Another long day of driving, but the entire way I was dazzled by the spectacular cloud ballet. The terrain was spare, but the skies were enough. 
My sons worked in Moab 30 years ago. One of Nick’s childhood friends, David Williams, first told me about Canyon Lands and Moab. He had worked there at Back and Beyond, a bookstore that still thrives.

Peter was a short-order cook in Moab for a while, and Nick had a craft service business at that time.  He worked on a movie being filmed in the area.  So, in an interesting turn of fate, we all respectively got to Moab. 

And here I am again. In Moab with Brandy. And  Moab is not charming any longer. The north part of the downtown still has cute shops, but as you head south on Main Street, things get less and less attractive.  

I stayed at an old motel which was clean and quiet but the area surrounding and off Main is sketchy.

One new structure in the area is encouraging—a beautiful new middle school with an astonishing green lawn. I say astonishing because green lawns are few and far between.

I guess, like many small towns, tourism is the principal source of revenue. A local woman told me that without tourism, there would be no new middle school.