The photo walk was not part of our original schedule.  However, we’ve done the World-wide Photo Walk for the past three years and didn’t want to miss it if we could help it.   We chose one that started a little after 8am and was supposed to be finished by 10am.  It was a good group and we enjoyed it, especially since it was outside our normal environment.  It was, however, nearly 11:30 by the time we finished.

We didn’t leave L.A. until nearly noon.  We resigned ourselves to another schedule adjustment.  After all, nothing is set in stone except the hotel reservations.  Plan A that put us in Moab, Utah by noon on October 1st was revised.    We stopped just north of the city for lunch at a Carl’s Jr., so Jim could have his mythical “favorite burger anywhere,”  and worked out Plan B.  The original plan included a stop at Zion National Park, but Jim was reluctant to spend the time, since we were running later than expected. According to Plan B we were going to make the Arches by mid-afternoon so he could find a good place to, at least, get some nice sunset shots.

The Arches National Park is one of the major stops on his agenda and he originally intended to spend 3 full days there.  The delay meant that had been cut back to 2 1/2 days.  Miraculously, we didn’t hit any real traffic problems on the way out of the L.A. area and calculating the distance and speed limit he finally agreed we could afford an hour at Zion.  Just a quick drive in and out at the north entrance to buy a National Parks season pass for seniors, with a couple of stops for quick photos of the high points.  Such a foolish idea.  We stopped a couple of places on the way in and, telling ourselves we had a schedule to keep, turned around fairly soon to head out.  However, every few minutes one of us would say, “Look there, I’ve got to have that shot.”   We knew we had lost it when we couldn’t resist the temptation to climb down one of the trails into a small gorge to check out the stream we could hear running along the bottom.

As we returned to I-15, we “re-calculated” and decided, if we didn’t stop anywhere else, we could still make Arches by 5 PM.  I used the weather App on my phone to check the sunset time in Moab and it said 7:10 PM.  As navigator, I pulled out the Arches map and made a guess at possible sites we could reach quickly for sunset views.  If you’ve ever driven from Zion toward the Arches, you know how beautiful it is and that the highway department has provided a generous supply of places to pull over safely. The adjustment to Plan B was soon to be blown out of the water.

The first glitch came in the form of gorgeous red cliffs against blue mountains.  I eyed them from the distance for a while as we came down out of a pass.  Finally, I said to Jim, “That’s really nice.”  He said, “Yeah, I’ve been watching it too. Look for a place to pull over.  It’ll only take a minute.”  Can you say “famous last words?”

We soon found ourselves pulling off the highway again in search of Red Cliffs Park.  After spending nearly an hour there, we set our sights on 6pm at Arches and swore we wouldn’t stop again.  You know how well that went, right?  All those convenient pullover spots together with stupendous cliffs and beautiful wide screen vistas are irresistible, especially when you know you may not have another chance to capture them.  We finally gave up as we were flying downhill at 75 miles an hour and Jim said, “Oooo.  Ooo.  Look!  There!” and headed for the breakdown lane.  He couldn’t even wait for a pullover area.  We both broke out laughing.  We were laughing too hard to snap the picture and every time we looked at each other, it started over again.

With Plan B gone for good, we simply gave up.  By the time we got to the Arches, it was fully dark.  We pulled into the park and drove up to the first impressive set of cliffs.  Jim took a couple of night shots, just to have a check-in for Facebook and we went on to Moab to check in to the motel and look for a place to eat.  To all our friends who have suggested that spontaneity should be the method of choice for vacations, it isn’t a good idea for us.  If we didn’t have deadlines to meet, it would probably take us longer to cross the country than the average wagon train took in the 1800s and they didn’t even have cameras.