...she's out back counting stars

after saying goodbye to my aunt mary pat and uncle randy (that's her in front of her store, Buckskin's Trading Co.,) i left Georgetown, CO, i crossed the continental divide, AGAIN. My car actually did fine, but i still had one more big mountain pass to make (vail pass) and i couldn't relax until i knew i'd crossed it. After i had finally reached the summit, i got out and took a few victory photos (and to let my car relax...)

driving through the rockies was beautiful, and as happy as my car was, i was actually very sad to leave. When i crossed into Utah however, i was suddenly on another planet. Not just were the landscapes stranger than usual, but COMPLETELY barren. I had reservations to stay in Goblin Valley State Park that night, and i made it there right at sundown. I had not accurately calculated how far off I-70 the park was, and it honestly felt like i was the farthest from any civilization i had ever been in my life. even the rest areas, as beautiful as they were (here's one pictured above) were incredibly desolate of any human existance.

The park got it's name from a valley that has very odd-looking geologic structures that look like “goblins.” however, if i could, i would re-name the area “Mushroom-Goomba State Park” because that's what they really looked like. You were allowed to run down into the valley and climb all over them, because they were doing an erosion study over several years, and i guess needed the data.
I was slightly nervous about camping by myself for the first night, but all fears were alleviated when i reached the campground. It was only about twenty spots, with a central bathhouse and water pump. My actual campsite wasn't visible from the service road, but was in a tiny isolated spot at this kind of dead-end corner in one of the rock formations. Here is a picture of what it looked like when i woke up:

also, another thing i didn't realize was how amazing the view was at night. We were about 80 miles from the nearest human lighting, so that night i saw more stars than ever before. More than any astronomy research site, more than any previous camping trip. I decided to get my 12 string guitar out, since it had been in the car for several days now, and it took nearly twenty minutes to tune, because it was pitch black. Other neighbors said they didn't mind me playing, and so i stayed up well into the night, playing and watching for shooting stars and satellites until i was tired.

Going to bed however, was not as pleasant. The actual sleeping was fine, except that it became so windy that my little tent would not stop rustling for about two hours. And these weren't gentle, pastoral rustles. Every time some part of the tent flapped in the wind it sounded as if someone was sneaking around my campsite and was trying to unzip the front door. All i can say is.... i was really FREAKING SCARED.