On to Arches park, where erosion has carved beautiful arches into the rock. Marie wanted to see as many arches as possible, so we raced round the primitive trail to see as many as possible…. Although ‘trail’ here is bit of an exaggeration, more sort of ‘let’s build a few cairns to show people how they might get from a to b if they are really good at climbing’. Unfortunately, I dropped my camera and didn’t get many pictures of this very beautiful site – here’s one shot I got before I dropped the camera.
However, after an overnight stop by the Colorado river and a chance to play frisbee (and fix the camera), some of us got up early (Victor, what were you thinking?!) to hike up to the arches in the hills above the camp site… which we actually thought were more beautiful than the ones in the park. And of course SOMEONE had to climb it….
I caught up quickly with the world at an Internet Café in Moab, where although the beer has wonderful names, it’s all a bit weak. I went for the Scorpion (it is my birth sign) while Vanessa went for the Polygamy Porter (tagline ‘Why have just one’)
I hiked up the creek in Moab, very conscious of the presence of angels with me, before joining the others under the waterfall – diving under the water to find a hidden cavern behind the falls.
Overnight camping again, overlooking the gooseneck canyon of the San Juan river… just looking at that incredible sight led me to a real reconnection to my mission and purpose, and a new understanding of who I truly am. And for more on that, see http://registereddisciple.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/mission-and-purpose/
.We were treated to a fireworks display as lightning lit up the sky with the full moon hanging over the camp site – Angela and I pulled up a rock and drank in the sight: we could have watched for hours. It just reinforced the fact that I was in a special place, both physically and spiritually.
A few beers later I managed to send up the entire motivational speaking industry with an impromptu motivational speech on the subject of dating.
And then to sleeping under the stars – watching the patterns appear in the sky and marvelling at the beauty again.
Then on to Monument Valley – the wind and water have carved out mesas which remain to show the original rock level. Because of the shape, many of these have earned names such as the right mitten and left mitten, Camel Butte, and more. After a sight seeing stop to see the whole canyon we boarded a jeep to join our horseride – an experience which left me initially fearful as my last horseriding experience had not gone well (when my steed galloped off with me still attached). This time – it was incredible. It felt surreal, through the landscape surrounded by mesas (including the backdrop for the Will Smith movie Wild Wild West). I had tears in my eyes as I felt the connection with the land, with my horse, Conan, and as God gently whispered a promise into my heart. And more on that again at www.registereddisciple.com. (Side joke – a couple of the horses were so new they had no name… so we really did go into the desert on a horse with no name….
The evening fund us taking a dip at Lake Powell, where I decided to heal a childhood fear by swimming across the lake – my intuition suggesting I return just before three speedboats cut through the water. Powell is a man made lake behind the Lake Powell Dam.
The evening was spent in the fairly dull town of Paige – but livened up with some very good (and apart from Mitch and Jay) very beautiful company over dinner, followed by attending an outdoor gig – where the arrival of our party certainly livened up the atmosphere (the townspeople of Paige were treated to a display of all female dancing that they won’t forget in a hurry…)
Explore The Adventure. . . . . 
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