While we were camping at the Grand Canyon, we met a nice couple, The Briggles (Claudette and Bill). They are from Orlando, Florida, are on a lengthy road trip like us, and take a small business (real estate) on the road with them like we do. They have a very nice, fairly new Class A rig, and travel with a little dog. So, we had a lot in common with them.
It turned out that we would be hitting some of the same stops in the next few weeks, like Hurricane and Moab, so we pledged to get together at those places…and we have.
In Hurricane, we managed to go up to Springdale and have a nice dinner at Pizza and Noodle which Bill paid for. I reciprocated here in Moab with a nice lunch at the Red Cliffs Lodge, which is located along the Colorado River about 14 miles east of Moab.
Here they are, Claudette and Bill:
And, here we are:
While at the Red Cliffs Lodge, we visited the Motion Picture Museum which is located in the basement.
We’ve visited this museum previously, but it has been greatly improved since then. There is a very nice movie provided that tells the story of how all of the movie making that occurred here in Moab over the past 60 years affected the community.
Scores of movies were made here. There have been lots of Westerns (this was a favored location of Director John Ford’s movies with John Wayne) and other well-known ones, as well, like Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, Back to the Future II, Geronimo, Mission Impossible, Con Air, City Slickers, The Lone Ranger (with Johnny Depp), Star Trek, Austin Powers, etc. Many of the big-name Hollywood stars have shot movies on location near Moab.
The most famous movie made here has to be Thelma and Louise. The last scene in the movie has Thelma (Gena Davis) and Louise (Susan Sarandon) committing suicide by driving off a cliff (Dead Horse Point?) in their convertible Thunderbird.
The movie makers actually did the stunt twice (two different cars were sacrificed!). The crash dummy of Thelma is in the museum; check out Gena Davis’ look as the car goes over the cliff.
That’s one way to croak in Moab. The other is to go outside in the afternoon…it’s been over 100 degrees every day that we’ve been here. The dogs are lucky: they have a pool.
But, mostly, we all hang out in the air-conditioned RV and try to ride out the heat wave. It has been hot everywhere in the Southwest U.S.A. The day before we left Hurricane, I took Charlie to a Chinese restaurant. When we got into the car to drive the two blocks, the thermometer in the car read 121 outside! Yipes!! (But, we heard that it was 108 in Murrieta last week, so there’s no escaping it.)
I’m planning to hike Dark Angel trail tomorrow in Arches National Park. In order to avoid a roasting, I’m going to get up to the park by 7 a.m. and hit the trail by 7:30 or so. Hopefully, I can get the six-mile walk accomplished in 3 hours or less, and be back in the air-conditioned RV before noon.