Escape the Heat? Part 2

Sunday, 8/15
We decided to explore church options in the little town near the marina, Manila, UT. Being in Utah, the choices appeared to be a Mormon church and a Community Baptist Church. Our best intelligence was that the Baptist church met at 3 pm. So Sid proposed a sail in the morning and church in the afternoon.

So far, the “sailing” part has not happened much at all. Sid is determined to sail at Flaming Gorge, but the winds are fickle. Just as he is getting a bit of a rhythm, he realizes that we need to head back to make it to church.

It was a sweet, tiny church. All women in attendance. A pastor and his wife drive about 90 minutes each week to serve them. This particular week there was a missionary family who serve in Bolivia who told a bit about their work and he gave a Bible lesson. After, we drove around Manila hoping for a place to eat but everything was either already closed or more permanently closed. We did scope out where our motel was for Monday night. Back to the boat for chips and salsa, but as we reached the marina, a powerful squall came up. Sid had been musing about an evening sail, but the whitecaps and everyone else zooming in off the lake dissuaded him.

Our slip is on a far-from-the-ramp dock and the closest to the lake. That sounds like an advantageous position until you realize that the sea wall does not extend to the furthest 3 docks so those boats get excessive waves from boat traffic and from the weather. Result: we were buffeted thoroughly all night as the wind swept through. I don’t really think it affected Sid, however. I actually tried to sleep sitting up on this night, because at this point, my (arthritic) back was protesting so much at the boat accommodations. That was great for my back, but my right foot was quite swollen in the morning and it was much harder to keep warm once the night temps dropped. Still searching for the perfect solution…grateful for a motel night tomorrow. 

Monday, 8/16
First day of Charleston Classical School! So happy that God got this little school launched this year. I secretly wished I could have been there. (If you don't know about my involvement, ask me sometime. 😊)

Back at Flaming Gorge: HOT again—funny that we took this trip to escape the heat. Sid fished for minnows/bait fish so he could fish on this lake. This ended up taking most of the afternoon

and he was waiting for the heat of the day to pass. So we headed out for an evening fishing expedition. Sadly, it turned out as the Yellowstone attempts had, and the Garmin depth gauge/fish finder was not working correctly. So after dark, there were breezes, so he decided to try to sail. Mind you this was to be a motel night. He’s desperate to catch a fish on this trip and I am rather desperate for a good night’s sleep in a comfortable bed with relatively cool air, so we are rather at cross-purposes. Once we had lost light and had NO nibbles, I reminded him that we were to be at the motel.

We arrived at the motel about 10:30 pm. It was completely dark, and no cars…anywhere. OK, so we might be the only guests; that would definitely reduce noise distractions. I had received a pin code to open our room, but in the dark, we had a tough time finding the room number. Once found, I tried the code. The familiar sound of an electrical lock unlocking followed. However, the door wouldn’t open. Pulling out my phone for a flashlight, I tried again. Same result, except this time I could see that the dead bolt was fastened so simply unlocking the latch did no good. Embarrassed by the late hour and seeing no overnight clerk in the office building, I called (and woke) the owner. She gave me a long story about why the room was locked and why other rooms were not prepared but finally decided to give me the code to the room next door. It worked, we got into the room. 

It was really a lovely, clean place, but there were an extraordinary number of signs everywhere. (Reminded me of a song from the 70s.) Signs about what food you could and could not prepare on the counter, signs on the waste cans about what you could not put in the can, (wait, what?) signs about check-out time; heat, A/C, lights usage; signs about reusing the towels, signs about only cooking in the outdoor kitchens, etc. We didn’t think much of it, probably because we were so tired. Silly us!