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Luckily, the warranty covers towing no matter where we are. We just had to call Mercedes’ roadside assistance. Well, not so easy folks! Apparently the so-called roadside assistance does not understand the ‘roadside’ part and assumes you are calling from home\u2026 Because “the system wants an address; you have to give me an address”. Lady, I don’t know the address and I barely have one bar of cell signal and no internet. I don’t know the address, but I am 5 miles south of the north entrance to Yellowstone, the most popular national park in the U.S. [okay, second most popular]. That’s surely enough to find me. Nope, need an address. How about, Mammoth Hot Springs Campground\u2014a Google search in the beautiful computer you have in front of you will easily tell you where that is. Nope, the system wants an address. How about my lat-long GPS coordinates? That’s exactly, precisely, unequivocally, unambiguously where we are, with a 10-meter precision. Nope, this 21st-century program does not understand such a medieval system of coordinates. I need an address. And don’t forget the zip code. Lady, I don’t even know what state I’m in, and you want a zip code? [No I’m not that clueless, but in this particular situation I wasn’t really sure we were in Montana or Wyoming, as the park straddles the state line].<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>At some point she finally realized that I had no way of coming up with an address, and somehow figured out how to move on. But then it was time to face the towing truck bureaucracy. After all the different ways I told the road assistance lady exactly where we were, the truck driver called to ask\u2026 you guessed, where the fuck we were. Not only that, he also wanted a picture of the van. I inquired why. He said he needed to know how tall it was in order to decide what truck to bring. I told him the van was exactly 9 feet and 4 inches high. “That’s very useful information”, he said. “But I still need a picture.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a>And then came the pearl that showed that roadside assistance does not understand the ‘assistance’ part either. They offered to take only one of us in the truck cabin with the driver, while the other could get an Uber. Dude, even if there was a way to call an Uber when you have no internet, there’s no way we’re going to spend 90 minutes with strangers in an enclosed environment in the middle of a pandemic; I don’t care what the regulations say\u2014we’re going inside the van, period. We actually had a blast riding at an even higher vantage point than usual to the repair shop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Montana and Wyoming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It was cold. The thermostat became my best friend when we had 5 days in a row with the daily high not getting above 35\u00b0F (2\u00b0C).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Still cold for a tropics lover, but way better than Montana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To our surprise, it was high season in Southeast Utah—winter is too cold and summer too hot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s called arches for a reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our first day in Grand Canyon National Park was somewhat disappointing: it was hazy, and as we got closer to Grand Canyon Village it got more and more crowded, and less and less of a zen-like experience. We pondered leaving for good, but when we checked that the forecast called for a snowy night we decided to camp right outside the park, set the alarm for 5:15am, and get some sleep before driving back to the park. At first light, as the weather started to clear, breakfast in the heated van with a spectacular view and no-one around was a spectacular reward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every page about Sedona on the web seems to have this description: “Sedona is an Arizona desert town near Flagstaff that\u2019s surrounded by red-rock buttes, steep canyon walls and pine forests. It\u2019s noted for its mild climate and vibrant arts community.” So there you go. I can be a master of copy-pasting too. On our way west we unintentionally discovered Jerome, a very interesting, funky, and “wickedest town in the west”. The last picture below, Burro Creek is not really near Sedona, but I couldn’t fit it in any other section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Mojave was\u2026 profound. There’s some mysterious magic in that tough landscape that touches your soul and makes you travel inwards. But more personally, the Mojave was the place where Kathy undertook a vision quest a few years ago, fastening in solitary for four days. It was a transformational experience for her, and marked an inflection point in our relationship as well. For me, it was the first time there, and I am immensely grateful that she let me into her space with an open heart full of joy and desire to share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>Utah<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a>Canyonlands National Park — Island in the Sky<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\nArches National Park<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>Canyonlands National Park — The Needles<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/a><\/figure><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\nGoing South<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/a>Arizona<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a>Grand Canyon<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\nSedona Area<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>California<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Mojave Desert<\/h5>\n\n\n\n