July 3, 2009 - Denver to Green River

A long but very memorable day today and I'm touched byt he fact that most people know will never see the sites I've seen in the past 16 hours. We woke in Denver, an hour earlier than we were supposed to cause we forgot that we were in Mountain time and had to set the clocks again. It didn't matter because I was having an anxious moment and wanted to repack the whole suitcase again anyhow. We watched a bit of Good Morning America on the television as I progressed and realised we'll be in Los Angeles during the Michael Jackson hullabaloo.

We decided not to eat breakfast as that worked pretty well for us yesterday buit then changed our minds en-route when we realised that Idaho Springs was so close to Denver we couldn't justify stopping without eating something. It's a nice little gold-rush starting town with its one main road, a guy that sells antique stoves and a family group of teens and preteens singing on the corner telling us to find Jesus or we'll burn in hell. I wonder thow much success they have. We also saw some amish running around but by the time I sent Fabri out of the cafe for photos they'd disappeared. I had buttermilk pancakes. Yum.

We head back out and only stopped at the bisitor centre at Eagle for a second to grab a cup ofr coffee and a bathroom stop. The scenery was breathtaking throught he canyons and the Rockies. Got quite a few photos. I especially likes the 'out of control' truck ramps, rising almost vertically off of the highway for that fatefull day Jimmy-Joe's brakes give in and just give up. There's a rainstorm and we see the lightning jump from sky to earth. We see the mountains and distance erased like someone spilled old coffee on a watercolour. And then it clears.

Crossed into Utah when I wasn't paying attention and just looked up from my book when the 'next gas station in 56 miles' sign popped up on the side of the road. I looked over at the meter and saw we had 3 bars left. 'How long has that been at 3 bars?' I aksed Fabri. He shrugged and we both started to wonder exactly what 56 miles felt like. In a momantary pause fromt he impending panic and doom (we're really taking middle of nowhere here... if you've never been to Utah, goodle it) we stop at a lookout to have a good view of the expansive rocks and nothingness. Fabri goes to the truck to change the lens of his camera and looks up at me after shutting the lid. He's locked the keys inside. LUCKILY the doors of the car are still unlocked... cause it's a billion degrees, we're int he middle of the desert and our car keys would have been locked in the truck. Resolving the issue we go to the lookout and thouroughly enjoy the view with our newfound gratitude. Later, thinking about it, I resolve the inner anxiety the keys in the trunk issue afforded me by working out that I would have wrapped my shirt around my arm and broken the car's window (or something else equally Macguiver). I feel much better with this revelation, even though nothing actually happened.

We find a gaz station and are relieved for that too. The town has a gas station and a gfuy selling beef and bison and buffalo jerky. That is all.

We turn down the road towards the Arches National park and after all the waiting up until now it comes up pretty fast. We arrive, pay the 10$ car fee and head up amongst the red rocks, fomations, arches, balancedc sphere's of rocks in top of pillars and desert shrubbery. We go to the very far end of the park (about a 25 minute drive) and work our way back taking photos and commenting on all the crazy people who are actually taking the 3 hour hikes closer to the formations. 'Nuts' we think, walking is hard! It's hot, we're tired. Walking is hard. The rocks and scenery and setting are beautiful. Utterly awesome...

We go to Moab for dinner because Green River is barely spoken about in our guidebooks, except that it's the watermelon capital of the world. We eat at a place caller Centre Cafe which is the best restaurant in Southern Utah , and it lives up to the hype. I've never eaten anywhere else in Southern Utah, but I don't know how someplace can top this place as it's the best I've eaten since I've been back on this continent. I have a beet and goat's cheese salad followed by a beef tenderloin. It's delicious. I wash it down with a heavy wine. I'm all sandy and sunned out from the day and it's good to really kick back.

Darkness falls on Utah (and my 20's) as we drive to our final stop on this long day, Green River. Fabri's my hero cause he sacrificed his relaxation this evening to be able to drive us safely the 45 min to our destination even though I gave up and gave into the day about 2 hours ago. Our my window now, the highway, desert and sky are all the same colour; a deep, dark, midnight black. After all the changes in scenery today the uniformity of the scene is refreshing, like going to sleep after you've been at a movie.

Tomorrow's a big day for me and I don't know how I feel about it. But by the same account, it's not at all big at all. It's just tomorrow, right? I guess it's what you make of it. I'm going make it Las Vegas – ooh, and I hope I can start with a swim.

Visualizzazione ingrandita della mappa

351 mi – circa 5 ore 28 min

Ramada Limited Green River
1117 East Main
1 mile N of I-70 at Exit 164
Green River, UT 84525 US

Phone: 435-564-8441 Fax:435-564-8445