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.