Rainy Canyonlands and a day turned upside down

This morning we got up early and dropped Ian off at his rafting place and we headed to Canyonlands National Park. (admission is $10 per car but it was covered with our America the Beautiful pass)

On the way the sky got very dark and we ran into thunder, lightning and hail. We continued on not sure what to expect with the weather, as today was the only day we could go.It poured and poured and the rain blew off the hills.

And made dry rock beds, flood with small streams.

The furher we drove, the more the sky began to clear.

The girls were not interested in getting out to walk to anything in the rain so most of the photos are taken from the dry truck and they certainly don't portrait how wet it really was.

I have heard mixed reviews of this park. Some say once you see the Grand Canyon, the little canyons don't really matter. I must say I disagree. Canyonlands is very different from the Grand Canyon. It is not as big, as deep, as long, or even as grand overall but it has a smaller, more cozy feel. My favourite look off was Green River without a doubt. On a sunny day it would be absolutely amazing. I stayed for a bit, hoping the sun and the rain would create a rainbow over Green River but no such luck. It was beautiful none the less.

As we left he park the sun began to shine

and we came to a small dirt road so I turned off to ge some photos of the sun on the mountains and the glorious colour the orange sand turned. Truly beautiful!

I decided to go back to the RV and get my sunglasses since the sun was shining again and then I was going to go to the raft place to make sure Ian's trip wasn't cancelled due to the lightning. I pulled up to the trailer and the outdoor kitchen was open...

I pulled up further and the door was swung wide open. My heart leapt...we've been vandilized!!!

Luckily no we weren't. The rafting trip was cancelled and someone drove Ian to the trailer. I had his keys though so he got into an unlocked window. Note to self...make sure the windows are locked properly before leaving the trailer.

After Canyonlands we were supposed to go to the playground and outdoor pool however it was still raining in Moab so we went to The Rock Shop.

The girls are really into rocks lately so we got a book on rock types and another on fossils. The power went off in the store so it was hard to see but this little store is packed full with rocks, meteors, fossils and much more. A very interesting store for sure.

Since it was sill raining we headed back to the trailer and on the way we stopped at his big sand dune right across from Arches National Park. The sand was still wet but it wasn't raining here (10 minutes from town where it was pouring!) so they ventured up he hill as far as hey dared go.

We then wen back to he trailer, had lunch and a nap. When we woke up we went back to the park and yes it was dry. The girls had a blast playing and making friends.

Sierra with her new friends Jack and George

There was a really neat indoor/outdoor pool there that Sierra really wanted to go in...maybe next time as we leave in the morning.

So even though the rain turned our day upside down and we couldn't do everything we wanted to, we managed to have fun anyway. The rafting being cancelled was a disappointment but I am sure that somewhere on this trip Ian will find a place to go...and if not...we have some great rafting at home.

Tomorrow we head out to Mesa Verde but before signing off I want to answer a question for a follower. They asked about our internet connection and how I post so many pictures. I thought I would post it here incase anyone else is wondering.

We bought a device from Millenicom. (click their name to go to their website)
We got the:
Advanced Plan $59.99 per month
The advanced Millenicom Mobile Wireless Broadband account is a 20 gigabyte usage cap service for $59.99/month. It requires the purchase of the mobile broadband device for $99.99 and you do not need to return the device when you close your account. There is a one-time set up fee of $49.99 and a $15.00 shipping fee to get the account started.

 

(We received a promotion which gave us the device for FREE and didn't have to pay for the device as mentioned above. No sure how long that is or was on for.)

Key Features

20 Gigabyte Data Novatel U760 Device No Contract or Taxes

We can only use it in the States as to use it in Canada is VERY exspensive. It has NO contract and we can start it and stop it whenever we like with NO fees. So we will use it in the States and cancel it when we cross back into Canada to go to Nova Scotia and Ontario, then start it back up again when we return to the States. I keep asking Ian if we will go over with the pictures but he assures me 20GB is alot so I will keep adding pictures until we get billed otherwise.

FYI they have problems shipping to Canada sometimes and our original one, after 2 weeks still hadn't arrived and we needed to leave so we called them and they shipped another one to us in Las Vegas when we were there and it arrived in about 6 days. When we get home we will return one of them.

Also the plan we got works on Verizon cell phone towers and our coverage has been great. We get the occasional boondocking spot in the middle of no where and get only one bar but generally it has had good reception and fast service. They do have an unlimted plan for $70 a month but that plan runs on Sprint which has way less coverage so beware of a plan that sounds too good to be true.

Right after we signed up for this I saw THIS POST (click on it) which has another option. When I asked the Bayfield Bunch what they use (as they post many wonderful picures...go check them out if you haven't already)...they recommended the Mifi as well. So if you are on the hunt for internet there are a couple of options.