6apr thurs. gooseneck state park, utah [Monument Valley, Navajo Nation]
woke up around 6a.m. this morning, lounged a bit. made an egg sandwich with .the new My Mini cook gadget. turned out great! toasted some bread, better than McD’s
after breakfast i decided to try a morning shower, even though it was below freezing. the diesel heater was already out. so I just set up the tent, put the heater hose into it, so inside the tent it was >50f had to boil 1.5 liters water not just 1. normally it’s 1 liter boiling water, 2 liters room temp into the geyser thing. but room temp water was darn close to freezing, so it took 1.5 liters boiling.
The geyser sponge shower pump was running fine, but i think the line up to the quick connect had frozen. So i gave up and dipped the spong manually. I tested it later after driving for a hour, and having it in the truck cab to thaw. it worked fine at the gas station. So I poured some RV antifreeze in and ran the pump enough to push it through. future ref, will do that when temps are +/- freezing. easier on the pump and tubing I can’t see. Before I'd just ran the pump dry per the directions.
anyway the shower was tolerable. I couldn’t find a sock for a minute (hidden in the leg of my pj’s/sweatpants), so one foot got a tad cold. other than that I'd do again. I was still able to be ready by 9a.m., so in the future will probably do a sponge/camp shower after breakfast. The wind is calmer than pre dinner.
drove to Navajo Nation and drove around Monument Valley. Well worth seeing. After that, drove through a small town and got photos of a rock formation called Mexican Hat. then onto the famous Forest Gump spot where he finally decided he’d had enough of running, was tired, and wanted to go home. Many stupid people walking into the road to do a instagram photo. Darwinism.
finall, camping overnight at the Utah Gooseneck State Park. Similar to Horseshoe Bend, but more bends. parked about 20 ft from the cliff edge. with a stellar view of the canyon/gorge whatever you want to call it.
tomorrow Valley of the Gods.
and the stupid little $10 My Mini skillet cooker is sweet. makes an excellent breakfast egg sandwich, and I like the portion control for stir fry. I’ve got a stainless container of two chicken breasts I diced up in the cooler, and another container of diced onion and green pepper. So i take out enough until the mymini is not quite crowded. I also have some squeeze tubes of garlic and ginger, so it’s easy to make something tasty quickly, and cleanup is quick.
