Quick Stats for today:
Today was: September 18, 2000 Day Number: Ninteen Miles Travelled: 220 miles Region Travelling in: Northern Utah Approx Money Spent: $63 For the Lazy Ones who can read through:
We started off from Provo into a new week - week number 4. This has been a rest as well as non-site seein day for us. Though we did more than 200 miles of driving we were on the road for very less time.
We started the day lazy at about 9:30 am. We gassed up and were searching for a place to have breakfast. Northern Utah is very urban, more like home, NJ! But probably because we are out in the wide open we are not liking the urban places. We were wanting to get out of there into the wide open again. Finally we found a Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We had pecan pancakes and omlets for under twelve bucks. It was so good that we skipped lunch.
Cracker Barrel is a story in itself. It is a restaurant/store/lookaround combination. There motto is to bring back good old country atmosphere and country cooking to the people driving the interstates. We love it both as a store and a restaurant. You should visit one, if you haven't already. On this particular day we had a group of ladies of advanced age having a wild birthday party. First of all, they were dressed in colourful clothing. They were also making a lot of noise - man, what enthu! They were all more than 50 but still going very strong.
We hit the southernly route on I-15 and soon enough we were in the country again leaving the urban sprawl behind. We just had big trucks for company. One of the interesting things we noted here was lady truck drivers. Its amazing how they handle the eighteen wheeler rigs!
Soon we were in a town called Cedar City. After a little searching we found the Zion Inn - a Gujju owned joint. They were very good people giving us the huge room for only thirty bucks. Of course we stayed for the night. We also did some cleaning and the like. We organized things from the last two weeks of chaos. In all we got the rest and were ready to attack the next week.
SOTD (Saying Of The Day):
None
Quick Stats for today:
Today was: September 19, 2000 Day Number: Twenty Miles Travelled: 240 miles Region Travelling in: Southern Utah Approx Money Spent: $63 For the Lazy Ones who can read through:
After an invigorating day we were all charged. We had McD's five buck breakfast and were on our way to explore Zion canyon national park. The first point we visited was called as Kolob Canyon drive. It was our first taste of Utah canyons. Canyons are deep gorges cut by rivers as they flow. We get canyons in all shapes, sizes and colours. Utah is abound with hundreds of canyons. Thus making it an exhautic country. Zion is one of those which is carved out of red sandstone. It is just amazing. The Kolob canyon drive is worth the efforts and trouble you take to get there. One thing we missed in Zion was the drive called Zion scenic drive. It is not open to cars any more. We need to take a bus shuttle to do it. Because of we not reading the pamphalet they give you when you enter the park. However, we drove on another route through the canyon which gave us a good enough view.
One other thing that happened was that our national parks pass (costing fifty bucks) was repaid in Zion. We recommend you get the national parks access pass if you are visiting lot of national parks, national monumnets etc in a year. Go to www.nps.gov for more details.
After Zion, we drove on sceninc byway route 89 through the Dixie national forest. Lunch was cooked at a very clean rest area. After a nap we visited the Red Canyon which is really very red. It was a good small stop to make.
Our star for the evening was Bryce Canyon National Park. This is another of those canyons blessed with varied features. Because the canyons are sculpted by forces of nature like wind, rain etc each of them have their own unique features. We feel Bryce has the most features to show. We attacked Bryce Canyon in two trips. First was a two hour trip of the most important points through the park shuttle system. We could see most of the park without having to worry about driving and parking. The second trip was a sunset photo trip where we drove ourselves. The canyons are set on fire at sunset. Some of the best views/photos can be had then.
At one point in Bryce Canyon we were stopped at a construction site for sometime. A constrcution worker came over. She started talking with us. She told us that she was from Montana and that she and her husband work fourteen hour shift a day. We were amazed at her energy and perserverace. We also came across another construction girl who was very funny on the road. She used to shake a dance while pointing us in the right direction. Hats of to you guys!
After Bryce was an hours drive to a town called Escalante. It was already dark and the road was really lonely. The only things we saw on the dark drive were a frightened hare and a careful deer. Escalante was asleep when we reached there at 9 pm. But still we could find a motel for 33 dollars. Dinner was at the side mexican restaurant (we were the last ones to sneak in). No sooner had we hit the sack, we were deep asleep.
SOTD (Saying Of The Day):
RTFM ;-)
Quick Stats for today:
Today was: September 20, 2000 Day Number: Twenty One Miles Travelled: 300 miles Region Travelling in: South East Utah Approx Money Spent: $57 For the Lazy Ones who can read through:
We started from the town of Escalante at around 9 am on route 12. This route is designated as a scenic byway in Utah. It goes through rocky formations of all colours and varied shapes. Some of the shapes are really huge. Moreover it was a near roller coaster ride with the route heading down into valleys and on top of hills. Even if it was a week day we saw so many people on the road. Most of them were bicycling or hiking. Seems like people are always on vacation here! One of the things you have to take care in Utah backcountry is that you have to keep your gas/petrol tank always full. There are lots of desolate and lonely stretches with no gas. We did this in the town of Boulder.
Soon we were driving atop of the boulder mountain. There we saw some beautiful fall colours. We got some really good pictures. This part has mostly a tree called Adpen. And in fall (Autumn) Aspen turns yellow - rather golden yellow. As always this is a beautiful season to be here. The aspen tree trunk also has some beautiful patterns. At a place where we found a bunch of them, Ajay called it as 'Aspen Manor'. With Lata Mangeshkar in the background, driving through this region was sheer pleasure.
Our first site today was called the Capitol Reef National Monument. This is yet another red rocks formations carved out of mountains. At times it makes you wonder what forces of nature can do. Some of the structures we saw here reminded us of the stone work back in India (for example in Belur/Halebidu, Yellora caves etc). We completed a ten mile backcountry scenic drive and were back at the starting of the national monument. We had a surprise welcome at a farm with the sign "U-Pick Fruit". In this farm we stepped out into the open orchards and plucked peaches and apples. The fruit was very tasty and lovely to look at (though Ajay missed the wax on the apples :) ). In all, Capitol Reef was a nice experience.
Did we tell you that Capitol Reef is so called because one of the shapes resembles the capitol building in Washington DC?
Some parts in Utah can be really desolate (sounds familiar?) and US95 is definitely one of them. It is a long, straight drive through desert country filled with sage brush and an occasional canyon formation whizzing by. Oh! Dust keeps you company. We drove this route to the natural bridges national park. This national park consists of three major natural bridges - bridges caused by forces of nature. Its a good sight to see and wonder how they were formed. The three bridges have American Indian names - Sipapu, Kachina, Ovakhomo. We completed a nine mile loop to see all of them. We also hiked to the bottom of the last one and sweated and puffed back home. We stayed in a well appointed motel called Canyonlands Motel in a place called Monticello. Desi owned but very well maintained. See you tomorrow!
SOTD (Saying Of The Day):
None.
Quick Stats for today:
Today was: September 21, 2000 Day Number: Twenty Two Miles Travelled: 210 miles Region Travelling in: South East Utah Approx Money Spent: $57 For the Lazy Ones who can read through:
Today was another Utah day where we saw lot of formations in stone mountains. Our first site today was called Canyonlands National Park. To reach the national park, you go through a beautiful backcountry drive flowing through gods own country. An intersting first stop was called the newspaper rock - this is a rock which has petroglyphs carved by american indians. It is a newspaper that has not been destroyed for a thousand years :). In Canyonlands we drove the scenic drive and then attempted to go for the 4X4 backcountry driving called Ellephant Hill drive. We were doing very well on this mud road for the first 3 miles. It gives you a very good view of a region called the needles. This region has formations that look like huge needles sticking out towards the sky. The latter part of the drive was really tough and we turned back.
Our next destination was one of the most popular / most visited national parks in America called Arches NP. If you know, most atlases/visitor books on the US depict a picture from Arches NP. Since we wanted to spend the evening at Arches NP, we took care of our staying for the night (we got a beautiful camping cabin for 27 bucks) and had a late lunch. We entered Arches NP at around 3pm. It was a bit rainy and overcast. We were not discouraged though. We saw places called as Devils Garden, Balanced Rock, Garden of Eden, Windows etc etc in here. Its really an out of the world place. SOme of the formations here are fifteen to twenty stories high - you feel as if a spec oof dust in front a huge red stone formation. Amazing. We also undertook a strenous one mile hike to view the famous Delicate Arch. It is perched on top of a huge mountain (probably its just one stone). It was so good that we decided to return the next morning also. We had soup and bread for dinner and embraced a welcome bed.
SOTD (Saying Of The Day):
None.
Quick Stats for today:
Today was: September 22, 2000 Day Number: Twenty Three Miles Travelled: 340 miles Region Travelling in: Utah/Colorado Approx Money Spent: $70 For the Lazy Ones who can read through:
As we mentioned yesterday, we got a very good campground cabin at a place called RV Park in the town of Moab. A campground cabin is pretty much like a motel room with the restrooms being common and outside. Saves you a lot of bucks at times. However, some parties do not offer good cabins though they charge you a lot. We drank the free coffee and headed back to Arches NP. We had come back for a couple of specific sites. We took a morning photo at the courthouse towers and then drove to the Devils Garden. We hiked down to the Landscape arch - one of the most beautiful arches in the park. We then found out that people are not allowed below the arch because it is crumbling. So we missed a photo up. We then headed back to Moab and located the local diner. We gulped down a wonderful breakfast costing only ten bucks and it was time to get out of Utah.
The last thing we did in Utah was to drive along the Colorado river as it magnificiently carves the land. This route is called rt 128 in Utah. It is a real roller coaster ride and we were screaming our heads out! As you climbed every hillock we would be saying 'where did the road go'.
At around 3 pm, we entered Colorado and visited the welcome center. We were welcomed with free coffee :-) (though we put in a donation of a buck). We then were driving I 70 (interstate after four days) for sometime. We got off at a town called Glenwood Spring and took a mountainous route called rt 82. It takes you to the town of Aspen and over the independence pass which has an altitude of more than 1200 ft. its a fantastic drive but is tiring. We reached a town called Buena Vista at around 9 pm and stayed at a motel for the night. We realized that Colorado is not a heaven of motels - you dont find too many motels below fifty bucks. This is because Colorado is the prime destination for skiers as well as hunters.
SOTD (Saying Of The Day):
No number of photographs can do any justice to Utah.
Quick Stats for today:
Today was: September 23, 2000 Day Number: Twenty Four Miles Travelled: 120 miles Region Travelling in: Colorado Approx Money Spent: $110 For the Lazy Ones who can read through:
These next two days we are taking a small break visiting our friends Vikram and Swati at Colorado Springs. After coffee in the morning we rushed to their place to return to civilization :). It was a beautiful drive through the rocky mountains. After we arrived we stuffed ourselves with lunch. In the evening, we went out and completed a couple of chores - the most important of them being the processing of the seven rolls of exposed film. Vikram also took us on a beautiful drive in the airforce academy at Colorado Springs. It was all the more beautiful because it was snowing - hey, Colorado gets its first snow in September, brrrrrrr.
SOTD (Saying Of The Day):
None.
Quick Stats for today:
Today was: September 24, 2000 Day Number: Twenty Five Miles Travelled: 200 miles Region Travelling in: Colorado Approx Money Spent: $56 For the Lazy Ones who can read through:
We started a lazy overcast day, the highlight of which was a uppit brunch cooked by Swati. We then visited the famous Garden of Gods at Colorado Springs. Finally we said goodbye to Colorado Sprigs around noon. We then drove I 25 south towards the Great Sand Dunes National Monument. Deepa noticed that Colorado is the only state that that we have visited so far which enforces a heafty dollar thousand fine for littering on the highway, so better be careful before you toss that cigarette butt :).
The weather got much better from the snow that we had seen. We then drove the scenic La Veta pass into the Great Sand Dunes NM. The sand dunes are another unnatural phenomenon that nature throws at you. Right at the base of Rocky mountains are tons of sand dunes, some of which are close to seven hundred ft in hight!! Where did this much sand come from? Why here? - are some of the questions that are researchers are trying to answer. Another interesting aspect is that the sand keeps shiftig because of natural forces throughout the year. However, its so intriguing that the same forces do not move the sand out of this particular region. What we mean is that the sand keeps moving but never leaves this region. We hiked for about two miles here to get a closer look at the dunes. However this site is not worth the efforts if you are going way out of your way to see them.
We continued on to a town called Alamosa. No motels under 50, so we drive on. Tension! We reach Antonito at 8 pm. The only motel available for 55!! We covince the owner to give it to us at 45 which she does and we breath a sigh of relief!
SOTD (Saying Of The Day):
None.
It feels heavenly after you see places like Yellow Stone, National Parks in Utah etc. It is such a great job that national park service is doing (visit www.nps.gov). If you are planning to visit a lot of national parks and monumnets in a year, then as we mentioned consider buying the national parks pass. Looking back at out trip this far, it has been a wonderful time. More so with all the encouraging e-mails we are getting. That you folks are enjoying this site gives us immense pleasure.
What about the money tally for this week? Well, we are still doing great. We spent around $475 this week too. So our total goes to $1750. This means that we might extend our trip by a couple of days. Hurray!
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