Now that we have reached our Kanab basecamp, have settled in, and will be here for another month, it’s time to get everyone caught up on the details that delivered us to this little town on the Utah-Arizona border.
While in Abiquiú, I posted a poll question on what readers wanted to see first. Here are the results. I’ll hit on why Day 2 was so emotional for this pilgrim and his two compadres in our next posting.
Next in line will be “our favorite two characters,” because it ties into why Day 2 was so emotional. Third in line is why Jimmy Buffett’s songs made up the soundtrack of our first week on the road. It has connections with Cape Cod and Newburyport. Our Taos report will conclude these stories. It too has ties to the Outer Cape.
There are plenty of other points to cover during our first month on the road, including a list of the hotels, motels, and rentals where we spent our nights, and a top-ten list of highlights. (That’s my list, but today we’ll tackle Samwise & Emily’s.)
While here, we are perfectly situated to hit Zion, Bryce Canyon, Red Canyon, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Grand Escalante, Ghost Canyon, the Toadstools, and Lake Powell. And those are just the major locations.
We’ll be limited to early-hours adventures before the sun climbs high enough to be dangerous. We’ve already adopted the practices of our local friends, where they are active early and left hugging their air conditioning later in the day.
One of the reasons Kanab is our longest stay is our local friends. These are folks we met during prior winter stays. It’s been grand to gather with most of them—and their dogs—as Samwise and Emily will attest. Tonight, we’ll have dinner with Gordon and Donna Huntsman, Donna’s sister Julie, and Allison Bacialli. (Allison’s husband John is in St. Louis for the week, but we were able to spend time with his happy soul before he left.)
My health history complicates dinner parties, so I usually skip them. It’s simply not fair to expect hosts to cater to my specific dietary limitations. We’re skirting the issue tonight. Gordon and Donna are hosting and providing a salad, while I show up with the main course. (I’ll share the recipe tomorrow.)
John and Allison will host another dinner party a couple of weeks from now, but since John knows the whole-food, plant-based way of eating well, I won’t be putting him out as host. I’ll provide the dessert on that night.
We are blessed to have friends in Kanab, and like us, they are from far away. They’ve created a nurturing community for themselves and other newcomers. I marvel at how happy they are and at what they’ve created with their new lives.
As far as trails go, we have our usual morning loop. It’s dreamy and dramatic. There’s plenty of quiet and alone time, but we’ve also encountered a consistent cast of human and canine characters. Half the dogs Samwise and Emily have met are off-leash, just as they are, and it works well.
This trip, all our trips, actually, have been as much about them as they are about me. So watching them play and fulfill themselves does my heart good. It reaffirms the decision to stay in Kanab for 34 days.
Sam & Emi’s Top 10 List (so far)
If I were so bold as to create Samwise & Emily’s Top 10 List to date, here’s what I think they might say. I believe I know them well enough and, besides, I’m the only one who can type.
Kanab, for all the reasons I mentioned above.
Rest areas where my friends were freed from the HMS Beagle every two hours on long highway drives. It’s one of the reasons we enjoy Interstates: there are predictable places to get out and explore, especially along the rear boundaries.
Hiking several times at Georgia O’Keeffe’s “The White Place.” Freedom, scenery, and shade. (Notice the video above, a simple highlight.)
