Utah

After Monument valley we headed for the town of Kanab in Utah. It is conveniently placed right between the national parks of Zion and Bryce, our two next famed destinations. We had made sure there were lots and lots of hotels in an affordable price range in Kanab and so we went happily on our way. Carefully made plans do however sometimes go astonishingly wrong.

Kanab, being placed as it is, has a remarkable landscape around it, and so it has been used as the setting for so many Westerns, that it is known as "Little Hollywood". As it happened, we arrived on the friday of what was apparently to be a grand western festival weekend. Many of the old western stars would return to town and there would be no end of wholesome frolicking, merrymaking and reenactment going on. All hotels were booked months in advance. "Damnation" we thought and tried to find a way out of this unhappy coincidence. Luckily, the hotel lady who had informed us of all this was very nice, and in the end found us a place up north... in a tiny golf resort in Carmel Junction. Tired and dusty, we got there. There was a hotel, a gas station, a little market, one diner and a huge golf course. The hotel personnel were extremely nice... they were mormons. And they were so nice!

Earlier this day we had ordered a beer in a diner and been told, that they didn't sell alcohol. Utah broke something inside me at that moment. It healed a little though when Ivan found the most awesome possible beer in Carmel Junction. Evolution Amber Ale.

This wonderful brewery made all kinds of neatly named beer, but it was definately Evolution Ale that got my spirits back up. Since we had been driving so much for a long while, we were a day ahead of schedule. We decided to take a day of and just hang out at Carmel Junction. This would force us to relax and reboot our brains, since there was really noting at all to see there. Ivan went for a walk in the countryside, which was of course still amazing. I went to get breakfast at the diner and then sad in the shade by the pool and read, listening to the different sounds distantly drifting in from the golf course and watched the eagles soring in the sky and the mountains in the horizon.

In the afternoon we watched tv, played cards, and got quite drunk on Evolution Ale in our hotel room. Then we went down to eat dinner and pester the hotel and restaurant personnel. It was really a very nice day.