HOW TO DISCOURAGE NEIGHBORS FROM PARKING TOO CLOSE WHEN BOONDOCKING NEAR ARCHES NATIONAL PARK. ALSO, HOW MANY PHOTOS?

In my last blog post, I used fifty seven photos that covered three weeks of traveling.  That was a huge amount of photos.  Someone wrote in their blog today that fifteen photos should be the limit.  There are times that fifteen, twenty, thirty or more photos will not be enough to illustrate the story I am trying to convey especially if I am reporting over days or even a week or more.

My blog is for my blogging friends and family.  They want to know about our experiences and what we see and do.  Some readers will never travel to the places we visit.  This is their opportunity to go Trippin with the Talleys.

If I post too many photos to suit you, feel free to scroll right past them.  I use as many photos as it takes to tell my story/stories.  I will continue to blog in that format.

So, now here comes another saga that expands over our time in Moab National Park and the Canyonlands National Park. , and a mouse family while visiting Moab National Park.

First, how to discourage neighbors from being up close and personal.  We all like to have our space when boondocking.  Some enjoy living in a RV community. We can stand it for a short time, but just give us the open range.

Late one night, I thought I had heard some scratches. I asked John if he, possibly, had heard what sounded like a mouse.  “No” was his response.  I quickly abandoned the mouse thought.  Sometimes, we just want to live in denial, don’t we?
A couple of days later, I needed cotton balls to remove fingernail polish.  I went to the drawer and this is what I found!
 
Ah, ha!  I think we have a nest building mouse.  

A check in the cabinet revealed seven rolls of toilet tissue that had the beginnings of being shredded.  We needed to capture the guilty party or parties before they started to raise their family.  Our motorhome is a single family dwelling and we want it to remain that way.

It was time to declare war.  We won that war for now with the capture of mamma and poppa!  Our victory came early in the morning and the traps with mice still attached were set outside our front door.

What does that have to do with keeping neighbors from camping too close from us?  The saga continues…..

There was a knock on our door and a potential neighbor came to ask if they could boondock close by, but first the pointed out the mice by the door.  “Yes, we know they are there.  They were last night’s catch and we had yet to take them to the dumpster.”
 
How can you tell someone that you would prefer that they locate as far from us as possible. Well, we didn’t.  

Gee, I can’t imagine why those people did not park near us!  Actually, we could not see where they parked. That gave us a great laugh.

The next day, we were off to the Arches National Park.  We had to make it more a driving tour than a long hike tour.  John did himself in the previous day hiking in the desert.
 

Some points of interest that were a short walk were just fine, but no long hikes today.
 
The powers that be have called this formation the Three Gossips.

I prefer to call this the Three Sisters.  We have three wonderful daughters and when I saw the  stone formations, called Three gossips, my thoughts leapt to our three daughters, Karen, Nancy Jo/Jojo, and Holly. Not because they gossip, but because we have three great adult children.

Now, come along and follow in pictures some of the sights we enjoyed as I drove John through the Arches National Park.




We enjoyed the above Raven as we did not find many birds in all of our time there. 
We often find rocks with different formations or the beginning of wind caves that are not mentioned on the brochures directing what to see and do. 

This formation is a prime example.  Thank goodness we have never encountered anything dangerous in our explorations...like snakes.


It is formations like these that make me wish that I had studied geology rather than elementary education in college.

Is this a footprint?  A place were  another, softer rock was and then washed away?
 
The more we explore, the more questions I have.  I totally am in awe of God’s handiwork as he created the world we live in. 





This was our one view of one of the Arches.  

Sherry and David did some magnificent hikes in this area.  You might want to check them out at “In The Direction of Our Dreams”

John’s breathing became even more difficult and he was so fatigued that our trip through the Canyonlands National Park was, with two exceptions, totally a driving tour. 







We discovered more beautiful wild flowers. 

                                                                                                                                                                                In the visitor’s center, there was a display showing a piece of ground that looked as if had bubbled tar was scattered about.

This tar-looking soil is actually alive. 

The link below is a great learning tool.  
Please take time to click on it and learn more about the world in which we live. 
http://www.nps.gov/cany/photosmultimedia/inside_soilcrust.htm

More photos of Canyonland National Park.  Most speak for themselves!




 



























As we were leaving we spotted a RV that is a rental.  Many were around Moab.  They come equipped with all the necessities.  What a neat way for someone to see if they would like the RV life.


I love the tenacity of the Juniper trees.  They seem to survive anywhere.  If there is a crack in the boulder,  a Juniper seed and the correct amount of moisture, this is what will happen. 

Thanks for joining me today as we ventured through Arches National Park and The Canyonlands National Park. 

Watch out for mice everyone, tis the season!
 
A special thanks to you all who make your Amazon purchases through this blog.  I would never use the link if it would cost you more for your purchases, and it pays us a very small percentage.
 
Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  One thing that is on my list to be thankful for is my faithful readers and commenters.  God bless your lives to the fullest.