Tuesday, May 15, 2018

When Bears Ears beckons, time to listen

   POINT RICHMOND, Calif. - The U.S. road atlas (large print edition, of course) is a fixture in the living room, along with several note pads with ideas of places to visit - and linger - on The Red Writer's travels to the East in a few weeks.
     Jaysus! A few weeks? Time to get cracking on getting everything ready.
    High on that list is the Bears Ears National Monument and that section of Utah including Moab and Cedar Mesa.
    Admiral Fox did some archeological work at Cedar Mesa in another life.
Fox Marine custom solar
panel installation
    Bears Ears caught my attention when it came into the crosshairs of Donald Trump, mostly because former President Barack Obama was the one who gave Bears Ears its official designation. OH! And because some folks in the oil, gas and mining industries think it might be swell to get in there and do a little industrializing. Maybe a lot of industrializing.
    But at least for now, the millions of acres are ready for vacationistas to explore the whole place.
    And The Red Writer will be there - for a bit anyway.
Not elegant, but it works
    As we dream of desert landscapes and starry nights sans light pollution, we have added a few items to the gear list of The Red Writer: solar power, a tabletop griddle, a voltmeter to check the battery, two incredibly comfortable REI lawn chairs and many other smaller items. Adm. Fox nearly wore out several chairs at REI before deciding on hers. Plans (ha, plans!) are to leave the first week in June and be in New York by the end of the month.
    Unless we get lost in Bears Ears...