Wednesday and Thursday, July 29 and 30

The past two days have not been particularly active. Yesterday, we mostly relaxed. Philip and I shot some pool, swam in the pool (a different one, obviously); Mom washed the laundry, and Dad worked on iTunes. We also watched three DVDs in a row yesterday (a record in the camper), as a result of the strange weather going on. It was sunny, then cloudy, then so windy it blew over a nearly full trash can, then thundery, then back to normal. And it was a cycle! It just kept on repeating! Anyway, today was pretty cool; we packed up fast, after getting up around 6:30, and we got going quickly. The scenery changed within two hours. It went from the somewhat grassy Mesa Verde area to the semi-desert of Arizona and Utah. On the way to Moab, where we now camp, we passed through the incredible Monument Valley. Huge sandstone formations, shapped like fingers, hands, mesas, and buttes jutted out from the desert floor, looking almost fake in their appearance. It is simply amazing, you have to see it. After arriving in Moab, we set up in about 10 minutes, a record time, I believe. It's a very nice campground, but somewhat intimidating on account of being between two monolithic, dead vertical sandstone walls. That's right, we're in a huge valley, right between Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. Tonight's closing will be "goodbye and good night" Chinese, on account of the Patrick and Sharon Fitzpatrick's new Chinese daughter, Grace Lu Fitzpatrick: 再見，晚安!