Thursday, July 5, 2012

2012 New York Road Trip: 4 July (Day 2)


2012 New York Road Trip: 4 July (Day 2)

Woke up around 8-ish.  Turned on TV to find that MSNBC was showing their weekend prison show crap.  Had a leisurely breakfast at Denny’s.

Next stop – The Moab Rock Shop.  This is a veritable treasure trove of rocks, minerals, fossils, petrified wood, . . .  They had everything from little 25 cent stones to rocks by the pound to a $4800 foot-high mollusk fossil. I had a heck of a time figuring out what to by the Little Links.

Next stop - a gas station.  I only got a half tank of regular – it had an 85 octane – which seems lower than I am used to.

On to the Visitor Center.  The girl at the motel said that she thought only one of arches in Arches could be seen easily from the car.  The person at the Visitor Center said 8 or more.

I started out on the 60 mile “La Sal Mountain Scenic Loop”  Beautiful scenery and views.  I was stopping the car every few minutes to take pictures.  Unfortunately it was kind of hazy,, so I am sure a lot of the pictures are not going to look so good.  I actually got rained on (a little) twice.  I have to figure out what some of the landmarks are – are took a gazillion pictures of a couple of them.  The drive winds up running next to the Colorado River for several miles.  Saw a lot of rafters, boaters, surfboard things that you stand on, and even a swimmer with a kid on her back.  I happened to catch one of the surfboard paddlers fall off.  I assumed she would have to go to shore to get back on – but I actually got pictures of her climbing back on and standing back up in the middle of the river – impressive.

I decided to head for “Dead Horse Point State Park” next and hit Arches only if time permitted.  The road to Dead Horse has, as usual around here, beautiful.  At the actual end of the park, you stand on a spit of land that has an almost sheer 2,000 foot drop to the river.  I think my brain is getting overloaded with the astonishing vistas here.  The best part of this drive  - it was around 4:00 and I was really hungry.  I decided to stop at a little sandwich shack outside the visitor center.  I was expecting sandwiches like at a 7-Eleven – but I was 30 miles from civilization and just wanted something to tide me over on the way back.  Well, it turns out the sandwiches are hand-made to order.  The best sandwich I have had in a long while.  It was too big to eat while driving – a price I was willing to pay.

I decided it was too late for Arches, so I just headed home.
Miles driven today: 125

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