September 29, 2016

I've been in Sedona for 48 hours. It started raining around 19:00 Tuesday, and it continued for most of yesterday. I was grateful. I put Jean in an Uber car at 04:30 Tuesday in Las Vegas, and commenced a cleaning fest inside BOB. I rolled out of town at 07:30, and proceeded to make eight stops before pulling into my RV site more than 10 hours later. Jean and I spent 19 days seeing five national parks, two state parks, and Las Vegas, covering at least 60 miles on foot. During those days, I squeezed in the requisite financial and BOB maintenance, one-click applied for a couple of jobs on ZipRecruiter, and otherwise shopped, prepped, cooked, ate, packed and unpacked food, eliminated, bathed, and did a lot of laundry. Red rock dirt does not leave your clothing. My white towels are ruined, but they're more than 10 years old. I'll pick up my other Restoration Hardware towels in Providence next month and proceed to ruin those, too – probably.

I completed about eight things on my list yesterday and added two for each one I completed. This morning's rain allowed me to whittle my list down to four big tasks, none of which I'll complete soon. This afternoon I treated myself to a "Pink Jeep" ride in Sedona. I think I did the same ride 15 years ago; it was certainly with the same company. I didn't take my camera because I have photo fatigue and because it was cloudy. I ended up taking a few photos with my iPhone because the weather cleared.

​I have to say that I was nonplussed by the experience. Although I dread any tour which involves children, the dad with his four kids provided a source of entertainment for me because the youngest child seemed likely either to jump out of the Jeep or off a rock during a photo-op. The other couple in our group seemed to be on their first trip west of the Connecticut, so that was charming. However, none of them engaged me, although my interrogatories were politely answered. The guide was one of those scripted know-it-alls with canned jokes who most tourists enjoy immensely. I am not one of those. As we embarked, I would have bet that the kids would be the downside to my enjoyment and the driver the upside, but I'd rather play with those kids than listen to our guide’s “pre-recorded” tour. That doesn't mean I'm available for babysitting.