End of the Utah Trip -- Day 11, May 23

DAY 11, MAY 23
1. Had to decide my trip plans. My original thought was to drive up to Telluride, look around there, and then spend the night in the van. The weather forecast there was for high winds today and record low temps for tomorrow with chance of thunderstorms and/or snow. With that outlook I decided that I had seen my major goals and that it was time to head back home.
2. I thought it would be interesting to highlight some of the sights along the way. I started to do this but the winds picked up to 50mph and the blowing sand made it unpleasant to be out of the car and the pictures were obscured by the sandstorm.
3. While still in Colorado, I made a stop at the Ute Mountain Casino and tried my luck. I came out 1 1/2 hours later $110 richer; one of my few victories at a casino.
4. The wind continued to blow and all the loose desert sand across NE Arizona was on its way to Utah in a great hurry. This was about a 50mph continuous headwind/crosswind and combined with my 60mph car speed made for quite a gritty day (and sandblasted my windshield).
5. I persevered onward and reached home shortly after 7 pm. This included a brief stop at Cliff Castle Casino ($4 ahead) and a traffic jam by an accident on I-17 coming down into the Phoenix area that had us parked for a half hour on the freeway.
6. Except for this lousy last travel day the trip was a great one. I enjoyed all the scenery, soaked up the great outdoors, and took lots of photographs. All this and not even a cut, scrape, sunburn, or bug bite.

Day 10, May 22

DAY 10, MAY 22

1. The motel in Cortez was shabby but cheap and the bed was clean and felt good.

2. After another breakfast at Mac's, I drove off to Mesa Verde. It's a long winding road in from the highway and they were in the process of resurfacing the roadway so it was a bit rough but paved.

3. I cruised through the camping area. There was vacancy but the sites were a bit rustic and not very pretty. Decided to pass on them.

4. Went to the visitor's center and picked up tickets for 2 tours through the cliff dwellings. 3 dollars each and led by a park ranger.

5. First tour was Balcony House. It was the most strenuous as there were several long wooden ladders to climb up, several narrow passageways to squeeze through, and a 12 foot long small tunnel to climb through. There was a father with a 2 month old boy strapped in a chest harness. I was amazed at how he was able to handle him going up the ladders and through the tunnel. I handled the trip well -- just didn't look down from the ladders. The view of the cliff dwelling was well worth the effort.

6. There were numerous other ruins and cliff dwellings to view from lookouts and paths.

7. The other tour was Cliff Palace. Not as strenuous or as impressive as Balcony House but still very interesting. There were a few shorter ladders to climb but not too bad.

8. Only saw 1 snake the whole trip. Quite a few small lizrds scurrying aroung the rocks though.

9. The wind really picked up around noon and was blowing sand all over. The sky was very dark and gloomy from all the sand in the air.

10. Checked into a RV campground just outside the Mesa Verde entrance. Too windy to set up a tent so I'll just sleep the night in the van. At least the bathroom and shower is very clean and nice. Wind is dying down around dark so may not be too bad during the night.

Day 10, May 22

Big Red surrounded by a band of renegade Corvettes in Indian country.

Day 9, May 21

DAY 9, MAY 21

1. Put the tent away, packed the van and left Moab. First stop was Wilson Arch just south of Moab. It was several hundred feet up from the roadway and looked fairly climbable, so I climbed to the base of the large arch. Several other people with a dog also climbed up behind me -- so I got my picture taken there.

2. Drove into the Needles Area of Canyonlands NP, about 50 miles in from the highway. Lots of amazing views there. The winds were very gusty so didn't get too close to the edges. Campgrounds there were full also. This was one of the areas that I was looking down at when I was at Island in the Sky overlook 2 days ago.

3. The prediction was for high winds with gusts over 60mph in the Mesa Verde area so I thought pitching a tent was not a good idea. Instead I opted for a small motel in Cortez, Colorado about 10 miles from Mesa Verde. I'll drive up in the morning and see what develops from there.

Day 8, May 20

DAY 8, MAY 20

1. Laundry time this morning. Then off for a chinese buffet in Moab.

2. Spent the afternoon and early evening in Arches NP. Visited a number of the arches but my viewing was limited by the number of arches, the distance between, the busloads of tourists, and my tired legs. But did manage to walk to and view Windows, Double, Turret, Tunnel, Pine Tree, and Landscape Arches. The colors towards evening were spectacular.

3. My last night in Moab. Off to Mesa Verde in the morning.