2009 Road Trip: Day 8 - August 22, 2009

One last gift from the gods > the subtropical flow materialized as promised - by morning it was overcast all the way from St. George to Atascadero. We freaked out a little when we went outside at 6:00 a.m. and it was still 86 degrees (aparently the overnight low!) -- but as the day went on, our coolest temp was 69 on the top of Tehachapi (for about 2 minutes), and the average was in the low 80's to high 90's depending on where - but always overcast. Could have been a lot worse... Arrived in Atascadero about 2 p.m. California time safe and sound, with enough time left in the day to unload the car, pick up the mail from the post office, net several pounds of pine needles out of the pool, and kick back and unwind. All in all - a memorable road trip to add to the memoirs! Thanks for following us!

2009 Road Trip: Day 7 – August 21, 2009

Left Moab this morning around 7 a.m. --- We continued our tradition of bringing home some Moab dirt – not just on the car or in our clothes either, actually in a little refrigerator dish. Today’s entry into this collection is such a deep rich red it’s almost purple – from the Highway 191 canyon just north of the river. The drive through the San Rafael desert, through the reef and over the mountains was as spectacular as ever, and blissfully uneventful. Once we were over in the I-15 corridor, it started to heat up. You know you’re in for it when it’s eleven o’clock in the morning at 6000 feet elevation and it’s already 90 degrees!
Our reason for the early departure from Moab was our plan to visit the ghost town of Grafton, near the south entrance to Zion National Park. We cut off of I-15 near Toquerville, and angled across through La Verkin on highway 17 to highway 9. We had lunch in a great little place in Virgin – breaking a long-standing rule about eating at a restaurant with no cars in the parking lot. Basically empty gallery / restaurant, but a great lunch! By 1:00 p.m. it was 104, as we headed into Rockville searching for the turn-off to Grafton. “Bridge Lane” is an unassuming right hand turn into a residential area of Rockville that heads down toward the Virgin River and crosses over on an ancient single lane iron bridge.
Grafton is about four miles west of Rockville, but you have to go east to Rockville to cross the river. About half of the four mile journey is paved, and the other half is a wash boardy dirt road. The town site is very dramatic with the cliffs of Zion in the background. There are a few buildings – a couple of which have been well restored. They say this is the “most photographed” ghost town in the west (who can say?) Someone is still farming the land around the town site. It is a lovely setting!!
Now we’re in a motel room in St. George, it’s 112 outside – and we’re glad we’re in here! Supposedly, there is a cooling trend in the forecast so tomorrow shouldn’t be as hot… hope that ends up being a true story for our drive home across the desert!

2009 Road Trip: Day 6 – August 20, 2009

I don’t want to write this because it means our last 2009 day in Moab is over, and I do not want to leave (sigh). We drove the La Sal Mountain Loop this morning. We approached it from the north, taking the “river road” (Hwy 128) up the river from Moab to the Castle Valley turn-off, then south through Castle Valley, and up over the mountains. The La Sals are a small but impressive range that provides a dramatic backdrop to Moab – several peaks over 12K – the road maxes out at ~8300 ft. It was narrow and winding, with gorgeous alpine foliage, flowers, aspens, birds, and breath-taking views! Watching the flora change with the altitude is an amazing phenomenon. Another great side-trip in the Moab play book!

2009 Road Trip: Day 5 – August 19, 2009

This morning we headed up to the “Island in the Sky” region of Canyonlands National Park. The drive itself is a treat, through red walled canyons, with teaser views of distant mountain ranges, more canyon systems and the “pastureland” range that drew the early ranchers to these mesa tops for the grazing possibilities.
We decided to take in a feature we hadn’t seen before, and headed for the Upheaval Dome. I’m particularly interested in this one because even the scientists can’t come to agreement on how this was formed. Check it out on Google Maps (satellite view) – it’s round!! Theories range from an ancient salt dome collapse to a meteor strike… Anyway, it’s most interesting and mysterious! We also took in the view from the Green River Overlook, Grand View Point and the Shaffer Canyon Viewpoint. We (nostalgically) sighted the White Rim Trail 1000 feet below from each of these locations, fondly remembering our 2006 4WD trip. We decided to head for Dead Horse Point because that view of the (Colorado) river is really the best one.
We lunched back in town at the Moab Diner (or as Dick fondly refers to it, “The Liver & Onions Store”). It was a perfect afternoon to just kick back and enjoy the view… This trip’s equivalent to hanging out in the camp site!! We had apples, cheddar and Chardonnay watching the sun light up the red rock walls. Ah paradise…

2009 Road Trip: Day 4 – August 18, 2009

Today was “Arches” day, as in Arches National Park. In researching our photo strategy, we read that this feature or that was best photographed in the morning, while another set was best photographed in the afternoon --- so we decided to go twice. The park entrance is about 3 miles from our cabin so it’s not really a big deal! We shot “The Three Gossips”, “The Organ” “Courthouse Towers” and “The Tower of Babel” before driving all the way to the end of the road and checking out the camp ground (file that away for later – it’s a very nice camp ground!) There we also photographed Skyline Arch. We went to Wolfe Ranch and took pictures of the old cabin, root cellar and corral fencing that are still there from one of the early ranches in the area (late 1800s). It’s hard to imagine the life those people lived trying to wrest an existence from this fairly inhospitable land!

We went to the new Visitor Center on our way out of the park (nice!), then back to the cabin for left-over Chinese food and a little r&r. In the afternoon, we went in to town to gas up and have an ice cream cone at “Kaleidoscoopes” before heading back to Arches to shoot the afternoon agenda. The primary target was Balanced Rock. Our first attempt was thwarted by a full parking lot, but we looped through the Windows area, and scored a parking spot at Balanced Rock on the way back. The clouds had come in a little and we didn’t get quite the “post card shot” we were hoping for, but it was still beautiful. Our final stop was Lynette’s favorite place in the world “Park Avenue”. Still waiting for the perfect shot there too, alas, but that is something to look forward to! It would be fantastic to shoot here with a little snow on the ground!!

2009 Road Trip: Day 3 - August 17

Ah, another gorgeous day in paradise… Had coffee on the cabin porch this morning watching the sun light up the canyon walls – then headed in to town and ate a great breakfast at the Jail House Café (they only serve breakfast because “that’s what they do best”).

We ran a few errands (grocery store, local “soup-to-nuts” general merchandise store, state liquor store), iced down the cooler, and then headed out to get some pix of the new bridge that is being built over the Colorado River (Hwy 191). It’s going to be a lovely bridge when they finish it in a couple of years. As tradition dictates, we scouted a few real-estate locations, took pictures of some of the houses on the market, and then took a drive down the “Potash Road” (UT 279). We were trying to learn how they are loading the uranium tailings onto the rail cars that are transporting the nuclear waste from here to Crescent Junction, but we didn’t learn much from just looking!!! Meanwhile, we got great river views, new petroglyph shots, and generally enjoyed the drive! We’re sitting in the shade of our own private cottonwood tree (poplar? Who can tell??) plotting out what we’re going to do next !

2009 Road trip: Day 2 - August 16

The drive was all we expected - absolutely gorgeous scenery all around. We made really excellent time - left St. George at about 7 a.m. and arrived in Moab just after noon (336 miles) with stops for gas in Beaver and Green River. We drove straight to Zax (it's a ritual) and split a Margherita Pizza and a pitcher of Dead Horse Ale. After a leisurely lunch and a visit with Larry the bartender, we headed to the Moab Valley RV Park and checked into our cabin. It is "cozy" to use a real estate euphemism, but it is more than adequate! We're all moved in and looking forward to a great week. We just got back from yummy Chinese food at the Szechuan restaurant down town and we're soaking in the red rock views. Glad to be here!