Many Miles, Few Stops

We left San Francisco at dawn on Saturday and started a long day in the car.  We were armed with many podcasts, knitting, Sirius radio, and the promise of a lot of scenery.  We drove and drove, listening to the radio, looking out the window, continuing our various unfinished conversations.  It was a  relaxed day with no news.

Nevada probably always looks dry but it is bone dry, with snow only on the tops of the mountains. We are continually amazed by the engineering that went into all these highways crossing these valleys, climbing these inclines, crossing through these passes and occasionally creating amazing tunnels.  The speed limit was 75 most of the way and there was no reason not to go that fast.  

We tried to go to a restaurant that was known for its Navaho cooking but it closed before we got there so we settled for a very popular burger place in Salt Lake City.  Just fine.

We stopped at about 9:00, when we had gone about 800 miles.

On Sunday we got up and realized how gorgeous it is in Utah.  So often we drive in the night when we go between Boston and home, but out here it is a total waste of driving and it is better to stop soon after dark.  We went on a smaller road between I-80 and I-70 (one we had never used before) and went through more dramatic landscapes of steep mountains and wide basins and wide open space. We saw some turbines that seemed like something Charles would know about (later he told us that they were indeed built and run by his company).

At some point Charles called to check on our progress and I asked him if he thought we should take a detour and go to Arches National Park.  It turns out it was only 27 miles off the highway.  Lee Lee said we definitely should do it, so we headed south and went sightseeing.  

It was well worth it.  At first we were just going to drive through and look, which is completely reasonable in this particular park, but then it became clear that we should get out and walk a bit. There were some short trails so we went up for a closer look.

So then we ended up missing the mountains closer to Denver in daylight but we have been over those passes in daylight before.  After we got over the Vail summit (about 10,000 ft), there were some long, steep downhill grades.  After Breckenridge we hit the first traffic since the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, and we had to come in slowly with all the ski traffic.  I only listen to football when we are on cross country trips, but by now I understand the game well enough to be able to appreciate what is going on -- the Patriots had a very good game and the Colts had a terrible day in the pouring rain.  

Arrived at Charles and Lee Lee's house where all the comforts of home awaited.  Hugh is home for Winter Term, so they have all their kids again for January.