Blog

Why We Love Moab

• June 2007
• Uncategorized

I’m Steph Davis. I mostly live in Moab, Utah, in a very cool 1968 doublewide in a quiet little neighborhood near the City Park, just off Main Street.

It used to be kind of hideous. The yard was some brown grass, one tree and a battered chainlink fence. In fact, when I bought the place, I refused to take any “before” photos, because I didn’t want to waste a single second taking photos when I could be using those seconds at the hardware store, buying paint and painting everything (doors, cabinets, window casings, heat registers, insides of closets—if it didn’t move, it got painted). Also, it was so disturbing, I didn’t want to be reminded.

As we all know, you always want the “before” pictures. Even as I was emphatically not taking any, I knew for sure I would regret it, eventually. Why didn’t one of my friends just ignore me, and take pictures while I was frantically driving back and forth from the hardware store? I think everyone was kind of freaked out during the “before” stage. Especially because I kept shouting “NO PICTURES NO IT’S TOO DEPRESSING” for about the first two years. So although for many years my decision to move out of my truck into the cheapest possible fixer upper dwelling was kind of a nightmare—every time I was in Moab between climbing trips, I was laying tile or digging holes or replacing light switches or collecting flat rocks from the desert for flagstone paths —now I love this place. There’s even a climbing wall in the backyard, surrounded by flowerbeds, cactus gardens and lots of trees—and of course, flagstones.

The best part of this neighborhood (aside from the friendly cop who lives across the street and keeps a firm eye on the place when we’re gone, which is mostly) is a little short-legged dog named Squirt who likes to wander around to everyone’s yard and hang out wherever she feels like it. She always comes sprinting over (on her four inch legs, which believe me, is CUTE) when I get home, so I can let her in the gate. My yard is extra exciting for her since sometimes the gate is shut, and she can’t get in whenever she wants to. (A lot of times I leave the gate open when I’m gone so she can come in if she wants.) So now the doublewide is a very peaceful, comfortable house, and a great home base—conveniently located four blocks from downtown Moab, an hour from Indian Creek, a half hour from Mill Creek, three hours from Rifle, and twelve hours from Yosemite (when Tioga Pass is open).