Part 3 of Road Trip,
Home Again!
The Aarchway Inn in Moab, UT was nice. We swam before bed and opened the curtains in the room to view the rising full moon. I kept waking up because of disorientation dreams and the loud noises.
At 6:30am we went to get our "hot breakfast". I thought there'd be an onsite cook with hot plates. But it was prepared eggs and country gravy in crock pots, with all the continental stuff as usual. Not bad, but I'm not eating crock pot eggs just before a 10 hour drive through the desert. We made do and filled up on various starches. I filled up my thermos in my room (I travel with my own ground coffee and filters) and packed the car. Have I mentioned that my son eats oatmeal for breakfast everyday? This makes it awkward sometimes but we don't fight over this meal. He happened to eat oatmeal for dinner the night before because we didn't want to go to town once we arrived at the hotel. Oatmeal is Manna.
The predawn air was chilled but as soon as the sun rose over the canyon, it heated right up. We must have dwaddled because we didn't leave town until 9am. I think next time, I'll try and leave by 7:30am if possible. It ended up extending the day too long. I would have picked up a lunch in the next towns if I had realized how long it would take. There are several little towns with the burger shacks and restaurants for a pleasant stop. Bluff, Blanding (a nice visitor center with museum) and Monticello were just south of Moab. Part of the reason I didn't stop was that everytime I asked my son if he was hungry, he'd say no. But he ate half a box of cookies and a lot of crackers. So, it wasn't all that kosher in the car. Next time, I'll ration and stop-like it or not.
We went through Monument Valley around noon. I missed the twin mitts because I was a bit nervous and looking in the wrong direction. doh! But there's so much else to see it didn't matter. I was expecting to see them until we reached Kayenta and knew I had missed them entirely. We drove 163 through the Navajo rez and saw the stands for jewelry. I was tempted to buy something but didn't stop. Out of Kayenta there's another junction and we started driving towards Flagstaff. This half of the day's journey was just beautiful.
We got to Flagstaff and it was a lot later than I expected. There was some confusing road construction and a lot of traffic (we're with I-40 for a bit). Then there is the high mountain scenery, which is nice but not my cup of tea. Perhaps if it were 60 degrees cooler, I would have appreciate a fresh pine scent.
My son kept requesting to play "the blizzard" tape, a Laura Ingalls Wilder recording that has a passage about a blizzard in On the Banks of Plum Creek. We stopped at a rest stop near "McGuireville" and everyone there was stretching their backs, walking their dogs. We all seemed to be pushing it and feeling the pain. This stop had a nice lookout view and some maps of the area.
The traffic got thicker the closer we got to Phoenix and then bam! we were there. It took about 45 minutes to drive through the city, going 65 mph the whole time. What a pain, I didn't factor that at all. And nerve-wracking for a country girl who hates freeways!
We got on I-10 and drove home, often bumper to bumper but no problems. We got home at 7, which was now 6 MST.
highlights-
Moab scenery, smallness, accessibility
Natural beauty of highways, hardly any traffic, the amount of small towns and rest stops-we're spoiled in the west!
Needed Improvements-
leave early in the morning, pack lunches or stop for a full lunch, ration the snacks
Home Again!
The Aarchway Inn in Moab, UT was nice. We swam before bed and opened the curtains in the room to view the rising full moon. I kept waking up because of disorientation dreams and the loud noises.
At 6:30am we went to get our "hot breakfast". I thought there'd be an onsite cook with hot plates. But it was prepared eggs and country gravy in crock pots, with all the continental stuff as usual. Not bad, but I'm not eating crock pot eggs just before a 10 hour drive through the desert. We made do and filled up on various starches. I filled up my thermos in my room (I travel with my own ground coffee and filters) and packed the car. Have I mentioned that my son eats oatmeal for breakfast everyday? This makes it awkward sometimes but we don't fight over this meal. He happened to eat oatmeal for dinner the night before because we didn't want to go to town once we arrived at the hotel. Oatmeal is Manna.
The predawn air was chilled but as soon as the sun rose over the canyon, it heated right up. We must have dwaddled because we didn't leave town until 9am. I think next time, I'll try and leave by 7:30am if possible. It ended up extending the day too long. I would have picked up a lunch in the next towns if I had realized how long it would take. There are several little towns with the burger shacks and restaurants for a pleasant stop. Bluff, Blanding (a nice visitor center with museum) and Monticello were just south of Moab. Part of the reason I didn't stop was that everytime I asked my son if he was hungry, he'd say no. But he ate half a box of cookies and a lot of crackers. So, it wasn't all that kosher in the car. Next time, I'll ration and stop-like it or not.
We went through Monument Valley around noon. I missed the twin mitts because I was a bit nervous and looking in the wrong direction. doh! But there's so much else to see it didn't matter. I was expecting to see them until we reached Kayenta and knew I had missed them entirely. We drove 163 through the Navajo rez and saw the stands for jewelry. I was tempted to buy something but didn't stop. Out of Kayenta there's another junction and we started driving towards Flagstaff. This half of the day's journey was just beautiful.
We got to Flagstaff and it was a lot later than I expected. There was some confusing road construction and a lot of traffic (we're with I-40 for a bit). Then there is the high mountain scenery, which is nice but not my cup of tea. Perhaps if it were 60 degrees cooler, I would have appreciate a fresh pine scent.
My son kept requesting to play "the blizzard" tape, a Laura Ingalls Wilder recording that has a passage about a blizzard in On the Banks of Plum Creek. We stopped at a rest stop near "McGuireville" and everyone there was stretching their backs, walking their dogs. We all seemed to be pushing it and feeling the pain. This stop had a nice lookout view and some maps of the area.
The traffic got thicker the closer we got to Phoenix and then bam! we were there. It took about 45 minutes to drive through the city, going 65 mph the whole time. What a pain, I didn't factor that at all. And nerve-wracking for a country girl who hates freeways!
We got on I-10 and drove home, often bumper to bumper but no problems. We got home at 7, which was now 6 MST.
highlights-
Moab scenery, smallness, accessibility
Natural beauty of highways, hardly any traffic, the amount of small towns and rest stops-we're spoiled in the west!
Needed Improvements-
leave early in the morning, pack lunches or stop for a full lunch, ration the snacks
posted by HortenseDagle | 12:35 PM
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