Fall Travel to Moab

Time to start a new journal. My first entry is a trip to Moab.

I find myself interested lately in traveling to Moab (i.e. Liz).  This time they have the Moab Folk Festival, community Day of the Dead celebration and Liz's studio hosts a Soup Bowl meal to raise funds for a local charity. Good enough reasons for me. This time I fly out. I didn't look close enough at the ticket options and selected one that required me to wake up at 2:30 a.m. 

I check out the two quilt supply shops and find they have a selection of outdoor-themed fabric I'll never find in Kansas. I have a quilt retreat coming up and need a quilt pattern. They had that, too. I chose a Rocky Mountain National Park 4-panel fabric.

Of course, we (I) need coffee time. After spending time helping in her ceramics studio we chill out at a local coffee shop.

I've purchased a second touring bicycle to keep in Moab for convenience. It arrives and I assemble it. Then we have the Moab Folk Festival. Headliner is Sam Bush, who I've followed for 45 years. The festival grounds is not that large so it's a more intimate feel that the Walnut Valley Festival back in Winfield, Kansas.

Tried a new (to me) espresso drink: affogato. That's a different way to spell heaven. 

This community really supports their soup bowl fundraiser. This year the money goes to a kids nutrition program administered through the schools. Liz volunteered me to help, so I washed pots and pans for my shift. All a good time. I got a bowl out of the effort. The day before Liz and I cooked up some broccoli and cheese soup for it in a commercial kitchen. I love cooking in a nice commercial kitchen. It's the right tool for the job, as my dad would say. 

While Liz prepared to teach a class tonight, I took my new (to me) bike for a test ride. I stopped at the Moab Springs Ranch for a coffee and a sketch. This view to the west is superb! A local told me this formation is called "The Portal". 

Time to go home. This time I found a really nice view at the first leg of the trip: Grand Junction, Colorado. This part of the country received some snow over the last two nights. A light powdering of snow stayed on the flanks of the cliffs here and by a fluke of good luck my terminal had a great view of it. This is my last sketch of this trip.