June 22: SW Road Trip Day 44: The Final Day

We rise on Thursday morning, the last day of our road trip. Now that we are in Oregon, with some elevation and out of the Idaho/Utah desert, the temperature is more moderate and for the first time in weeks, we do not face a day of high temperatures.

We pack the car and head to the highway. We are getting an early start because we have decided to swing through Portland and have lunch with Kevin. He has a 1:00 meeting, and it's a 4.5 hour drive, so we must not dawdle. But before we head west, we stop at the Safeway to get coffee and croissants at the Starbuck's stand inside.

Properly fueled, we get onto I-84 heading northwest. This high country, with ponderosa pine forest, is really beautiful and there are no clouds in the sky. Traffic is light. The day is perfect.

There is not much to report from the drive into the Rose City. We drive for an hour and half through the Blue Mountains and coast the long downward slope into Pendleton. We rejoin the Columbia River for an hour or so through the high plains of NE Oregon. We then enter the verdant forest of the Columbia Gorge; this is flora we have not seen in ages. The traffic is light and the day is very pleasant.

The time passes easily except for one very tense moment just east of Multnomah Falls. A large rock comes out of nowhere and puts a dime-sized star-crack in our windshield. It was pretty loud, but the damage is limited, so maybe it is fixable.

Without further incident, we make it into northern Portland in time for lunch with Kevin at Mio Sushi. We give him the piece "Tatanka Thunder" that we purchased for him in Santa Fe.

Kevin with Tatanka Thunder

We enjoy lunch, then bid "adieu" as we try to beat the traffic home on I-5.

Our final stop is for gas and DQ in Centralia. The rest of the drive has some of the heaviest traffic we have been in on the Road Trip.

We reach home in the late afternoon. We will be spending days unpacking the car, going through the mail, getting readjusted to life in a house after 44 days on the road. We are both very happy; it has been a really good trip!

June 21: SW Road Trip Day 43: Heading Home

(This will be a short post with no pictures.)

Day 43 and we are two days from home. The stop tonight is the same as our stop on the first night of our trip, The Geiser Grand Hotel. I don't know why I like this hotel so much, but I do. And I really like Baker City, though I don't know why for that one, either.

After the requisite breakfast buffet, we pack the car and drive a couple of miles to Interstate 15. We turn north and retrace our drive of 40 or so days ago. At the junction with I-84, we drive NW, toward Portland.

The drive is pleasant, but not particularly stunning. We transition from the desert north of the Great Salt Lake to the flatlands of southern Idaho. After several hours, we arrive in Mountain Home and pull off the interstate for lunch at Frankie's Burgers. It is pretty good and the decor is kind of fun. After a nice meal, we find I-84 again and head west for Oregon. We cross the border and drive for another hour to Baker City.

Back at the Geiser Grand, we check into our room and rest up a bit. We then head outside for a short walk. The temperature is finally moderating; we can stand in the sun for minutes on end without melting into the ground. We return to our room and rest a bit more. Then we head to the bar for drinks before dinner.

The dinner is in the same grand room as the first night of our trip. It's a good meal and we call it a day. One more to go!

June 20: SW Road Trip Day 42: Temple Square

We greet the day. It is warm and sunny. We visit the breakfast buffet, then pack the car. Our immediate goal is Temple Square in Salt Lake City. We intend to arrive before noon and eat lunch somewhere downtown.

We drive north on US Hwy 6 and head over Soldier Summit, turning west. This is beautiful country.

View North from US 6

We drive down from the pass. The going is slow because of road construction. But we have plenty of time. We turn north near Provo and turn onto I-15. We approach Sandy and I remember what I saw from the Interstate when we passed through here driving south so many weeks ago. We exit I-15 and drive on surface streets to Rio Tinto Stadium. It is a lovely structure.

We park in the lot and go inside to ask if we can see the inside of the stadium. The team is training today and we are told the pitch is closed. We exit the building and find a point to take some pictures. I sort-of look into the stadium trying to figure out what kind of training the team can do in this heat. I see nobody on the pitch.

Rio Tinto Stadium

Interesting note: Parking lots for workers are all covered and those covers are loaded with Solar Arrays. We head back to the car and hit the road. Next stop, Temple Square. We easily find some parking near the square and underneath a shopping area. We exit the garage, cross the street and find ourselves in the wonder that is Temple Square. This place has crazy architecture!

Well dressed and smiling people are everywhere. The grounds are immaculate. We stumble upon the Tabernacle at the perfect time to hear the daily organ concert. We figure it is probably air conditioned inside, so we attend the concert.

The Tabernacle Organ

(The color of the light behind the organ pipes gradually changes!)

The concert is performed by one of the main organists for the temple. It begins with the Toccata by Bach and proceeds to less secular music. The organ is magnificent, but I feel the organist is a bit off today, the playing is uneven.

We both feel very strange after leaving Temple Square. Helpful people are available at several spots in the square. These helpful people seem a lot more diverse than I would expect in this very white state. We are given a lot of opportunity to ask about the LDS Church and find out more about true paths and whatnot. We resist.

We return to the shopping center below which we parked and consider our lunch options. We choose the Nordstrom Grille. I have Tomato Soup and a Salad. Amy has a Salad with Chicken.

Well fed, we return to the car and head north to stop in Brigham City. Our hotel is in the governmental center of town: City Hall, the County Courthouse, the Police Station are all nearby. 

Leaving the car, I immediately begin to melt. It must be at least 100 degrees. We check into the hotel and take a rest. After the rest, we walk a couple of short blocks to eat dinner at Corbin’s Grille. Amy and I share the Deep Fried Raviolis and the New York Strip Steak. Dinner is wonderful, but it has been a long, hot day. We return to our room to rest up for tomorrow’s drive.

June 19: SW Road Trip Day 41: Back Into Utah

We arise and the day is already warm. It will be in the mid-90’s later. Amy takes the opportunity to run on the paths we scoped out last night before it gets too hot. After her run, we eat breakfast and pack the car.

Our destination for the night is Price, Utah. We are now heading home. We have just one more sight to see along the way, Temple Square in Salt Lake City, which we will visit tomorrow. Other than that, we are just enjoying the scenery on the route home.

After packing the car, we take a short tour of Montrose so Amy can show me where she ran, a very nice community park above the Uncompahgre River. We get a clear view of the San Juan Mountains to the south. We drove through these yesterday.

The San Juans

Back in the car, we head north for Grand Junction. This is the most populous city we will visit today and we will get there a bit before noon. Our plan is to find a grocery store or deli and buy some lunch.

The scenery as we drive north is not as gorgeous as yesterday, but is still pretty. We find a grocery store and purchase lunch. We then search our Nav System for a place to eat. We discover that about 10 miles to the west is the Colorado National Monument with dozens of picnic locations. What a happy surprise!

Rock Formations in the Colorado National Monument

The Monument is south of I-70 and the 4 mile drive from the entrance up to the Visitor Center gains more than 1,000 feet of elevation. The road is every bit as intimidating as yesterday’s Million Dollar Highway. The view north, from the top, is spectacular.

View from the Top

Road to the Visitor Center

That little bit of horizontal blue in the middle of the preceding picture is the Colorado River.

We find a nice picnic table in shade at the Visitor Center and sit down to eat our lunch. Sadly, we also find Gnats (Biting Midges) in abundance. We are right in the middle of their two-month active season. We can’t stand them, so we wind up eating in the car.

Lunch over, we return the way we came and get onto I-70 for almost 100 miles. We turn onto US Hwy 191 (in Utah) for the final 65 miles north to Price. Along the way, the scenery is still stunning, but is markedly dryer.

View from I-70 in Utah

After some slow traffic having to do with vehicle accidents causing lane closures, we arrive in Price. This is a very tired town. There are lots of closed buildings with failed businesses. Some fast food restaurants and the Wal-Mart are thriving, but we don’t see much else in the way of commerce. Amy is in the mood for pizza, so we find Big Don’s, and order pizzas to take back to our room. It’s been a long, hot day.

June 18: SW Road Trip Day 40: On the Million $ Highway

We arise to greet our last day in Durango. Amy has gone to the river path for a morning jog. I arise later and begin departure preparations. Once she is back to our room, we set out for breakfast. We find the Jean Pierre Bakery. We are seated at the Queen’s Table. The bar is lovely.

Bar of the Jean Pierre Bakery

Amy has the Fruit Bowl …

… and I have the Crepes.

It’s all delicious. After breakfast, we go forth in search of sandwiches for lunch on the road. We find Schlotzky’s Deli. Hey, It’s Father’s Day, so I get a “free” Dad’s day sandwich! We head back to the Jean Pierre for some treats to have with lunch. We then head back to the motel to rest up, pack our car and check out.

We drive north on US 550. There is gorgeous scenery all along the route. We continue to be stunned by our gorgeous country. We stop often on this beautiful road to take in the scenery and snap some pictures.

US 550 in Colorado

Somewhat before Silverton, we stop at a scenic overlook and eat our sandwiches amidst beautiful surroundings.

South of Silverton

At Silverton, we turn west, go uphill a short way, then start a harrowing drive downhill toward Ouray. This road, a twelve mile stretch from Ouray up the canyon toward Silverton, cost $1 M to build in 1884 and so is called the Million Dollar Highway. That was a huge amount of money at the time and it is easy to see why it took such a sum. A deep, steep canyon with very little room to build a roadway. Lots of excavation into rock walls required.

On the Million Dollar Highway

It is warming up as we descend. We continue on to Montrose and check into our motel. Amy scopes out possible running routes for the morning. We drive around the neighborhood to make sure Amy knows where to run. This is a fairly lovely town, but it is hot. After getting settled in, we walk to the Safeway next door to get some groceries for dinner. The heat is making me tired. We have a very relaxing meal in our room.