The Campgrounds

Camping has always been an item on my To Do list, I've just never had an opportunity. A friend has offered to take me camping over the past year, but our schedules never meshed. So when Kelly and I began planning our trip and she said we could camp in some national parks, I was totally on board. In reality, we camped outside of a national park, but that was probably for the best - our campsite wasn't full, and it was only eight bucks a night.

We found a spot right next to the Green River, outside of Arches National Park in Utah, and put up our claim ticket. We pitched Kelly's tent, which was way easier than I had expected it to be. (I'm sure that had nothing to do with the fact that I was hammering stakes into sand.)


There had been a fire ban on campsites we passed on the way to ours, and since we didn't want to risk starting a forest fire just for some grilled weenies, we went into Moab for some dinner.

The sun was still making itself known at ten o'clock, so we went down to the river to cool off and write a bit in the fading light. My attention quickly wandered and I began experimenting with long exposures.



We headed back to our site when darkness fell and laid on our backs watching the stars. I must have seen eight shooting stars the night, plus the Big Dipper in full - which I'd never seen before! The beauty of the vast sky before me was awe-inspiring; I couldn't turn my head and not see stars.

Sleeping that night was peaceful. After our night of car sleeping, I was used to being in close quarters with Kelly. We dozed off on top of our sleeping bags, but the breeze was cool enough to find us wrapped up in them in the morning. We brushed our teeth using bottled water and spitting into the sand, then set off for a day of hiking in Arches.