Four Corners and Monument Valley.

 

Time to get the wagon trains moving! We left Arches NP in search of the Four Corners monument.  This is the only place in the USA that four states come together at a point.  It allows you to get down on all fours and be in four states (Colorado,Utah,New Mexico,Arizona) at once.  It was only a little over 80 miles from our campground, so we headed out with camper in tow and I glanced down at the fuel gauge about 10 minutes into the trip and we had just under 1/2 tank.  I commented to Karen, " I should of filled up," but we agreed 80 miles is not a long way to go so we kept motoring down the highway. 

Roughly 80 miles later we pulled into Four Corners Monument and I asked the lady at the gate if there way a place to park the camper and truck inside and she assured me it was "No Problem".  I also asked her about a place to buy diesel fuel and she told us the next town about 10 miles away had it.  I felt relieved, because the fuel gauge is now sitting slightly above 1/4 of tank now.  We headed in to the monument and I followed a sign that pointed to RV parking.  As I pulled into the gravel covered mud parking lot, the truck began to slip and slide and the parking lot was on a decline!  I told Karen, "were are sliding!" Karen told me to stop, but I knew if we stopped we probably would never get the 24,000 lbs of truck and trailer started again.  I pulled down the hill and made a nice easy 180 degree turn with steady pressure on the gas pedal and pulled right back on the road as if we were going to leave and parked! Hurray!!!!! I thought, as visions of tow trucks and red clay throughout the inside of my truck danced through my head!

There had been a sizable snow storm a few days earlier and some of the snow was still on the ground at the higher elevations! We made our way into the monument which is nothing more than a concrete slab with a surveyors marker in the middle.  In the concrete are the names of each states border.  With the wind blowing a stiff 30 mph and outside temps around 40 degrees it was a short lived visit!  Back to the truck and everyone's shoes had to be removed and placed into the bed of the truck, because of the aforementioned red clay! Back on the road again and red clay flying off all 10 wheels, we headed for diesel fuel!  10 miles later we came up to a ghost town with no working gas pumps, so back on the road and now my eyes are glued to the fuel gauge which shows just under 1/4 tank!  Its a sinking feeling when your in the middle of the desert with less than 6 gallons of fuel in the truck and not a gas station in sight!  As we headed towards the next town, we found a fuel station, but we could not get into it due to a small lake sized puddle and about 20 other cars jockeying for position, so Karen backed me out onto the highway and we head down the road again to our next gas station that........ doesn't sell diesel fuel.  Now I'm very stressed out and the questions from Bryson about outer space or the size of some animal part are still coming to make it that much more challenging!  Karen found a gas station which was approximately 40 miles from us and the gauge read 1/8th tank so we kept pushing forward and finally we found a station!  How much fuel did we have left you ask?  Approximately 1.5 gallons! That my friends is way to close!   I put $200 dollars worth in the main tank and the reserve tank. Lesson learned...for now.

Monument valley was our next stop on this roller coaster of a day and it was BEAUTIFUL!  This place is used by the film industry for many of the famous old western movies.  We pulled in dropped the camper and took a 6 mile self guided tour on a dirt road through the Buttes!  It was a nice way to unwind from the first half of the day!  From there we headed to Lake Powell and called it a night!

Arches National Park!

 Arches National Park was on my list of must see places  on this trip and it did not dissapoint.  The red rock arches and blue sky background made for some great pictures.  The sky was relatively clear when we were there, due to a cold front blowing through.  When I think of this area, I dont really think of cold weather, but it was an eye opener to me when the overnight temps were in the low 20s.  Karen found a neat little place called "Hole 'N The Rock" just outside of Moab, so we decided to check it out. Its one of those tourist attractions that from the outside looks a little cheesey, but once inside it was a different story!  This is a 5,000 plus square foot home built into the side of a mountain!  The rock was blasted out using dynamite, by the owner. There is a great story about how it started out as a home with a diner in the front of it for the public and eventually the husband passed away and the wife continued on to finish the home. Luckily she decided to open it up for tours.  We only had time for a 2 day stay in Moab, but it was jam packed with great scenery and interesting places to visit!  This area is known for off road adventures in the form of Motorcycles, four wheelers, Jeeps and any other off road vehicle you can think of!  With that being said, Moab goes on another list I have of "Must come back to"!

Grand Junction, Colorado

Snow in the shaded areas!  Old man winter is close!



You cant tell it from the angle but I had to cross on top of several "Spires" to get out on these rocks! Spires are finger-like rocks that stand straight up in the air.  These were over 500 feet tall!



Leaving Salt Lake City we headed southeast towards Moab,Utah.  As we neared Moab we made such good time we decided to continue on over to Colorado to a nice little town called Grand Junction.  We had all but written off Colorado due to time constraints so were excited to actually squeeze in some of it!  We stumbled across a brochure of Colorado National Monument in the office of the camp we were staying at so we decided to check it out. Boy are we glad we did!  The scenery was absolutely breathtaking.  It was approximately a 20 mile drive around the top of the "Mesas" with turnouts to stop and take it all in!  We took turns holding Bryson's hand because he kind of falls down all the time!!!!!!  We were able to walk right up to the edge of these Mesas and look down if we dared!   As you can see in some of the pictures we are dancing with the devil when it comes to weather with snow already on the ground!  After the Colorado National Monument Karen took the kids to a dinosaur museum and Norm and I took a little nap in the truck and then went for a walk in a nearby state park. Although we only stayed 2 nights Grand Junction was defintely worth the few extra miles to see it!

Salt Lake City

Absolutely amazing! The missionaries told us there were over 11,000 pipes in this organ!



The weather was cold so I felt like a turkey dinner was fitting!



 



The kids checked out their candy after a good night of trick or treating!

Norman's Anchor Job

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=1105&sid=17920568

Leaving the Salt Flats it was a nice straight 100 mile or so drive to Salt Lake City.  With our directions plugged in our phone we went on our way to the campground.  When we got off the highway we found ourselves traveling down a narrow road and ending up in an off road motorcycle park.  Once inside the park there was only one way to get out which was under a low hanging roof that we weren't sure we would fit! Karen jumped out of the truck and guided me under the roof and she was so concerned that she got up on the roof of the camper and made sure we would fit under, which we barely did!  Back on the road we called the campground and they informed us that the address in google maps was incorrect and gave us better directions!  After settling in at the campground, we decided to go scout out our Trick or Treat neighborhood for the kids. The kids have been so excited about Halloween, so we made sure to find a good neighborhood for them.  I even got into the spirit with them by shaving my head and letting them paint something on it!  The kids had a blast helping me shave it, but Karen wasn't so fond of it.  That night, we went out and had a great time trick or treating with the kids. Karen and Norman had a show to do in Salt Lake and it ended up being one of Karen's favorite so far.  The newscrew loved Norman so much that they actually let him sit at the news desk with the broadcaster's tie on while the other newscaster did the news!  Norman just sat there with his tie on and looked right into the camera!  The next day we went downtown to see the city and the Mormon Temple.  When we went into the temple we were greeted by two nice missionaries who gave us a tour of the grounds and explained their beliefs to us. We even got a chance to see the Tabernacle which was a work of art in itself!  When we were leaving Kaylee stumbled across some interesting nuts laying on the ground which we later figured out were chestnuts!  I guess we will figure out how to roast them!  We have been just ahead of the bad weather lately and this stop was no different with night time temps in the mid 20s and snow forecasted in just a few days!  On that note, we decided to head southeast to Grand Junction, Colorado!

Bonneville Salt Flats!



Yes, we tasted it and it tastes like......... salt!





Most of the flats were covered by water.



530 miles is roughly what our Gps indicated would be the trip to Salt Lake City From Carson City.  I had a plan to stop at the Bonneville Salt Flats which were about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City. This made the drive  a little more bearable in my mind.  On the road and heading out of Carson City was an easy drive and then we found interstate 80 east and it was smooth sailing!  To some the thought of a 400 mile drive that is straight as an arrow sounds boring, but after some of the driving ordeals we have been through I really enjoyed the break!  I kicked back and set the cruise on 72 mph, put my Ipod on and listened to some music for a few hours!  My lovely bride on the other hand was doing home school all the while.  I look at it as a trade off for the times I'm stressed out driving and they are watching videos or playing on the Internet. On most of this trip we haven't made reservations for campgrounds and the stop in Bonneville was no exception!  I figured when we got close and we would find a campground and pull in.  We crossed the Utah border and the 1st sign we see is "Bonneville Salt Flats this exit".  We pulled off and hit the only gas station there was.  I asked the attendant if he know a place we could stay as the sun was going down and he told us right across the street in the truck parking lot. We pulled across the street and setup the camper and walked back to a little Mexican restaurant that was in the gas station off to one side called "Salt Flats Cafe".  Dinner was great and cheap to boot! The next morning we woke and made our way down to the flats and spent a few hours taking pictures and yes, even tasting the salt!  The flats are 5 miles wide by 10 miles long and the salt is as deep as 5 feet thick in certain areas.  Which by the way is composed of roughly 90% common table salt! In the photos, you will see the flats have a lot of water on them which happens during the winter. When summertime comes around they dry out and its time to go racing!  I will definitely be returning to Bonneville when the salt dries and the race cars come out!