July 3 and 4

I survived the fire ant infestation at Blue River mostly because they left me alone.  One sole ant wandered over for a visit, but I squashed him, not feeling neighborly.

The rest of July 3 was a drive across the state of Colorado.  Because I was losing elevation, the car behaved itself and I made it to Grand Junction in record time.  Since I was going downhill, I suspect the gas mileage was around 30, but I haven't worked out the math yet.  I had my second motel stay at Grand Junction.  It was 100 degrees as we went into the evening hours.  I would pass on the tent.

The next day, I had a leisurely morning doing laundry, catching up on bookwork, the usual.  I threw out a few more pieces of useless junk, too, making it easier to find essentials.

Several people advised me to go to the Colorado National Monument at Grand Junction and so I did, without realizing the drive was up cliff faces with no place to turn around.  The temperature still hovered at 100 degrees.  The Sable was not a happy car.  I helplessly watched the temperature gauge go up, up, up, and steam begin to leak out.  Finally, a mile from the visitor's center , I found a layby.  I opened the hood and sat around sipping water as I waited for the car to cool down.  It took almost half an hour.  I added new coolant, turned around and went back down.  I had seen enough of the Colorado National Monument.

By that evening, I was at Moab, Utah.  I toured the Arches National Park, loving the scope of the thing.  I like spaces so big that I don't run into anyone else and I found those there.  I asked a ranger about a good place to stay for the night and she suggested "Sandy Flats" but when I got there, I found a sign that said "Closed for Fireworks".  I had never heard of a campground being closed for fireworks but I returned to town and set up camp at the edge of a cliff at an RV park. 

As the sun went down, other campers and RVers began  to gather near my tent.  Across the town, against the canyon walls, the fireworks display began, centered at Sandy Flats.  All was revealed.  

Despite the danger of fire, the show had to go on, even to having fire trucks racing around to put out grass fires.  

I sat with a German woman.  Ooohing and Aaaahing are the same in any language.