The Stars in Utah Shine Brightly

I can not begin to describe to you how stunningly beautiful Utah is... However, I'm a writer, so I suppose I should attempt it...

Hopping into the car, back in Vegas - resigning myself to the fact that the entire day would be taken up with driving, we began the journey. After a few sketchy moments on the road out of Vegas (due to ridiculous road works), we hit the open road and the views were simply spectacular.

At this point, I was remembering sitting at home, huddled in a hoodie, freezing my tootsies off, planning this route. I wanted to do a kind of 'Thelma and Louise' drive, except without driving off a cliff at the end, without holding up a gas station and without having to shoot anyone... and in a weird way, I felt, as soon as I saw the canyons of Utah - I had achieved this.

Driving in between the red rocked mountains, being the only car on the road, the sun going down - I'd never felt a) so far away from home or b) so very small. But this is what the trip, to me, was all about - discovering... If this was our last day in America, I'd have been content. I was living the dream.

We stopped at 'Devil's Canyon' to take a few photos, it was so quiet and serene and for a few moments it seemed we were the only people in the world, standing so high up - watching the world go by... pretty darn special if you ask me.

So after pulling myself together, we drove the last 40 miles to a little town called Green River. The sun had buried itself by this point and the only things we could make out were the oversized neon signs advertising every chain of motel going. We'd pre booked ours, so checked in and twiddled our thumbs for a bit. Turns out there's not so much to do in Green River...

I love arriving places in the dark, and waking up to see what it's like in the light... except Green River was exactly the same. A sleepy town that rather reminded Cal and I of something out of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'! Desolate gas stations, truck parks, a chainsaw weilding maniac... no I'm joking! But it was slightly worrying, so we punched 'Moab' into 'Nancy' (Our GPS/Sat Nav lady annoys me so much, I thought she may as well have a name, so when we're arguing, it can be more personal) so, we drove another 40 miles to Moab and I fell in love.

Moab, Utah has been my favourite stop thus far. It's like a 21st century version of the old cowboy towns you saw in those old Western films. I expect to see John Wayne soon! Encircled within more red rocked mountains and canyons, crossing the Colorado River to get into town, it's just perfect.

We had a pizza, booked a horse ride, picked up some beers and drove 'home' (saving the beer until we'd got back, of course!)

Anyway, that's when I saw them... stars like I've never seen them before, so bright it was almost unreal. The entire sky was engulfed in a blanket full of them, I felt I could just reach up and take one. I literally would have laid on the floor of the car park and watched them all night if it wasn't for the fact that it was freeeezing! We don't have stars that bright at home, but that goes hand in hand with not living in the middle of nowhere! Utah - best stars...so far.

Hang on.... we booked a horse ride??!! Haven't done that for a while... 5 years to be precise... and that was in snow, with my aunty, cousin and mum - not through the canyons with a Marlboro Man as our guide!! No joke - Mark, the guy who ran the stables was a Marlboro Man (Had advertised Marlboro cigarettes back in his day and completely looked the part - cowboy hat, cowboy boots, jeans, white moustache and a Marlboro cigarette!) he was awesome!

Now let me just tell you, as we went through 'orientation' I began getting really really nervous... especially as they don't deem fit to issue you with a crash helmet as in good old Blighty. So I hawled myself onto Blunder, a beautiful old beast of a horse. Tess, the other instructor, told me she given me Blunder because he takes care of his passengers and, as she could sense my nerves, she gave me some well needed reassurance and off we trotted. Heart in mouth and reins in hand I was shaking like a leaf, but once Blunder and I had had words, he was every inch the gentleman Tess had told me he would be.

Steadying myself in the saddle, I decided to take my eyes away from the floor and soak in the surroundings - which were, again, just idyllic. Working our way up and down the treck, in and out of the tributaries of the Colorado River, I was well and truly in awe of everything around me. This was better than I had ever wished for, and I couldn't wipe the ridiculous grin off my face!

Two hours later, we arrived back and said goodbye to our hosts and horses. Driving away from Red Cliff Lodge, I couldn't help but think what it would be like to live there...

Coming back to reality, we didn't have anywhere to stay for that night, so over some questionable eggs we discussed our next lodgings... which turned out to be a sort of inn come cabin, so vastly different to the chains of motels we've been staying in...so what did I do to take advantage of where we were staying...? I did the laundry... two weeks worth of it.... lovely!

So here we are now, in Moab, in the only internet cafe in Southern Utah about to embark on another long journey to Phoenix. I'd rather stay here for another couple of weeks. But alas, we have to haul our tooshes down to Arizona. If our journey there is anything like it was to get here, it will be worth it.

Time is ticking on by, and soon we will be in Captiva, soaking in the Gulf's sun and swimming in the sea - but I wonder what other landscapes lie ahead of us, what other sights we'll see, who else we'll meet... ooo, I'm a little bit excited about that!!

Jen