One of those relaxing days, the weather has been good, quite a difference from just 65 miles north from here, of course the elevation needs to be taken in consideration. Right around the corner is Kanab Canyon and also the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, which I had never heard off… till yesterday.

There seems to be a “set up’ everywhere we go, I cannot find any other word for it. The Dish, the food situation, get the rig ready to roll, kind of like unfolding a moving home that has been folded while being transported! The vibes sets in, some places feeling better than others, sometimes it takes time and sometimes we are ready to roll so quickly. Somehow we are staggering here… might be that the days are suddenly much longer… it was daytime till around 8pm to my surprise and maybe I am just for that reason a bit slower.

A local couple talked to me yesterday about the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary… 600+/- dogs and 600+/- cats… not counting horses, birds, goats, any animal that needs a shelter is there! It is a no-kill shelter… The largest in the country. So we saddle up and just up the road on 89 make a right into Kanab Canyon.

The Sanctuary itself sits on 3000 acres, 25 friends in the mid 70’s put together their resources, even putting up themselves their own buildings, to shelter found animals. They also lease 30000 acres from BLM (Bureau Land Management), it is a huge organization with all the animals so well cared.

They have tours, the Canyon road leads to their land and Center. We took one. Spirit was more than welcome in the van, of course behaving like a gentleman. I don’t have many pictures as we only stopped at the Cats house and the Dogs house… Actually they have many homes… they are built specifically for the animals in mind!

The Dogs homes even have heated floors… air conditioning… the Cats also, they can all play outdoor or indoor… I was blown away at the set up!!! They actually live better than I do!!!

Many volunteers, full time Vets, animal behavior trainers, and amazingly their adoption rates are much higher than anywhere else!!! They have spend close to 250 days after Katrina in New Orleans rescuing many animals, they had… 150 dogs and 150 cats flown in from Lebanon as the war broke out… most have been already adopted!

A friend of mine that also writes had mentioned a book in his Blog yesterday, “The dogs who found me” by Ken Foster. He went on to mention how great the book was, showing the true personality of dogs when stripped from their owner’s behavior, it just sounded like great reading.

I started wondering where will I find such a book around here… maybe someday as I go through a bigger city. Karma must be good again, as I walked in the office of the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary… there was the book staring at me on a shelf! There was also another coat I have been looking for Spirit… and to make the matters even better, as I started reading it last night, I found out that the book had been autographed by Ken Foster himself! What a path to be on!!!

This part of the Canyon is where many movies were filmed! One being Outlaw Josie Wales… maybe Westerns will make a comeback! It would be so interesting to witness the making of one, maybe make my way into the crowd to be an extra with Spirit? So I have a lot of imagination…

Since we got back early I thought I would use some of the fish and shrimp I had bought in Page.

Remember, this is camping cooking… Micro Cooking, easy and convenient… make it look good!

Substituting is good also, using some imagination to what you have bought, omitting or adding some items? No problem, if for example you don’t like mustard… or anything else for that matter. The recipes are “loose”, they are ideas, they are a “taste” that can be changed…

I boiled some frozen shrimp to thaw them out, used the same water to boil some red cut up potatoes, and same water again to warm up a can of Le Sueur peas… Drain all, set aside. In a pan with Ghee, saute some sole, real quick to leave them firm, remove, to that same pan throw in the peas, potatoes and sliced fresh tomatoes, I added a bit of Dijon mustard and Newman’s Vinaigrette…

Remember, this is camping, lets make it easy! I like Newman’s because it does not require refrigeration and he has a winning combination. Finally, one slice of sole in the middle of the plate, (ah! Those beautiful Chinet plates… which I also use by the way as a cutting board!), cover with shrimp, one more slice of sole on top, a few more shrimp to make it look good… surrounded by the peas/potatoes/tomatoes mixture, drizzle with some warmed up dressing, (same pan again should be used), some sliced green onions and chopped parsley… Drizzle some lemon juice, hot sauce… Beats a can of beans topped with a hot dog!!! Right?

There is a lot of Utah to experience… and I will be heading West soon, as I do want to ride the California Coast, see some friends near and in San Francisco, Santa Cruz… More and more I feel this year is just an outline of what I want to experience and write about and ride for the years to come. The thought that I have just flown through all these regions in the past years makes me wonder how most travel. I know… no one has much time and have to make the best of it as I have throughout the previous years. I guess I am fortunate to have chosen this life with so many chapters ahead of us…

You be well…

Ara & Spirit

This entry was posted on Friday, March 23rd, 2007 at 8:00 pm and is filed under travel, spirituality, pit bull, sidecar, motorcycle, cooking, photography, riding, homeless. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.