Day 19: Through Colorado and Into Salt Lake City, Utah

We could have used three batteries in the camera today, and we only had one. We had exhausted our digital camera just outside of Colorado with absolutely no idea how beautiful and awe-inspiring the drive through Utah on I-70 to Highway 6 would be. But I am getting ahead of myself.

We started the day with the 23 mile canyon rim drive of the Colorado National Monument. While most of us think of a monument as a sculpture or a statue-thanks to a recluse nature-lover who lived wilds- Coloradans were persuaded that a monument was to be a road cut through a breath-taking canyon. The scope of the canyon is so huge and so breath-taking, that only a few of the photos that I snapped can even come close to the sheer (and I do mean sheer) beauty of this drive. It took us almost 2 hours to go the 23 miles with stops that had us perched on lookouts over chasms 500 or more feet deep: thank goodness for railings and chain-link fencing. Max has a mild fear of heights and this drive had her white knuckled and sweaty palmed most of the time. We also had a chance to get out of the truck and do some hiking to the overlooks. We were quite tired by the time we had finished the tour. We can't even imagine how tired the many bicyclists and hikers would be at the end of their day today.

After we had a real close up view of earth formations, we headed down the hill to the Dinousaur Journey Museum at Fruita. This is a great place for kids, with its animated dinosaurs and interactive exhibits. We were mostly interested in how the Morrison Formation fitted into the Colorado National Monument and the dinosaur excavations that are being done in the area. We spent a lovely hour or so going through the museum. They even had an 5.3 earthquake simulator that was a really good thigh work-out.

The drive into Salt Lake City was brutal: they are doing massive road work and there were billions of pictures that were begging to be taken and our camera was dead! We, of course, knew exactly where the second battery was-on the shelf in the office at home, really close to the Brady family history information that I had needed in Toulon, and just a few steps away from the blue T-shirt that I have needed every few days. Honestly, it is a wonder that we got on the road with underwear in our suitcases!

We finally arrived in Salt Lake City at our second Hotel Monaco which is equal to its Denver cousin. Fortunately, the wine hour was still in progress and another treat: Chair massages during the wine hour. Max was in heaven! We opted once again to eat at their restaurant and were pleasantly surprised with good food and wonderful service.

Tomorrow is a half day at the LDS Family History Museum to see what they have on the early Kennedy's, and then on to Elko, Nevada for our last night on the road...;-{

We'll see what the 'morrow brings...Good night!

---

---