A Writer's Anthology

Title: Sunrise With Seamonsters: Travels & Discoveries
Author: Paul Theroux
Publisher: Cape Cod Scriveners Company
Rating: A+

Paul Theroux has recently become one of my favorite authors. It started a few months ago when I read his book Riding the Iron Rooster. I picked up this book in a thrift store for fifty cents, not knowing what a gem it was. It sat amongst my cluttered shelves for several years before I actually read it, not having anything else to read and being mildly intrigued. And what a trip it was. I had stumbled upon one of the best travel writers of the 20th century.

This is what led me to his anthology Sunrise with Seamonsters, a collection of essays written by Theroux over a twenty-year period. It includes everything from travel narratives to book reviews; he even treats readers to a personal account of his high school reunion.

The progression of the writer himself is apparent in the way the essays are arranged in chronological order, from 1964 to 1984. The voice of the writer begins young and exuberant, working for the Peace Corp. in Central Africa. Through the years, the reader can track the writer's progression; the voice becomes confident, critical, insightful.

Paul Theroux is a writer's writer. He's inspiring. He verbalizes the struggles of writing -- and the exhiliration -- through his own experiences and those of other writers. He is an excellent interviewer. One of my favorite essays is "V.S. Naipaul," the first half of which was published in 1971, the second in 1982. Throughout the essay the reader can sense the influence Naipaul had on Theroux as a young writer and the respect Theroux has for him throughout his life. Theroux wrote, "He has considerable courage, a refined sense of order and an unswerving literary and moral integrity; his eye, attentive for the smallest detail, can give an apparently common landscape or unremarkable physique many features." The reader gets a glimpse of a young, self-conscious, unsure writer in Theroux. This is juxtaposed with the confident and quirky nature of Naipaul himself.

The sights and sounds Theroux observes are sometimes so minute, but he writes about them in a way that makes the reader identify with him. His descriptions are very human. In the article "Discovering Dingle," originally published in Travel & Leisure, 1976, Theroux recounts a trip he took with his family to the southwest coast of Ireland. Most of the article is gloomy as he describes the inclement weather on their trip and the oddness of the Dingle Peninsula. But the ending is so quiet and endearing:

The island hill becomes such a sudden ridge and so sharp that when we got to the top of it and took a step we were in complete silence; no wind, no gulls, no surf, only a green-blue vista of the coast of Kerry, Valencia Island and the soft headlands. Here on the lee side the heather was three feet thick and easy as a mattress. I lay down, and within minutes my youngest child was asleep on his stomach, his face on a cushion of fragrant heather. And the rest of the family had wandered singly to other parts of the silent island, so that when I sat up I could see them prowling alone, in detached discovery, trying -- because we could not possess this strangeness -- to remember it.

One of the biggest draws to Theroux's writing for me is his use of language. In "Making Tracks to Chittagong," 1983, he wrote, "I imagined my itinerary on a map as resembling my own elongated signature written in railway lines across the top of India." The reader not only comes away with a sense of his extensive traveling, but also the actual visual of the railways curling across northern India. It is poetic without being pretentious.

Theroux's success in this anthology is based on how much of his personality shines through in these pieces. His point of view of the world and it's happenings are unique and exquisitely displayed. The candid conversations he has with his readers about writing and living make this an anthology enjoyable to not just writers, but everyone.

Wallet: Moab, Utah, Continued

As a post script to my last post, I did get a call last night from the manager of the local movie theater in Moab. My wallet was found and had been sitting in the lost and found all week. They are sending it to me right away. I'm thankful for this, not only because I won't have to brave the dreaded DMV or the Social Security office, but because I had such a great time there I didn't want to come away with anything negative.

Thank you to all the people in Moab that made my time there great.

Moab, Utah

This past weekend I went on a fantastic vacation to Moab, Utah, and have decided to chronicle my trip here. My boyfriend and I had originally taken the days off work to take a trip to Chicago which didn't pan out. Being that I have not had a break from work in over six months, and neither of us have had a vacation that didn't involve family in much longer, we needed to get away. So we decided on Moab. He is an avid mountain biker and we both love hiking. The proximity from Denver also makes it a great vacation spot for Coloradoans -- only a six-hour drive.

We left in the early afternoon Friday with the car packed with snacks, gear and a case of full-strength beer. (For those who aren't familiar, Utah only serves beer with 3.2 percent alcohol, except for some restaurants that serve imports at full strength, or 6 percent.) The drive was great; I recommend taking I-70 from Colorado to Utah. The changes in landscape make for a surprise around every turn. We had great music blaring the entire time. Didn't hit any road bumps, only a few snowflakes going over the Rockies.

When we cruised into town, we were tired and hungry. We had reservations at the Lazy Lizard hostel, but we were really craving a night in a nice hotel room. So we got a room at the local Ramada. In hindsight, this was not such a good idea. The room wasn't that great, especially for the price, and the hostel ended up being much cozier. For those of you thinking about going to Moab, there are a ton of hotels in town and they all run around the same price: $80 per night. The benefit of the hotel was being able to take a late-night dip in the pool before hitting the sack and free ice for our MGDs. The downsides were the crappy towels, no alarm clock, no fridge and a noisy bar directly across the street.

The next morning we headed for breakfast at the Pancake Haus right next door. The food was excellent and the service friendly. The place was crawling with riders preparing to take on the day at the many bike trails around Moab. After breakfast, we headed to Arches National Park. We recently purchased a National Park pass; $50 gets both of us into any national parks across the country for no charge for one year. It's well worth the cost and helps support our national parks.

Arches is an amazing park filled with huge red rock canyons and massive valleys filled with rock formations. Just driving around the park is a treat, but once you get out and hike around on the trails you are introduced to a journey back in time. This park could make anyone interested in geology. Taking into consideration the way the arches and formations were developed through water seeping through cracks in the rocks and expanding, creating these unique shapes, crevices and caves is mind-blowing.

After a few hours of exploring on our own, followed by a couple smaller hikes on some busy trails, we headed back into town. It was time to check into the Lazy Lizard Hostel. The hostel itself was a little hard to find. There's a sign off the main road, Hwy. 191, adorning a lizard with a sombrero and guitar, pointing you in the direction of the hostel. But this sign is somewhat deceiving. If you'll be staying there, look for the big yellow sign on the left side of the road. This is where you need to go.

The hostel is actually behind a self-storage center. You travel down a gravel road and behind the center is tucked the Lazy Lizard. It's a cozy oasis and is the best deal in town. Dormitory-style rooms start at $9 per night. We rented one of a half dozen cabins in the back for $30 per night. What a deal! The cabin had a queen-size bed and we were provided clean, soft towels. (The towels we received at the $80/night Ramada were like sandpaper.) There was a radiator to keep the place heated and the bath house was close by. The other guests and staff were amicable. There was a kitchen, TV room and eating area for all to use. The bed was a bit hard, but the cabin was really dark -- perfect for sleeping and for afternoon naps.

After check-in, my boyfriend took his bike out to the most popular bike trail in town, Slick Rock. People come from all over the country -- and the world -- to bike this strenuous, technical bike trail over 12 miles of slick rock. He tackled the practice loop while I stayed back at the cabin reading and napping.

That evening, we headed to the Moab Brewery for dinner. The food was pretty good; the beer was great (even for being 3.2). After dinner we saw a movie at the local theater. The movie selection was limited; only three movies were playing. We chose a comedy starring Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac. The theater was filled with teenage locals. The movie was mildly entertaining, but the experience was tarnished by the fact that I lost my wallet. I believe it fell under my seat. As of this moment no one has returned it.

Sunday morning we woke to a chill in the air. But this didn't stop us from our explorations. Our first stop was Moab's Jailhouse Cafe. We sat outside of Moab's original courthouse, now converted to a great breakfast place. I had one of the best breakfasts I've had in a long time: an omelet with chorizo, potatoes and cheese, with salsa and corn tortillas. It was excellent. We then headed north on Hwy. 191 out of town to Canyonlands National Park.

Canyonlands has some of the most dramatic and incredible views of anywhere I've seen. It is truly a place where pictures do it no justice. You really feel like we are insignificant beings when gazing at the miles and miles of deep canyons. The magic of Canyonlands was not explored to its fullest on our trip due to the wind and the chilly weather. We were not dressed properly, so we ended up doing a lot of driving through the park, stopping at the main viewpoints to snap photos and let our mouths hang open in awe. But after an hour of this, and being frustrated that we couldn't take any of the longer hikes, we headed out of the park and back into town.

Later in the day, we found ourselves back at Arches National Park. We hadn't gotten out enough that day, and the clouds that had been covering the sun all morning finally started to break up. We decided to tackle the Delicate Arch trail, a moderate hike of about 2.2 miles. This was the one area we hadn't really explored on our trip to the park the day before. There were a lot of people on the trail, but not too many for it to be unbearable. Parts of the trail were really steep, but the views were spectacular. The trail ends at the Delicate Arch, one of the most photographed arches in the park.

After clambering over some slick rock, there was Delicate Arch, suspended in a smooth basin, hanging over a huge drop that makes you dizzy to peak over. Chipmunks scattered over the rocks and into the many crevices. One of the Windows, another of the park's famous arches, was viewable in the distance. The sight is absolutely breathtaking; the wind up there will take your breath away too. Patience is a virtue at this spot; all the hikers take turns photographing their friends and family underneath the arch. It takes some smart positioning and a photographer's eye to get the arch and whomever's standing underneath in the picture.

We said goodbye to Arches National Park after our hike and decided to pick up some dinner at the local City Market to save some money. Taking our dinner back to the Lazy Lizard, we sat on our very own picnic bench in the sun and enjoyed the early evening. When dinner was over, off on his bike my boyfriend went again while I stayed back reading on our front porch the book I had brought along, Paul Theroux's Sunrise with Seamonsters, a perfect travel anthology for my own travels. (Review coming soon)

That evening we treated ourselves to a banana split at the Moab Diner, where everyone was chatting and relaxing, enjoying their ice cream. We headed to bed early. We were heading home the next day. While packing up the car on Monday morning, one of our "neighbors" at the hostel recommended a local hike that was on our way out of town. We were planning on taking Hwy. 128, a scenic byway that follows the Colorado River. The day was warmer than it had been all weekend; the sky was bright blue and we couldn't resist getting in one more hike before the six-hour car ride home.

Negro Bill's Canyon was the highlight of the weekend. The hike isn't strenuous, but it has some spectacular scenery. The trail runs over an equal amount of dirt and slick rock. It's about four miles round trip. April is a great time to be in Utah; everything was lush and green and a variety of wildflowers peppered the grasses lining the trail. Lizards scurry into the brush. The trail leads you back into the canyon where, at the end of the trail, you come upon a magnificent arch. This is where the creek begins. Water pours out of a crack in the rock, creating a small pool under the arch. This trickle creates an abundance of life in the canyon. On our hike out we saw a small snake, a very large lizard, and a school of fish all in a matter of five minutes. The day had gotten even warmer and more people were beginning to frequent the trail. Some picnicked on the natural bridge; others were headed all the way to the arch. We were heading out and going home.

Our trip to Moab was a rewarding one, despite one lost wallet. The equal mix of exercise and relaxation made for a perfect weekend vacation. The scenery is incredible and the people friendly. I highly recommend Moab as a vacation spot for both hard-core bikers and those just look for a little R&R.