June 8: Calf Creek to Kodachrome Park
We slept okay but Joan got up in the middle of the night to put the second cover on the tent because there was some rain on us. I went outside and drank some water. In the morning, Joan let me out and while she put her shoes on, I heard some dogs and went to investigate, and there were a couple coming down the road but then Joan called me back and put me on the leash. Joan cleaned up camp and we left. Hondacar was at 119,039 this morning.
I thought you might like to know what is in my backseat area: on the floor on one side is a big bag of my food. I don’t really go into that – in fact, I’ve not been very hungry on our trip. In the middle floor, there are some containers of water. On the other side is a bag of my toys, dog treats, leashes, and under the seat are my bowls of food (that I’m not eating) and a dish for water. Up on the backseat is another bag that has more of my stuff, like ear cleaning solution – that Joan used once on me already – and then there’s a towel that she uses to dry me off if I go into a river or something. The whole rest of the backseat is mine to lie down on or stand up – at least as far as my seatbelt harness lets me go.
Anyway, off we went and I was awake, looking at all the rock formations and red earth along the way.
At one viewpoint, we stopped and Joan’s phone started beeping – she then stopped there and called a bunch of people – she also let me out to walk around. Then we kept going and added to the roadkill situation. There are a lot of dead animals on the road and then Joan ran over a ground squirrel – way to go, Joan!!! She’s helping the world be rid of those bad squirrels that I hate. She didn’t seem as happy as I was about it.
We got to our next stop pretty early in the day and a short ride. Joan made lunch for herself and took out a few things – like my bed but I didn’t lie on it. Next thing I knew, we drove to a hike and started walking around a big red outcropping with an arch.
But bad weather was coming.
I was really thirsty and tired but Joan, in a very worried voice, told me to keep going – we were almost running as I heard thunder above us and the trail ran atop the red outcropping. I kept going because Joan insisted, but I really wanted to rest and drink water. But overall, it was wise because we saw a huge bolt of lightning and heard thunder and then it started raining hard. We were in the car, and I couldn’t believe how fast Joan could drive on the dirt road. Back at the campsite, my bed was all wet, and we stayed in the car while Joan ate her picnic lunch, and it rained on us.
The rain stopped and finally Joan let me out of the car. She set the tent up and then we had to go into the tent.
I did not want to go in at all. It is a windowless cave, as far as I’m concerned and I can’t see anything, which makes me very concerned. She pushed me in and it immediately started raining again – but worse – it was thundering right on top of us! I hate thunder – really, really hate it. We were in that tent for 2.5 hours while it rained the entire time. Joan fell asleep but I was up, concerned, but not enough to pant incessantly and drool. It did stop and we heard voices, and Joan let me out of the tent! Joan left me at our camp for a little bit, and when she returned, she smelled really good and had wet hair!
That night, we went on an evening hike to the top of the rock ridge.
Joan started a fire when we returned to camp. She made me sleep in that tent again that night, but no rain – it was okay.