Day 16

Sunday, 22nd June

John Wayne, Valley of the Gods, Moki Dugway, Arches and a craving for fruit

There are a lot of photos for today, but everything was just soooo scenic, that I had a job cutting back to just these and it was almost a crime to reduce their size as small as I have done! Apologies to anybody reading this who hasn't got high speed internet!

Didn't sleep marvellously, which was probably because of the very noisy air-conditioning! Outside, this morning, I thought I saw a prairie dog. I watched it for ages, but couldn't quite decide whether it was one or not! It stood up like one, but it had the markings of a chipmunk and didn't squeak.

It was such a beautiful morning. We drove up to Gouldings Museum and Trading Post and spent a happy hour or so hovering inside and outside and perusing the shop! There was much 'John Wayne', which pleased the hub - particularly the "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon" cabin.

Finally, we left Gouldings and headed out onto the road.

We had reluctantly decided not to drive the dirt track into the Valley, but, ironically, we chose to drive through the Valley of the Gods, which was 17 miles of tortuous dirt, which took us about 2 hours to drive!!

By the end, Jasmine was almost completely covered with dust and I was desperate for the toilet! With no rest rooms in sight, I had to go beside the car!! But there was more fun to come! We had to drive up Moki Dugway! It was completely terrifying - a gravel road, winding around and around and higher and higher, with sheer drops of around 1000 feet! It didn't give any indication of this on the map!!

Finally, we reached Blanding (bland) and had yet another Subway meal for lunch, before continuing on up highway 191 to Moab. But we had to have a stop at the "Hole 'N The Wall"!!

Just before Moab, we stopped at Wilson Arch for some photos.

On arrival at Moab, despite it being very hot (102F at 6:00am), we decided to have a look at Arches NP now, before driving to our overnight cabin, rather than in the morning. It was a bit of a rush, but we did manage to see the highlights - Windows Arch, Balanced Rock, Parade of Elephants and Delicate Arch. Paul did the short hike up to DA, but T and I walked only to the lookout, which was way far enough for our hot and tired old bones!

Hungry, we bought McD's back at Moab. I opted for a salad, but, even so, I was FED UP with McD and Subway - they might be vaguely healthy, but everything tastes the blasted same! I wanted a casserole and eggs and FRUIT!!

We turned off at scenic route 128, to our accommodation at Red Cliffs Lodge. We had a great cabin, with a large king bedroom (with jacuzzi) and a sitting-room/kitchenette with sofa bed. Everything was very nicely decorated. We had a large balcony, facing the Colorado River. I was a little bit disappointed that we overlooked the rapids (noisy!) rather than a more peaceful stretch of the river, but that really is nit-picking! Later in the evening, we each enjoyed the jacuzzi!

And we also learnt that Spain were in the semi-finals of Euro 2008, having beaten Italy on penalties!

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[ Introduction ] [ Day 1 ] [ Day 2 ] [ Day 3 ] [ Day 4 ] [ Day 5 ] [ Day 6 ] [ Day 7 ] [ Day 8 ] [ Day 9 ]
[ Day 10 ] [ Day 11 ] [ Day 12 ] [ Day 13 ] [ Day 14 ] [ Day 15 ] [ Day 16 ] [ Day 17 ]
[ Day 18 ] [ Day 19 ] [ Day 20 ] [ Day 21 ] [ Day 22 ] [ Day 23 ] [ Day 24 ] [ Day 25 ] [ Day 26 ]

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