I'm sitting in the gas station / laundromat in the town of Chinle, AZ...just outside of Canyon de Chelly. It's 4/16/13, and blowing dirt like I've never seen. We knew the weather forecast was going to be windy, & we've had a few windy days to deal with so far. But a cold front is moving in creating a stream of tornadoes in our path to the north. So, we decided to wait out the storm a little south, where it's not snowing. ;-)
We hadn't showered since Carlsbad's fancy Roadway inn on the morning of 4/13, and we were both feeling ready for a good rinse. The campgrounds in de Chelly have no showers, so we asked the kid in the visitors where to find one. He suggested the aquatic center in town. We sought it out, and it looked to be in the high school complex. Ken checked out the inside, as i was convinced it was just the school's pool, and, turned out, it was also the community pool. Score! $1 showers! Of course this primitive campsite is $10/night, the most we've paid yet to camp. Kinda bummed there's no showers there for that kind of money! :-) we've been spoiled with the most beautiful campsites for free or at least under $5.
We got in just after sunset last night, but not after checking out the most northern overlook of the canyon. Man, it's impressive! Anyhow, we set up camp...by that, I mean Ken set up the tent and we loaded our stuff in it and set up our beds in the car. ;-) its quite comfy that way.
We woke up to some gusts this morning. The weather forecast called for 35mph sustained with gusts on top of that. Right now, with the lack of visibility due to the strong winds, I think they're wrong. It feels stronger than 40 sustained, & it's quite uncomfortable to breathe, see, or anything really. Needless to say, we're gonna miss out on hiking today, and Ken's missing some photo opportunities.
So, we took this opportunity to drive to some overlooks, take showers, and do laundry for the first time on our trip.
Really, I'm feeling like the only way to be comfortable is to wear a burqa, full facial cover.
No comments:
Post a Comment