Day 3 is as beautiful as the first 2. The weather is in the 70s and sunny. Unusual for it to be this warm this time of the year here from what people say. Last night we began to realize we were over ambitious for our first few days. Day 1 was over 600 miles of driving and Day 2 was 500. I planned well for the time on Route 66 where we will be driving no more then 250 miles each day. So we decided this morning to remove a portion of our trip through Colorado. I figure my brother will take me to Colorado at some point and I will be able to tour around with him.
We decided to sleep in a bit and rolled out of bed around 8:30. Went down to the local Pancake Haus for breakfast. Full of carbs and ready to hike we drive up to Arches. About a half a mile In…
Taking a moment to say… this type of thing happens to me commonly and apparently is common for Bill, with the 2 of us together we aughta have a heck of a time…
We realize we do not have enough gas to drive the full length of the park. We laugh about it… turn around go back to town… fill up… then go BACK to Arches to continue our tour. This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever experienced. The color of the Red Rocks contrast with the particular shade of blue sky in just such a way to be absolutely perfect. The natural arch formations are quite fantastic and are a site I think most people should experience.
Another reason we decided to go South instead of West on our way out of Moab was an article in a magazine left in our hotel room about the "Hole in the Rock" it is a kitschy kind of stop. Basically back in the 50s the guy was given a piece of land out here in Utah. At the time there wasn't much going on out here except for mining but thanks to someone finding a Uranium mine just down the road the man decided to set up a diner. Although… he did not "Build" his diner. Being a miner by trade he decided to take this massive piece of rock his father had given him and dynamite out a house. The man had quite a talent for engineering and actually chiseled and blasted out a Diner and a home for his wife and family out of the rock. This rock is hard sandstone that you see quite frequently in this area. So Bill and I agreed after several hours of hiking and photo taking of the Arches that we would head out of Moab and stop in Hole in the Rock.
The Hole in the Rock was quite an experience. It provided us with exactly the appropriate amount of Kitsch that we were looking for. I am a type of gal that would enjoy seeing things like "The Largest Ball of Twine" so this was a perfect fit. Unfortunately they do not allow photos to be taken inside the house. I did get some great pictures of the outside. The things that was amazing is when the tour guide turned off the artificial lights to show us what it looked like before the power was added. The engineering of where the support beams were left was absolutely perfect to capture all of the natural lighting from the sun. The sun poured through the windows in such a way that it lit up the entire 5000 square feet except for a few small corners. Quite a feat I imagine. Also the tour guide said that because the entire ceiling was made of the sandstone the inside of the house stays at about 65 degrees year round.
After we leave Hole in the Rock we head South along 191. We are contemplating stopping at the 4 Corners monument that brings together Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah but are undecided whether we will.
While driving we have decided to skip the 4 Corners. We re-routed our map so that we stay on state roads through Southern Colorado and then take a Southerly turn through a corner of Oklahoma (which adds 1 more state I have not seen to Bill and my list.) Then on down to Amarillo. We agreed when initially planning that Route 66 would be the focus of our time on the trip to Vegas so we agreed not to shorten that portion at all. Southern Colorado is not the Colorado you see in pictures. It is quite flat. The altitude here is 6800 feet. I find this remarkable because it's so flat! I am guessing this would be considered a plateau. The houses out here are far apart. After living in Seattle for a few years I got used to the idea of people living on top of one another. This is the other extreme. Today seeing a town like Moab that is hundreds of miles from anything that even resembles a city makes me realize that small town USA still exists. It reminds me significantly of a small town in West Virginia that I had the pleasure to break down in on the way home from Origins 2003. Cows, Horses and barns are frequent. There are more trees here than we have seen in a few days but they are in winter mode.
So we decided to stop at Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Can't say much about the town sadly because EVERYTHING closes at 9 pm and guess when we arrived? 9:02 pm. Even the McDonalds and Subway! Shouldn't surprise me in a town with population 1,700 (according to the AAA book).
Gonna relax and get some sleep… oh and try to enjoy my cheese and crackers… We will have to make sure we have a good breakfast tomorrow to make up for it. Heh
P.S. I don't have the camera card reader in the room and I am going to be lazy and not bother to go get it. I will add some pictures of Arches and Hole in the Rock tomorrow. Night.
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