QC61-04 More National Parks

May 20, 2016 (Fri)  Panguitch,UT to Salina, UT (289/4986 miles/35.6mpg) 51/73° - Well here we are again back in Salina, Utah after a couple of exciting days with canyons. Yesterday from the bottom looking up (Capitol Reef), today on top looking down (Bryce Canyon). We started the day looking for a place that served breakfast. There was nothing in the 25 miles between Panguitch and Bryce Canyon except Ruby's - an over-priced tourist trap at the park entrance, and an equally pricey "diner" nearby where hamburgers were more in vogue than sausage and eggs. We chose Ruby's, even though a tour bus had just disgorged a full load of tourists, because they offered a breakfast buffet. It turned out that the buffet did not include coffee or juice though the price would indicate that it should. We'd have been better off ordering from the menu.

When we spent a week at Bryce Canyon back in 2010 we would start our tour of the park at the furthest point and work our way back to the campground. That way we'd miss most of the crowd going the other way. We did the same today but the crowds were out full force. And today was very windy and a bit too chilly to spend much time at the overlooks. The canyon was still beautiful though and worth going back to see in spite of the negatives. Since our visit there was a bit shorter than we'd planned, we thought we'd visit Cedar Breaks National Monument on our way back to Salina and I-70. When we got to the road in, though, we saw a sign saying it was closed 30 miles ahead. So much for that! We backtracked and went over the mountain a different way. This road took us to well over 9000 feet with views to match, but no turn-outs to view them. Snow, while not on the roads was in evidence all through the Dixie National Forest.

C008410 Scenic Hills Super 8, Salina, UT (pl83)

May 21, 2016 (Sat)  Salina, UT to Montrose, CO (362/5349 miles/33.1mpg) 49/83° - Got off at about 7:20 with what has become the standard motel breakfast - at least one was included - and headed for Arches National Park. The Visitors Center just inside the gate is at the bottom of an almost sheer cliff probably over a thousand feet high. The road into the park is cut into this wall of rock. Looking up we could see motor homes, buses, cars and motor cycles zig-zagging up the incline in a long line, like a trail of ants returning home from a feast of spilt sugar. The entry road to the gate told why. It was packed solid with vehicles inching their in. The line moved slowly but as old folks we moved faster. Our golden age pass got us out of the long line and into a much shorter one. Since we'd been here before, we didn't stop to gawk or take pictures - the turnouts were mostly full anyway. At the end of the road, 18 miles out, we turned into the campground - as former campers we gave ourselves permission - and took a break from the hordes. As far as we could tell, the rocks and arches hadn't changed a bit since 2010, still awesome and beautiful, so we went on.

Utah route 128 out of Moab goes along the Colorado River canyon and is one of the most spectacular drives in the west, we think, and conveniently led us back to I-70, the second most spectacular drive. Wanting to make a pit stop before heading down US-50 to Montrose, we followed signs to the Colorado Welcome Center in Fruita onto a traffic nightmare. We entered a maze of several "rotaries", a series of traffic circles laid out like the gears of a Swiss watch. With Joy reading signs and supplementing Hildene's instructions and Mark making death-defying moves across the flow of traffic, we made to the rest stop without much trouble. Getting back on I-70 wasn't so easy. After negotiating a couple more rotaries we found ourselves with the choice of I-70 west (back where we came from) or city streets. We chose the city streets. Several rotaries later (one the original we hit on the way in, we made it onto I-70 east.

Grand Junction presented more problems, but only because of the street names. To get to US-50 from I-70 we had to negotiate some city streets. At one point Hildene said to take a right onto 25th street. We stopped at a light at 24th street. The next traffic light should be at 25th street right? Nope. It was 24 1/2 street. OK. We had a good laugh and went on. Before the next right was a separate right turn approach lane separated from through traffic by curbing. This one had to be 25th though there was no signage to the effect. Well it wasn't! It was a second 24 1/2 street. Now we were in real trouble - real city streets. Hildene came through though and we made  it out. Another street name we came across was B 3/4. In fact there were a couple of 3/4 streets. We have concluded that the new Colorado pot laws have played havoc with city planning.

C008772 Black Black Canyon Motel, Montrose, CO (ex69)