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May 14, 2010, a Friday
near Moab to near Canyonlands National Park Needles District, Utah, USA
— Moved to near the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park
[You may view a map of Canyonlands National Park in PDF format.]
There was an almost solid cloud layer when we got out of bed, so we decided to stay in the RV this morning. I processed three images for the bog then worked up a blog entry. We prepped the RV to move and left around 10:10 with me in the RV and J following in the Jeep.
We went to the Grand County Library in Moab so J could use their WiFi while I got a haircut.
I walked down the street to Norm's Center Street Barber & Style, and got there just before he finished with a customer in the chair and had no other customers waiting. He cut my hair much shorter than I wanted, but it was good to get it cut — it had been way too long and it was bothering me.
I returned to the RV and J was still using the WiFi connection, so I did some computer work and had lunch. We left around 1:10 with me in the RV and J following in the Jeep.
We went to the City Market so I could fill up the RV at $2.899/gal using our 10¢/gal discount while J went in to do some grocery shopping.
We left with me in the RV and J following in the Jeep to go look for Quality RV in Moab so we could dump and take on water. Our GPS didn't understand the address for Quality RV, so we were winging it. As we got to the south edge of town without finding it, we turned around to go back. Unfortunately, J stopped to turn around before I did and we got separated.
I found Quality RV and tried to give J directions, but she wasn't sure where she was and was working on getting directions via her iPhone. I dumped then started taking on fresh water. I put away the frozen and refrigerated items that we had purchased because J was waiting for me across from the Alco store in town. After I finished taking on water, ...
I went to find J. She was exactly where she said she was, and it was no problem finding her using our GPS. We hooked up the Jeep to tow and got underway at 2:50 heading south on US-191.
We turned west onto UT-211 to head towards the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park.
We stopped to photograph Newspaper Rock around 3:55. There is a large collection of petroglyphs on the rock, and a small area is shown below left. We left after it started to rain.
The rain stopped as we continued heading west. It was J's first time beyond Newspaper Rock, and she liked the scenery.
We started looking for a boondocking spot, and stopped to unhook the Jeep so we could explore easier. Just as we were about to depart in the Jeep, a rainbow formed to the east. We quickly got our camera gear ready and photographed it (below right). Unfortunately, we were a bit late as the color had started to fade and the large rock that had been lit up nicely was now in the shade.
We found a nice level site with a good view around 5:35, but it didn't have a very good Verizon Wireless signal. In fact, J wasn't able to go online through it. We moved the RV a bit to see if that would help because we had been getting a cell signal nearby in the Jeep. That didn't work, so I left in the Jeep to see if I could find a site with a better Verizon Wireless signal. I couldn't find one, so we decided to move the RV back to where we had started so we'd have a better view. It started raining just as we finished setting up camp.
We had dinner around 6:20 of leftover Parmesan Pork Tenderloin for me and a Lean Cuisine Lemon Garlic Shrimp for J. J wasn't too keen on it.
After dinner, I processed RAW images in Capture One (C1) from earlier this year to adjust exposure and white balance and then create TIFF files after assigning final file names. J noticed some incredible light out of her window and that there was another rainbow. We rushed outside in the light drizzle — too late to get the rainbow very well. However, the western horizon was an incredible orange — one of the best sunsets we've had in a long time! The image to the left was created from one RAW file processed three times (once to capture detail in the bright sky, once to get some detail in the dark foreground, and once to help blend the two) and then combined by hand in Photoshop. I downloaded the images I took today then downselected them. I did some computer work before going to bed.
There was an almost solid cloud layer when we got out of bed, so we decided to stay in the RV this morning. I processed three images for the bog then worked up a blog entry. We prepped the RV to move and left around 10:10 with me in the RV and J following in the Jeep.
We went to the Grand County Library in Moab so J could use their WiFi while I got a haircut.
I walked down the street to Norm's Center Street Barber & Style, and got there just before he finished with a customer in the chair and had no other customers waiting. He cut my hair much shorter than I wanted, but it was good to get it cut — it had been way too long and it was bothering me.
I returned to the RV and J was still using the WiFi connection, so I did some computer work and had lunch. We left around 1:10 with me in the RV and J following in the Jeep.
We went to the City Market so I could fill up the RV at $2.899/gal using our 10¢/gal discount while J went in to do some grocery shopping.
We left with me in the RV and J following in the Jeep to go look for Quality RV in Moab so we could dump and take on water. Our GPS didn't understand the address for Quality RV, so we were winging it. As we got to the south edge of town without finding it, we turned around to go back. Unfortunately, J stopped to turn around before I did and we got separated.
I found Quality RV and tried to give J directions, but she wasn't sure where she was and was working on getting directions via her iPhone. I dumped then started taking on fresh water. I put away the frozen and refrigerated items that we had purchased because J was waiting for me across from the Alco store in town. After I finished taking on water, ...
I went to find J. She was exactly where she said she was, and it was no problem finding her using our GPS. We hooked up the Jeep to tow and got underway at 2:50 heading south on US-191.
We turned west onto UT-211 to head towards the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park.
We stopped to photograph Newspaper Rock around 3:55. There is a large collection of petroglyphs on the rock, and a small area is shown below left. We left after it started to rain.
The rain stopped as we continued heading west. It was J's first time beyond Newspaper Rock, and she liked the scenery.
Newspaper Rock Detail
Newspaper Rock Recreation Area,
Utah, USA
Utah, USA
Canon EOS 1Ds Mk III, 100-400 (at 135mm),
1/2 sec, f11, ISO 100
1/2 sec, f11, ISO 100
Rainbow
near Canyonlands National Park Needles District,
Utah, USA
Utah, USA
Canon EOS 1Ds Mk III, 100-400 (at 210mm), polarizer,
1/90 sec, f8, ISO 100
1/90 sec, f8, ISO 100
We started looking for a boondocking spot, and stopped to unhook the Jeep so we could explore easier. Just as we were about to depart in the Jeep, a rainbow formed to the east. We quickly got our camera gear ready and photographed it (below right). Unfortunately, we were a bit late as the color had started to fade and the large rock that had been lit up nicely was now in the shade.
We found a nice level site with a good view around 5:35, but it didn't have a very good Verizon Wireless signal. In fact, J wasn't able to go online through it. We moved the RV a bit to see if that would help because we had been getting a cell signal nearby in the Jeep. That didn't work, so I left in the Jeep to see if I could find a site with a better Verizon Wireless signal. I couldn't find one, so we decided to move the RV back to where we had started so we'd have a better view. It started raining just as we finished setting up camp.
Sunset Butte
near Canyonlands National Park Needles District,
Utah, USA
Utah, USA
Canon EOS 1Ds Mk III, 100-400 (at 180mm), polarizer,
1/10 sec, f8, ISO 100
1/10 sec, f8, ISO 100
After dinner, I processed RAW images in Capture One (C1) from earlier this year to adjust exposure and white balance and then create TIFF files after assigning final file names. J noticed some incredible light out of her window and that there was another rainbow. We rushed outside in the light drizzle — too late to get the rainbow very well. However, the western horizon was an incredible orange — one of the best sunsets we've had in a long time! The image to the left was created from one RAW file processed three times (once to capture detail in the bright sky, once to get some detail in the dark foreground, and once to help blend the two) and then combined by hand in Photoshop. I downloaded the images I took today then downselected them. I did some computer work before going to bed.