May 14th

Woke up at Joe and Bobbie's house. It's good to see them, they're good friends.

Joe recommended we take the 4 wheelers out, go see some of the local natural beauty. We took the 500 hp Polaris quads to Kanab Creek. Went across the creek a couple of times, got muddy, I got stuck. Had to use the winch to get out. Came out of the creek to the base of a plateau where we saw some petroglyphs, cool stuff. Continued up HWY 89 to a place called Hog Canyon. All dirt trails/roads, perfect for quads. Followed some trails up a mountain to a place that overlooked the city of Kanab. The Plateaus are crazy because they go straight down. They're not like other mountains, it's 800 ft of sheer cliff. The town directly beneath us was a cool feeling but the view went on forever, we could see as far as the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. The natural beauty of the land around here is really breathtaking. Makes me want to agree with the Mormons when they call this area 'Gods country'. We rode for a couple of hours and were having a great time until a thunderstorm came in. Lightning, thunder, rain, snow, hail, it was a storm with a lot of attitude. We decided we needed to get off the top of the mountain when we saw lightning and heard thunder almost simultaneously. Riding as fast as we could to lower elevations, we got pummeled by hail and rain. We made to the bottom (soaked) where we found some sun and had a nice ride back to the house. Some food and a shower capped off a really good day.

So my immediate thoughts were; I can see how the American dream works for people. Work 9-5, buy a house, get your recreational 'things' in this case 4 wheelers, and take 'em out on the weekends with friends and family. Stable, reliable, comfortable, fun. I've always been looking for the next adventure and didn't want to be held down by people, a mortgage, car payments or toy payments. That's the trade off I guess. People tell me they're jealous of my lifestyle and where I've been, what I've seen. But truth be told, today I was the one who was jealous. I'm sure the old adage that 'the grass is always greener' is a factor in all this. I think that's what makes it so hard for me to pick a direction. So far the only thing I know about myself is that I want the freedom to do whatever I want, whenever I want. Selfish, maybe. Irrational, for sure. Short of winning the lottery, that seems impossible. I guess I should buy some more tickets.



for more pictures go to my facebook page.