You can easily drive the road into Arches National Park and get a feel for the beauty and geology of the area. On a hundred degree plus day, it’s tempting to do just that! We didn’t, but I’ll confess that our walks were short.
Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina: Peggy and I have now moved on from our large beach house on the Outer Banks (OBX) of North Carolina where we were entertained by our kids and grandkids for a week. Peggy was treated royally in honor of her 70th Birthday. (Okay, I was spoiled too.) Eventually, I’ll do a post on OBX. Presently we are in an RV campground in Roanoke Rapids, not far from the Virginia border on an unexpected layover day.
When we arrived here yesterday, I noticed that we could get a mobile RV service to come by and fix the water line running to our pump from our fresh water tank. It hasn’t worked since shortly after we left home. Given that most RV repair shops are booked solid for weeks during the summer, we hadn’t had an opportunity to repair it.
Rufus and Cleve arrived at five in Rufus’s brand new ‘shop,’ a 2020 Hemi. It would be hard to find two guys more country— from their looks to their accents. But they were genuine, fun and knowledgeable. Eventually, they found the problem. The plastic water tube buried beneath the water pump in an extremely difficult place to get at was twisted and frayed. Cleve returned this morning with new tubing to finish the job.
The plastic tube delivering water to our pump was twisted and frayed with a pin-prick sized hole in it. The tube was buried down in the innards of our van.Cleve had a rooster ringtone on his phone and a rooster tat on his arm. I asked him about it. “I just really like roosters,” he explained to me in his deep country drawl.
Today, I am continuing my series on Arches National Park. So far I have done posts on Balanced Rock and the road into Arches. In this post, I will start just beyond Balanced Rock at the Garden of Eden and follow the main road on to the the Fiery Furnace and beyond.
I am not sure why this section is called the Garden of Eden. I don’t think Adam and Eve would want to live here. Where would they find an apple tree? On the other hand, there are plenty of serpents. And lots of impressive rocks. The woman hiking up to the pinnacles provides a perspective on their size.The big fellow on the right is known as Owl Rock.Here is a close up of the giant pinnacle with its ‘owl head’ staring down at me.The Garden of Eden also has some impressive cliffs. Visitors are welcome to wander among the rocks in the Garden of Eden as long as they stay off of the easily damaged desert soil.
A final view before heading on to the Fiery Furnace.
We were amused to go from the Garden of Eden to the Fiery Furnace. Turns out it isn’t so fiery if you go walking along the rock and tree shaded trails. The trails were closed because of Covid-19, however. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)This jumble of rocks was found nearby.As were these colorful pinnacles. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)I thought of the rock on the left as The Troll. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)Continuing our drive into the park we came on these dramatic fins. A more distant perspective.There was a path that led back into the fins. Peggy posed for me. Because there were a number of people on the narrow trail, we used our masks.As the day went on and the heat increased, clouds began to form and create a backdrop for our photos. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.).I’ll conclude today’s post with this scene from along the road.
NEXT POST: Peggy and I drive to the end of the road and go for a walk along the Devil’s Garden trail.
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