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May 24 Day 10 Grand Jct Arches NP Dead Horse Pt Green River, Ut.
We left Grand Jct around 9:30 after loading up on the Best Western's fine breakfast. In just a few minutes we are heading west on Interstate 70 where the speed limit is 75 and most everone is going faster than that, including the trucks. It's 35 miles to our next turn and I never touched the gas pedal almost all the way. Stick it at 80 and that's it. We crossed the state line and entered Utah. We turned south on Hwy 131 for about one hour and entered the county seat, Moab. It's a good sized town with all the amenities, including an excellent MacDonald's and an automatic car wash which I used to clean off the encrusted bugs on the front of the car. I opted for the $8 deluxe wash because those bugs were stuck on there pretty thick.
By 11:30 we were in Arches National Park. We are at 5,000 feet and the air temp is 81. It's a perfect sunny day with a bright blue sky.
I have to say that this is in the top two of all
the parks we seen so far. The rocks are just amazing. We can walk just a few steps to many view points along the highwy and look out on red sandstone rocks in all kinds of odd shapes and forms. We meandered along the highway snapping pictures furiously and taking hours of video. Every turn elicited a "Wow!" from us. Take a look at the pictures - they can only give you an idea of the views. We spent three hours here, then stopped at the visitors' center where M exercised her credit card.
Yesterday evening M and I talked about today's program. We only had time to visit Arches and something else - either Canyonlands National Park or Dead Horse Point State Park. We reviewed each place in detail and decided on Dead Horse Point. So, that was next on our agenda. It takes about an hour to get there from Arches. As we entered the park we asked the park ranger to tell us which park he preferred, Dead Horse or Canyonlands. He said every park has its own things to see and couldn't say which is better. A very political answer. Then he said this: "When
it came time to choose the park sites, Utah had the fist choice and chose Dead Horse Point. Maybe that tells you something." We nodded knowingly, paid our $7 and drove on.
"Dead Horse" - interesting name. The story goes that in the 1850's cowboys herded many wild horses into a box canyon near here and for some reason left them there by mistake and the horses died of thirst, well within sight of the Colorado River.
We drove a few miles to the point - the only real attraction here, and walked up to the view point. Well...it is the best, most magnificent, panoramic view I've ever seen. We look out for miles at red rocked canyons and weathered mesas with the large muddy Colorado River winding its way through those canyons. The view is wider than 180 degrees. I am mesmerized looking down 2,000 feet on the river which is about five miles away. What a sight! Something I am not likely to forget. Once again the pictures can only give you an inkling of the view. You simply have to see it.
From Dead Horse Point to Green River is about one and one-half
hours of dry desert scrub. M and I talked about the view all the way back to our Best Western Hotel. Which, by the way, turned out to be quite a room. We were upgraded to a large king sized room with a nice large sofa, a desk (where I'm writing this missal), big tv, etc., with a balcony overlooking the swollen Green River and the green fields across the river. All BW hotels have in-room
wi-fi access to the internet. Very nice!
Green River, by the way is NOT a big town. The lady at the desk recommended two restaurants. One was for "fine dining" and the other was Ray's Tavern with "lots of atmosphere." We ordered steaks in the funky place with the juke box wailing some country song about lost love and men in faded jeans and straw hats drinking at the bar. M ordered a glass of white wine and "Barb," the waitress apologized saying they only have beer. It's that kind of place. I liked it. Our steaks were real good and then we sat and picked out teeth and burped and I unbuttoned my trousers a little so I could feel real good.
Gehaw!
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k and b west
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Hey Kon, love your blog. We are reliving our trip thru you. We did not go to four corners though. Refused to pay to see a cross in the sand :>). We really loved the drive over the San Juan Parkway. Keep up the good work. B