Moab, on the Road

So it's been a couple of years since I've been to Moab. It's an incredibly beautiful town, surrounded by mountains, canyons, and desert. It's a mountain biking mecca and an awesome place to road ride as well. I had some time off of work (between jobs, really) so I decided to head down for a long weekend with some friends.

Sabrina and I headed out Friday morning, and of course we got about 2 hours away before I realized I had forgotten my bike helmet. D'oh. I was not surprised; that's what I do. Fortunately Sabrina has a friend who lives in Eagle, about an hour down the road from where we were, so we stopped by to borrow a helmet from her. I also realized I had forgotten my headlamp so we borrowed a flashlight as well which subsequently got taped to my head at the campsite that night.

We pulled into Utah around 4 pm after enduring some hellish road construction on I-70 which made our trip 7 hours instead of 5. Down the old highway to Moab and Sabrina made an impromptu stop at a local winery. We bought some bottles and the nice guy at the counter gave us a free corkscrew since we were camping.

Then the search started. Ugggggh. Free camping in Moab does NOT exist anymore. All the previous free camping spots were either paid now or had "no camping" signs up. We must have stopped at 10 places, it was getting dark, we were sick of driving, and there were no free spots. We were walking around contemplating our next move when a guy walked up to us and said that we could stay at his site with him and his friend. Eric and Sloane were from California, on their way to Denver, and it was fun to share the site with them for a couple of nights. Thanks guys for saving our tired asses. =)

The next day Sabrina and I set out for a road ride. We had decided to do a 70 mile out and back to Dead Horse Point, which overlooks Canyonlands National Park. 35 miles of climbing. =) I soon found out my tender bum was not conditioned for that long of a ride, even though I've been riding all summer my time was limited to rides of a couple of hours, not 7 hours. It was incredibly beautiful and felt great to be out on my bike all day long.

Sabrina

Me

About 4 miles before the top we decided we just had to stop and stretch, so we did... right in the middle of the road. A few cars holding tourists with befuddled looks on their faces went around us, and a few stopped to ask if we were all right or needed a ride.


We had cooked spaghetti the night before, and I decided it would be perfect ride food... only I forgot an eating utensil, so I ate spag-from-the-bag. It was delightfully yummy and kept my legs going throughout the ride.

The view from the top was pretty amazing. I haven't seen many canyons, not being from the desert and all, and this was pretty spectacular. We kicked around at the top for awhile before heading down, knowing we would lose daylight quickly and although the way back was predominately downhill there were still some significant climbs we would have to do.




We made it back into Moab at sunset, with about 20 minutes to spare before the desert would be plunged into darkness. We stretched a bit so we would have some hopes of being able to walk (or bike) the next day, and then it was off to the grocery as I had developed an intense craving for tuna about halfway through the ride and decided I had to have some. Meanwhile Sienna and Jeff had made it into Moab earlier in the afternoon, and we met up with them for the drive back up the canyon to our campsite.

Sabrina chasing shadows

Heading for the sun

Pulling into Moab, 70 miles and some very tired legs later, greeted by some beautiful alpenglow.

TBC...

stagnating

I am burnt out... again. (Doesn't take long, I reckon.) I am sick of studying... sick of memorizing (I HATE memorizing), sick of regurgitating useless ultrasound parameters that I'm never going to use. Am I not smart enough? Am I studying the wrong way? The wrong material? When I'm in the clinic, I feel competent, efficient, alive. Well, my practice exams don't think so.

Am I deluding myself into thinking I'm a good physical therapist when I actually suck? Will I EVER be ready for the licensure exam, or am I doomed to fail yet another (this time very expensive) practice exam? Am I doomed to work as a PTA for the rest of my life?? Not that there's anything wrong with being a PTA, but when I've dedicated the last 3 years of my life to attaining a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree, somehow being a PTA doesn't seem like enough... I want to start my career, take my professional life off the shelf... I was supposed to be working towards my OCS by now, dammit!

All of my friends and classmate/colleagues have moved forward... passed their exams, gotten jobs, etc. I'm stuck in the world of prn PTA work. I'm losing my eval skills every frickin day. I am wasting my life not doing what I'm supposed to be doing... or maybe it's not, after all? Only time will tell... meanwhile, my $1300/mo student loan bills are knocking at the door...

Ok, obviously, I'm frustrated. My life doesn't really suck. (just this part, currently.) I'm not generally a whiny little bitch. But seriously, this is getting old.

Nearly a month...

until Thailand. I am excited. Not just for the fact that there is to be incredible climbing, and that with this trip I am admitting to myself another addiction that threatens to take over my being and find me longing for that 'other' life that I could have had, had I not gone to graduate school... not that I would take that back... but also because all of Asia is an unknown world to me, having only traveled in Europe and the South Pacific, and I am curious to observe the culture and the way of life in a place so different from my own. There are mountains here, too, although different kinds... behemoth limestone cliffs rising up from the sea as though they had sprung up from a different world far below. I have heard many wonderful things about Ton Sai, and I am excited to be able to float for awhile in a place such as this.