8/18 - 19 - Wal-Mart or nothing at all.

It was between 3 or 4pm on our way out of Arches. We stopped into Moab again to replace the o-ring for the stove; Adam made sure it fit this time. Yay, finally the stove will work! We crossed through the Utah/Colorado border and stopped off at a visitors center right outside of Fruita to grill our salmon and update the blog. By the time we got there, we only had a half hour left to use the internet, so it became an opportunity to eat dinner only. Trista prepared some delicious looking rice with onions, garlic, tomatoes, and butter - all waiting to cook in a pan. Guess what? The stove STILL didn't work! The hose was still leaking because it had melted. THAT'S IT! Adam is ready to throw the stove by now. Four days in and no hot food. We finally just broke down and found a Super Wal-Mart, against our beliefs, and bought a brand new stove (big sigh). NOW...now...we will be able to prepare a warm meal. Sounds great.

Driving through the Rockies.

Knowing we were heading into bear country we wanted to unload our salmon and the clock was ticking. Since we now had a working stove, we found another rest stop in the Rockies just before we ascended Hwy 64 to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a perfect time to break in our stove and grill our salmon and rice. Oh, the sweet symphony of flavors in our mouths. How great it felt to eat real food, and we chugged it down with a couple of ice-cold Rolling Rocks.

We understood that bear proofing ourselves and the vehicle were crucial before arriving at the park because we knew we were arriving late, so we bagged all the food and readied ourselves for bed in advance so we could lock our toiletries in the car as well.

Ready to climb the mountain. Almost up to speed, folks.