First, we got back together…

After almost 3 weeks apart, Shannon and I finally made it back to each other. It had been an exceptional slice of long-overdue bro-time for me with my brother Eric and our good friend Clint. But Clint and I said goodbye to Eric the day before, and made our way to Valley of the Gods for one final overnight together before meeting up with Shannon the following day. After sitting by the campfire for many of the preceding nights, Clint and I just sat in the darkness, illuminated only by the stars, (fires are not allowed at Valley of the Gods). And in case you didn’t know - there are a number of stars to look at under a dark desert sky. It was truly heavenly and what an apt name for that place!

Moonless night sky over the southern Utah desert

Next morning we met Shannon at the base of the Moki Dugway (that’s a serpentine gravel road that crawls 1,000 feet up the cliffs from the valley floor up to the top of Cedar Mesa - or from Shannon’s perspective here, it crawls down the cliffs as she had come from farther north).

It was so relaxed and peaceful, we decided to stay there for the night and just bask in each other’s company.

Then it came time to hurry up and wait…

The relaxed basking was not to last - for as we started down the road into Arizona…

Bad news - the engine warning light appeared on the dashboard.

Good news - there is a Mercedes dealer/service center in Flagstaff, only 90 minutes south and they were able to get us right in to look at Rigby.

Bad news - Rigby needed a few things taken care of: Replace the NOX sensor, clean or replace the EGR valve and replace some other sensor I don’t remember the name of. But they didn’t have the parts in stock so we would need to wait a few days.

Good news - we were able to hang onto and drive Rigby while we waited and there is a LOT of hiking and mountain biking around Flagstaff.

So for one of the first times in all of our travels (at least, during the Point A to Point B portion of travels), we were kind of forced to immerse ourselves into a locale and more fully explore what it has to offer. We ended up staying 5 nights and having a great time.

We even got some kicks on historic Route 66!