June 30, 2011 or why Hippies make great hostel guests

Today found me about as far away from home as I have been in awhile.  After a 6 hour plane ride and an 8 hour drive, I had arrived in Moab, UT.  If you have never had the chance to see the Western half of the United States, I highly recommend it, especially if you are from the East.  It can really put an entirely new perspective on things. 

Moab is an interesting little town stuck, literally, in the middle of the desert.  As my friends and I made our way East, on I70, we came to a sign that was a little concerning.  The sign dutifully informed us that this was the last exit with gas, food or real bathrooms for the next 200 miles.  Gas and food I figured we'd be ok.  Our "Lil Mule" (aka: the little Ford Fiesta that could) had very good gas mileage.  No, the lack of bathrooms was what I was the most concerned about.

What the sign did not tell us was that, this was going to be the very last building we would see for the next 200 miles.  As we continued, the desert stretched out before us, flat and colorful and uninhabited.  Giant rock formations, cliffs and mesas surrounded us in a broken, but amazingly beautiful landscape.  It was what, I imagined, driving on Mars might be like.

We arrived in Moab late in the day, thankful that we had made it safely and no longer had to be cramped in the car.  The thing about Utah, on the map the distance didn't seem so great, but in reality things were very far apart.  Moab seemed such an odd place, just a decent sized town stuck in the middle of nowhere.  Out on the highway, we did see cars, but it was not exactly rush hour traffic.  In Moab, the streets were packed and there were people everywhere.  Where did they come from?  How did they get here?  It is really the strangest, most random little town I have ever seen. 

At first we couldn't find the Lazy Lizard Hostel, that would be our home for the night.  We passed by some fancier hotels, noting with envy, the pools and air conditioned rooms.  Then we spotted an A1 Storage Building, the kind of place where you rent out units to store your belongings in when you have accumulated too much clutter for your home.  The directions said it was behind the A1 Storage Building, but we didn't realize how accurate that was.  When we pulled in, we were immediately greeted by 2 men, wearing tie dye shirts, who tried to invite us into a game of frisbee.  They looked like the sort of young men who spend their days roaming from town to town looking for adventures in the outdoors.  How they fund their adventures is beyond me.  We were shown to our cabin, which on first glanced looked ok.  Once inside, the 3 of us began laughing hysterically when we were introduced to the wooden bunk beds, a duct taped plastic window, and an air conditioner that had been jerry rigged to move the warm air around.

   

But, hey, what did we expect for $12 per night.  We knew there would have to be some concessions.  We unpacked, settled in, and took a trip down to the communal bathhouse (which reminded me so much of my camp counselor days).  When we returned, an RV had parked right next to our cabin and had rigged up a plastic sheet tacked onto a corner of our building and a corner of their RV.  Not exactly sure why, we immediately went inside and locked the doors, laughing some more at our fancy accommodations.  A few hours later, as we were getting to sleep, we realized why there was a need for the plastic sheet as a strange, funky, 60's era odor started creeping through the holes of our cabin.  A few moments later, we began to hear the drum of bongos, as the hippie party got underway.  This elicited more hysterical laughter from us as we discussed how much we missed the Super 8 we had stayed at a few days prior.  Who knew the Super 8 would feel like the Hilton after this experience!

So, if you are ever in Moab, I recommend visiting Arches National Park and the shops in town.  But, unless you wear tie dye on a daily basis, I'd skip the Lazy Lizard Hostel.