Limping into Moab

Rain began steadily hitting the windshield as we pulled away from Keith and Christel's home in Montrose. On the road again, but this time we were heading towards a place we are both familiar with. Moab. Moab is a comforting place- it is one of those places that feels like home to me, even though I have only made a few short visits there. We took a southern route into Moab, one that neither of us had taken before. Soon we pulled away from the mountains and the sage brush surrounded us. The rain was making a deep fog from in a canyon just off the highway, so, naturally, we pulled over to take photos. The smell of the damp sage brush was so wonderful and safe feeling. It made me think of the times I longed to visit Moab. To escape the commitments of school and head west to see my friends. I would listen to a mix CD Amanda made for my first trip to Moab, what was her third trip, over and over. It was the only thing that would make my feet stand still and stay in Springfield for the remaining weeks of what I felt was prison at times.
The land slowly morphed more and more into the land of the red, the land of the warm desert, the land with dumpster diving and adventure around every corner, with great towers and vibrant natural color in every direction. This is where we are. This is where we are going. I could not help but let my mind slip into memories. Amanda and I were returning to the place that was becoming more and more a place of magic, in my mind.
We got to a small town called LaSal, population 15. It is not even an hour outside of the place we were headed. Amanda felt it was an appropriate time for a routine tire check, before rolling into town. The tires on my side were as solid as the day they were made, this was not the case for one of the tires on Amanda's side. It turns out there was a reason for the seemingly routine check. We had a flat - and we changed it (meaning Amanda changed it and I watched to make sure she did a good job).
And so it was, we limped into Moab with a spare tire on the rear and a pride in our hearts. What a better town to limp into?