dancing with tears in my eyes

Southern Utah is almost Too Pretty. The sights i have seen over the past few days are becoming a sensory overload. The landscape is constantly changing, but changing drastically from one amazing view to another.

I have visited three national parks, and driven through a few national monuments and national forests. There's a reason why these places have been preserved as parks... it's like this is the only place on earth such formations exist. It's like nothing I've ever seen before, and when I was originally dreaming of this roadtrip, driving my little car through the southwest, i imagined driving by loads of desert towers. Now i've gotten the scenery that I wanted and it's too much to handle. If I had to live the rest of my life in black & white, I would be happy if I could only keep my memories in color.

I surprised myself yesterday by pushing through to Moab. It almost feels like I'm going in the wrong direction, since Moab is the furthest east that I'll be backtracking on this trip. I could see the mountains in Colorado from the highway, and I would love to go there. I've never been to Colorado, but time has run out and I should save something for next time. From now on it's North and West.

Moab is a great little climber/outdoorsy town, with a cute main street, and wi-fi everywhere. Buying a cup of coffee today was a huge treat for me since I have managed to go six days only spending $6, besides gas. Gas is my only necessity right now, I've been living off the provisions i had already, and eating some very creative meals. I've perfected my personal art of dirtbagging, and I'm almost impressed with how resourceful I've become. If I need something, I think really hard about how I could get it for free. Towns like this are great since I can live off the surplus provided by the tourism district.

Free camping has been creative and exciting. Adventure! I have spent nights squatting on other people's paid-for campsites, a cold night at 8,000 feet in a horse camp, and a night by the Virgin river in the piss-pouring rain hoping i would be able to get my car out of the mud in the morning. Last night I followed directions I found online to "moab free camping" and pulled just off a 4x4 road to park the car. I'm getting more comfortable with sleeping in the car although the experience itself is not comfortable at all. I can't wait to pitch the tent and sprawl out on my luxurious air mattress (free score in bishop.)