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Disclaimer: The traveling partner described here is a fictional character. Any resemblance to a real person, even to a person named Kurt Repanshek, is purely coincidental.
The outbound leg of this particular Dumb & Dumber trip has brought Kurt and me to Canyonlands National Park. We've left the main highway a long way back and we're on that lonely road that goes and goes and goes until you can hardly stand it, but eventually brings you to the visitor center of the park's vast Island in the Sky district. Kurt is driving his trusty Subaru, and it's packed to the bursting point with camping gear, food, and other crappe. I'm riding shotgun.
We're approaching the entrance now, and it's time to get out Kurt's annual p**** which is in the glovebox. I hand it to him and watch as he tries to insert the little card into the slots of the rearview mirror hanger-thingie. He fumbles it, and it disappears into that narrow space between the dashboard and the windshield.
"*****" says Kurt. "Happens every time. I'll have to take the dashboard apart again when we get home. By the way, Bob, did I remember to tell you to bring along your own annual pass so we'd have it available in a pinch?"
No, Kurt; you did not.
We learn that the seasonal at Canyonlands' Island in the Sky entrance will charge you the full daily fee to get in, even if you swear that there's an annual pass lodged somewhere in your dashboard.
Beyond the Island in the Sky visitor center are miles of scenic road that we're eager to explore. I remark on the isolation of this place and the profound scarcity of visitor amenities. There's no lodging. There's no place to buy a meal or even a can of beans. We are tens of miles from the nearest gas station.
"Can you imagine," I ask Kurt, "what it would be like to run out of gas way out here in the middle of nowhere?"
Kurt says "Whoops!" and points to the gas gauge. The needle is hovering a hairsbreadth above Empty. "Bob," says Kurt, "I meant to tell you that it's your job to make sure we have a full tank of gas when we get to Canyonlands. I tend to forget things like that."
The rest of the story : http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com...t-tell-you5979
The outbound leg of this particular Dumb & Dumber trip has brought Kurt and me to Canyonlands National Park. We've left the main highway a long way back and we're on that lonely road that goes and goes and goes until you can hardly stand it, but eventually brings you to the visitor center of the park's vast Island in the Sky district. Kurt is driving his trusty Subaru, and it's packed to the bursting point with camping gear, food, and other crappe. I'm riding shotgun.
We're approaching the entrance now, and it's time to get out Kurt's annual p**** which is in the glovebox. I hand it to him and watch as he tries to insert the little card into the slots of the rearview mirror hanger-thingie. He fumbles it, and it disappears into that narrow space between the dashboard and the windshield.
"*****" says Kurt. "Happens every time. I'll have to take the dashboard apart again when we get home. By the way, Bob, did I remember to tell you to bring along your own annual pass so we'd have it available in a pinch?"
No, Kurt; you did not.
We learn that the seasonal at Canyonlands' Island in the Sky entrance will charge you the full daily fee to get in, even if you swear that there's an annual pass lodged somewhere in your dashboard.
Beyond the Island in the Sky visitor center are miles of scenic road that we're eager to explore. I remark on the isolation of this place and the profound scarcity of visitor amenities. There's no lodging. There's no place to buy a meal or even a can of beans. We are tens of miles from the nearest gas station.
"Can you imagine," I ask Kurt, "what it would be like to run out of gas way out here in the middle of nowhere?"
Kurt says "Whoops!" and points to the gas gauge. The needle is hovering a hairsbreadth above Empty. "Bob," says Kurt, "I meant to tell you that it's your job to make sure we have a full tank of gas when we get to Canyonlands. I tend to forget things like that."
The rest of the story : http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com...t-tell-you5979
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