier in the day, he told me he always has Moab in the back of his mind, but now it was in the forefront because of this trip. What better Christmas gift could we give each other!!!

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Christmas Early, Part II

Because we left home a day early, we were able to enjoy our favorite pre-Parkinson's West Slope breakfast before heading out to Moab. It had begun to snow overnight, which was heaven for me. It wasn't sticking to the road, and I anticipated getting some awesome shots in Colorado National Monument before heading further west.

The snow stopped abruptly while Lizard enjoyed his treasured biscuits and gravy. We made a quick little drive up into Colorado National Monument anyway and were blessed with a very special wildlife sighting...

reason for the sneezin'

The Monument was foggy, and there wasn't as much snow as I thought there might be, but man, was it a lovely drive! We were so excited to have been able to make this extra stop on our Christmas gift to each other!

I think this is the first time I've ever stayed at a hotel that put up Christmas ornaments. The Grand Junction hotel's theme was red and white, not my favorite Christmas colors, but look at this precious ornament!!! Definitely a sign of good things to come in the next couple of days!

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Christmas Early, Part I

We had hotel points we had to use or loose by next Monday (December 15). We had taken the car in for its scheduled maintenance the Monday before Thanksgiving, only to learn we needed new tires... with our first winter storm of the season on its way. The shop was skeleton crew for the week, due to Thanksgiving, and getting our car back in time for my Christmas present to Lizard (and his Christmas present to me) was on the line.

our most recent trip to Moab, in 2019

We could take the (1995) truck, but we'd taken it for its scheduled maintenance a couple months earlier, and the shop had injected dye they wanted us to burn off in 300 miles so they could see where a leak was originating. The possibility of head gasket replacement kept us from driving the truck too far from home until the week of Thanksgiving, while the car was in the shop. The truck seemed to be running okay; my son, the auto mechanic of my immediate family, assured me it would emit white smoke from the exhaust pipe if it truly did need a new head gasket. (8 December update: It is indeed the head gasket, darn it.) Nevertheless, driving the truck to Moab seemed a bit risky... Actually, it was unthinkable.

Two days before our westward trek, we exchanged the car for the truck. The car had new tires, we had our first snow of the season (a skimpy dusting), roads were a nightmare, and we had traction!!!

The mountain pass forecast for Day 1 of our journey did not look promising at all to this now-whimpy driver who hasn't navigated rush hour traffic in a year and a half and hasn't done any long highway driving for more than five years. I decided to make use of the solar road plow the day before we were scheduled to leave. Our adventure gained an extra day!

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Uncorked

One of Lizard's favorite quotes is frequently uttered in admiration of someone else's accomplishment. When Disturbed covered the famous Simon & Garfunkle "Sounds of Silence", Lizard excitedly exclaimed (after listening to the song about eight consecutive times!), "Boy, did they uncork a big one!" I think that was the first time he'd described anything like that to me. I've always thought it's such a cute way of saying, "Wow!"

Well, now Lizard has uncorked a big one of his own. I wasn't sure we'd ever again get to travel more than about four hours. Being in a (tiny) moving vehicle is just too difficult for him. He experiences demoralizing tremors, anxiety and restless legs. As well as a few other unmentionable Parkinson's symptoms.

We wanted to do something special for our 20th anniversary, and I was looking for things within about a three-hour radius. When I discovered the public open house for the Farmington (New Mexico) Temple would be conducted right after our porcelain anniversary (yes, what a strange emoji for such a big accomplishment, right?!?), I asked Lizard how he would feel about a seven-hour drive, which we both knew probably meant about 12 hours for us. He was game. He knew it would be rough, but he wanted me to be able to go.

We made arrangements about six weeks in advance, and his anxiety got the best of him the night before we were to leave. He was up. ALL night. Which means I was up all night. And I would be the one doing all the driving...

The trip to Durango, where we would home base for three nights, took 11 hours. Not as bad as I expected, but it was incredibly hard on Lizard. We drove the hour to Farmington the next day, then the hour back, and because he'd had next to no recovery time, that short jaunt was difficult for him, too. The heat didn't help much. We took the next day as a rest day. He actually told me he wouldn't mind staying in the hotel all day. He didn't even want to go to the pool or hot tub.

I managed to drag him downtown for a quickie 20-minute walk. We hit his favorite Durango bike shop and the only remaining quilt shop. He got just about the best souvenir ever (a unique bike bag) (his favorite treat of all time is a Snickers), and he got pretty excited about quilting again because of a few quilts on display in the quilt shop.

He slept through the night that night, and the trip home took nine hours! We did it! We successfully uncorked a big one!!! And we both slept through the night back at home. Just that one night. But, man, we did it!

I decided not to take my laptop this trip. I decided I'd use my paper journal instead. I knew I'd probably have my hands full, be too tired to fire up the computer each night, and I didn't want to have to tote it around. I had not used my paper journal since I retired last year. It was so eye-opening to re-read what I wrote a year ago...

"I fired off bug bombs in the basement (because Lizard thinks the entire house is infested; it's not) before we left to spend the weekend with Lizard's mom. Lizard wanted to put up a sign to warn the *people* living down there. He thinks we have scores of homeless people squatting in our house, not paying any rent. I'd been telling him for three months the only way anyone can get in our house is if they come in under the front door, so they must be made of air. Typically, he blows them out the window like candles or tries to spray water on them. This time, I told him I want to poison the intruders. He thought about that for a while, then said, 'That's probably a good idea.' I couldn't help but giggle."

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The Chase

heavily photoshopped, no regrets

We got to see the Northern Lights!!!

For a couple months now, I've hoped we could go far north when northern lights were expected to break into Wyoming and Colorado. Last Thursday was the first time I was actually able to leave home to chase the aurora borealis. I am officially addicted now!

tiny hints of northern lights over the Denver metro

We watched the weather and smoke forecasts prior to the big event. We'd planned to go to Estes Park and drive up Trail Ridge Road. The forecast there, though, was cloudy and possibly stormy. So we thought perhaps Fort Collins or Cheyenne. But both were forecast to be too smoky. So were Fort Morgan and Sterling.

The only north part of the state, which was about all Lizard thought he could handle, with a possibility of clear skies was directly east. I thought perhaps Last Chance might be far enough from the metro city lights for us to see what I expected to be a tiny band of color.

Denver metro northern lights

Neither of us had ever been to Last Chance, so we didn't know we passed right through it. We kept thinking we would find this little town with the final gas station before the Kansas state line. I could see what looked like smoke to the north. I kept trying to look for color as we passed through one tiny little blip on the map after another. Nothing was open.

Last Chance

Finally, at 8 p.m., I noticed two beams of white emanating from the "cloud" of smoke. I knew that wasn't smoke. I told Lizard we found northern lights, and I pulled over on the very next county road, which had power lines, but what we saw was so overwhelming, I didn't mind the distractions.

straight out of camera

Once I got out of the car, the white "cloud" was no longer white. The tint on the car windows had camoflaged the pink and green. The naked eye view wasn't intense, but it was most definitely northern lights, and I could see them! I snapped a phone photo, and it captured an explosion of color! I'd heard that often happens, that the aurora is more dramatic via digital images.

straight out of camera

We watched the lights dance all the way up over our heads for about 15 or 20 minutes. I took a few photos. The wind was blowing, so I had a hard time keeping the tripods still, but my phone has image stabilization, so my photos aren't too bad, in my opinion. They are not perfect, but they captured what might be one of the best nights of my life.

filtered

We decided to continue looking for Last Chance because I was getting low on fuel. Next thing we knew (had to wait a long time for cell phone signal), we were 39 miles from Burlington, where I hoped we could get gas. Gas was available, but food was not. Both of us were hungry. All we had in the car were cheese crackers, cashews and a few chocolate mint wafer cookies. Oh, and one bottle of water.

filtered

We kept seeing fields of flashing red lights. Lizard thought they might be directional assistance for flights. We noticed the outline of a windmill, and Lizard announced, "They are windmills, and a lot of them!" Boy, there really were! Fields and fields full of them for miles!

All the way back into the metro area, almost everything was closed. It was after midnight, and both of us were hungry. We finally found a McDonald's in Limon. I didn't know what I was going to eat; I don't eat beef because it's too hard for me to digest. They had chicken Big Macs!

We got home about 2 a.m., so it was a long day. We both were so exhaused, we both fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows. I think we both will be dreaming about northern lights for many days to come!

heavily photoshopped, no regrets

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