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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

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?
IMG_0772A 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.

IMG_0792The 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 IMG_0785long 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.
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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.
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It is formations like these that make me wish that I had studied geologyIMG_0791 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. 


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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”














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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. 



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We discovered more beautiful wild flowers. 

IMG_0815                                                                                                                                                                                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!
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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 IMG_0843anywhere.  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. 

40 comments:

  1. I believe that Rick stated that the 15 photo standard was strictly written for himself as a guideline. Every blogger is free to do whatever they like regardless of other's standards.

    Using dead mice to deter campers from perching too close is a novel idea. ;)

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    1. I did not say that it was rick. We had no idea that a dead mouse would do the trick. It was funny though.

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    2. You are being a bit cute here Nan - I'm pretty sure it was me who you are talking about. Why not just say it?

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  2. I love the photo part of blogs. There are never too many photos of different things. You have just the right balance with few words and lots of looking:)

    Hope John is feeling better:)

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    1. Thanks for the encouragement. I find that photos say much more about our experiences than I can write. We are now at about 7,000 feet lower than when he was not feeling up to par. I hope that this does the trick. We are heading to Death Valley soon, so being BELOW sea level might really do the trick!

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  3. I think how many pictures a person posts on their blog is a personal preference. It's their blog and they can post what they want. Personally, I prefer a blog with a few pictures but not a lot. That's mainly because of my own limited internet. If a blog has a lot of pictures, it takes more bandwidth to open those pictures and many times I can't see any of the pictures when it bogs down due to that bandwidth. That's why if I'm in an area with a lot to see and do, I'll break the blog into several smaller ones. That's my own preference though and it's only because of my limited internet but totally depends where I'm at. I think people should be able to post however many they want. It's their blog and they are totally free to do with it whatever they want.

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    1. Sometimes I skim the writing and just look at the photos. Other times I love to read about new places. I was concerned about those who have a bandwidth that will not download.

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  4. We still have arches on the must see list. So, to keep neighbors not so close the secret is dead mice outside the door. Ummm, wonder where I find also find a dead snake and a few dead roaches.

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    1. I want to return to the arches in order to enjoy them more. We spent about 3 weeks there. I think next time, we will get in and get out quickly and maybe John would not be so affected. Do you think rubber snakes and mice might do the trick?

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  5. I love the pictures and think you can never post too many.

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  6. Really sorry to hear that John is having breathing trouble we wish him the very best. I think I know who the 15 pictures max person is. I've been told that too and you see how well I listened. I love your pictures. Put as many in as you want to and I'll look at them all. You are taking me back to places we were before we got the recent "news" and I love seeing them. Bet you wish you could keep those mice outside the door in every boondock location. I LOVED that. Too funny! How far away did they go?? And finally before my comment gets longer than your post, thanks for the shout out! So glad you are one of my commenters.

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    1. You are welcome for the shout out. I love your blog.

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  7. I am in total agreement with you on the number of photos (or words) one chooses to use in their blog to convey a story of their day, their week, their seasons travels or life's journey. Not all photos or words are interesting to everyone but they are enjoyably interesting to those readers who chose to return each day & it is those words & photos which provide enjoyment & entertainment to many folks who are unable to travel to places where many of we Bloggers can. It is the photos which convey the visual impact of what one is seeing. Imagine trying to show people Bryce Canyon with only a dozen photos. With the beauty here in the southwest one can literally stand in one spot, take a dozen dazzling photos, move a few feet & take a dozen more. Some folks may stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon & snap a single photo for their blog while others may stand on the same spot & take half a dozen photos of the same scene with each one having a different perspective than the one before. It's all in the creative eye & know how of the person taking the photo & how they want to convey what they are seeing to their readers. And if some folks don't like the way some of us present our blogs they certainly do not have to look at or read them. Keep up the good work Nan & keep those photos coming..................

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    1. Hey Al, you should see all the photos I don't post! lol

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  8. You know its your blog and you can post as many pictures as you like. I do the same thing, some times great carried away, but do I care ? nope not at all.
    We enjoy your pictures and postings keep doing what you do, you do it quite well.

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    1. Sharing ones photos conveys the excitement that the writer feels about their location. Thanks so much for your encouraging words.

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  9. Oh, I'm so glad that you included all these photos of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. We thoroughly enjoyed both parks, but Canyonlands was far less crowded than Arches!

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    1. You are right, Carol. And the Canyonlands was my favorite of the two locations. It had so much drama.

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  10. Blog like you wanna blog, great photos.

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  11. Nan, as you know, it was me who wrote in my blog about my own photo guidelines used in my own blog and that included the max number of 15 that I like to adhere. In your post tonight you stated "Someone wrote in their blog today that fifteen photos should be the limit."

    If in fact, you are referring to me as I think you are then you have somehow turned my remarks around 100% - I never said that "15 photos should be the limit"!

    Instead I wrote the exact opposite: "The above points are not suggestions, recommendations or guidelines for anyone other than myself. They are simply points I try to follow with respect to blogging."

    That's quite a difference, right. Nowhere did is say "should" about anything. The 15 photos is simply a guideline I like to use for myself in my own blog. What you, or anyone else does, is entirely up to you.

    It boggles the mind as to how you could come up with the statement you did when one reads the words I actually wrote.


    The above points are not suggestions, recommendations or guidelines for anyone other than myself. They are simply points I try to follow with respect to blogging.

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  12. Moab...love that place. Great photos of all the Canyons!

    I would go nuts if we had a mouse. I hate those things.

    Hope John is feeling much better today.

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    1. We are now in Las Vegas and a better altitude. He seems to be feeling so much better. You should see the list of things he wants to do today! We will see how long his energy lasts. .................. and mine!

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  13. I loved your solution, that's was a great idea! I'll have to try that but with rubber mice.

    I've gotten many "suggestions" from people about how I should write my blog, not enough pictures, too many pictures, wrong background colors, need to change my header photo, yada, yada, yada. I laugh and do what I want, after all, its my blog. :c)

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    1. Yep, rubber mice and snakes should do it.

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  14. Hi Nan,

    I trust by now you've read the comment I left on your blog but I see you have not yet published it.

    Since your reference about the 15 photos being a "should", and not just my own personal preference like I wrote in my blog, I hope you will publish my comment and not censor it.

    I'll check back in an hour but if you have not published it or at least admitted your error then I'll correct it for you in my blog tomorrow morning showing what I actually wrote and what you actually said I wrote.

    Also, the idea of not mentioning me by name hasn't fooled anyone so I don't know why you would keep up that charade as it just makes you appear somewhat dishonest even though I know you aren't.

    I'll check your blog in a bit.

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    1. His comment has not appeared on my computer....But we all know that he was referring to those of us who occasionally use a lot of photos. This is the last comment I am going to make on this subject....no matter what he posts. But I will be sure to let you read his comments, when they arrive.

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    2. Update and the final, final word. The comment finally reached my computer today, October 30 @ 11:42 a.m.

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  15. Hey, I enjoy visiting your blog. I'd rather have more photos than one or none at all...Whenever I land on a site with zero pictures....Back-back..
    David

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    1. I am glad that you enjoy visiting my blog. I normally stay away from the petty exchanges, but this time, knowing where it was aimed, it caught me at a vulnerable moment.

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  16. Did you ever see the post on Facebook that says "not my circus, not my monkeys" ? I like that and find in blog land it often applies! I like pictures too.

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    1. Pictures say so much more than words. I love that saying, thanks Karen.

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  17. I LOVE your photos, especially the raven! Canyonlands is beautiful... we need to get there some day!
    Cheryl Ann

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    1. I do hope that you can visit Arches, Canyonland, Bryce and Zion National Parks. So worth the time and effort.

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  18. Getting rid of the mice and the potential neighbors with just a couple traps is a real bonus! Bill was a geology major in college so we have a great time identifying all the different formations and layers and erosions that have happened over a gazillion years - it's fascinating! Glad you and John are able to get out there and see so much of it, rather from a couple short hikes or a lovely day trip.

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    1. oh, oh, you'd better be careful if we are in the same area. John will drag out all his collection to show you and bill! lol

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  19. Canyonlands and Arches are such great spots. We took hundreds of pics there last April. Nice to see it again. Good luck with the mouse.

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    1. Thanks, you two. Good to hear from you. You should see all the photos I did NOT post! lol....No more mice here!

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  20. Now if you can just figure out how to always have dead mice by your door...perhaps the desert air would help in that regard? ;)

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