From the Cedar Mesa, Utah area the road led north into Moab. The weather was a mixed bag, and not as warm as I had become accustomed to further south.

I was attempting to meet up with some friends from home who were headed south with their truck camper. When trying to think of an easy to find area to meet them, I suggested an area I had previously visited along the access road to Canyonlands National Park.
Of course when I got there, I found that it had been changed completely and areas that had previously permitted camping, now did not!

My friends were having some communication issues, so it was not always easy to make contact with them. As a result I spent one night along a roadside where I hoped they would spot my rig as they traveled by. Unfortunately, they had been delayed by a snow storm in the high country of Idaho, and were not yet in the area.

I had also hoped to visit (for the first time!) Howard and Linda where they were hosting in Arches National Park. But the same weather and the requirement to get home convinced me to try to track them down at a later date.I'm not sure if Moab was hosting some sort of Jeep convention or not, but there was literally thousands of jeeps in town - of all shapes and sizes.

I think the roads must have been too good for them as almost half the ones I saw were on trailers - being towed by something else!
This one must have lost his trailer as it was on the road with the rest of us.
We were headed north, so it was not long before Idaho and soon Montana appeared on our horizon.I encountered the remains of the snowstorm that had delayed my friends the previous night.
And of course, the famous Budweiser sign.

Lots of windmills - making it a very windy area. Reminded me of Palm Springs, only colder.



Without fanfare and with no hassle and no lineups, I went through Canada Customs at Coutts, and was soon driving and fueling in kilometers and litres again. And, free of the rip-off rates that AT&T charges for their data, I turned on that function on my iPhone. With that active and Google Maps queued up, I was ready to find my way through Lethbridge without getting off course.
But first there was some big smokes in the distance - being pushed by the strong winds.

It may have just been fields burning off, but with that wind, it's lucky that Manitoba did not burn.
Lethbridge is known for it's wind, but it was so windy when I stopped to refuel that even the locals were talking about it.
In the middle of Lethbridge is this very weird structure ...
I have no idea what it is. Ideas, anyone?

Update: Thanks to reader Duane who advises that the structure is the cities' former water tower, which has been turned into a fine dining room and lounge!
After Lethbridge, it was like being on home turf again as we cruised into Calgary from the south, and immediately exited to the west towards the mountains. After a brief stop in Canmore to compare notes with my friend who had joined me for a week in California, it was on home to see the damage from the flooded basement!
And, as quietly as it had started, RoadTrip '09 (Part I?) came to an end.