JT Travel Memories: Oh Sheep! What Is That?

Hello Beautiful People,

Working at home for the past seven months with limited opportunities to get out and go places has allowed my hubby and I spend some extra time looking through our photos and remember our travels of years past. When I see a photo from a favorite vacation place or a special dinner at a restaurant, I think, “My goodness these memories warm my heart, make me smile, and look forward to when we can travel again.” Together with my hubby, we will be sharing some favorite memories and offer some travel tips. We have been road-tripping for years, long before COVID made it cool and the preferred way. My hubby enjoys mapping out our journeys and even putting in some surprises.

So for today’s travel memories, let us head out west to Moab, Utah.

For our 17th wedding anniversary, Jay planned a trip to Colorado and Utah through the mountains and rock formations that paint the western landscape. We overnighted in Denver before experiencing the amazing views of the Colorado National Monument. We arrived in Moab for three days of hiking and off-roading adventures. On our actual anniversary date, we secured a Jeep tour that traveled through Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. We will be sharing more about the time we spent in Moab, but for today we are focusing on our journey up Shafer Trail. Safer Canyon is located in the Island of the Skys area of Canyonlands National Park. To leave the canyon, you can drive on Shafer Trail. The road is not for the faint of heart or inexperienced driver. The photo before shows how steep and how narrow the road actually is. From this point, we still had to go further up to leave the canyon.

We were riding in a super modified Jeep Wrangler with our tour guide, Chip, and a couple from Arizona. They were touring America in an RV since they recently retired. I will never forget when I said people say it’s not that hot in Arizona because it’s a dry heat. The man, who I will call P, said that’s Bulls$$$t! He immediately apologized and said that’s not true. Actually, they were very nice. We spent the whole day with them and the tour guide and enjoyed our tour together.
Traveling up Shafer Trail was at the end of our tour. I guess you could call it the climax with twists and turns and not sure what to expect next. ln the Jeep, Jay sat in the front seat with Chip. I sat in the back with our companions. P sat on the left side where he could look out the window and down the canyon. Out of the blue, he said “Stop, I see a sheep!” We were surprised to hear that because sheep are not common in the Park. Chip quickly stopped the Jeep, allowing everyone a chance to get out for a closer look. On the side of the canyon, we saw a Desert Big Horn Sheep looking at us looking at him. His facial expression is saying, “Hi! How are you doing?”

Here is a close up of another one eating grass. Jay slowly walked closer and was able to get an excellent up-close photo. We think that they may have been a couple.

Being in awe that we had already seen two big horn sheep, we searched up and down the canyon wall and along the rocks to see if we could spot any more. And there near the base of the canyon, we spotted three younger sheep standing together.
We stayed around for a while to observe our new friends. We believe that they could have been a family and lived close by. After continuing our journey up Shafer Trail and making it back to the visitor’s center, we shared our experience with the park rangers. They were surprised that we had seen so many of them because they are quite rare in the park. Observing them in their natural environment made me feel like I was a park ranger.