November 18: Lamar, Colorado, to Lakewood, Colorado

Another day that started off cloudy but soon cleared up. My goal for the day was to arrive at my sister's home in Lakewood about 3:00pm or so, but I was undecided whether to head west to Pueblo and then take the interstate north to the Denver area or to first go north on a back country road and then head west to the same destination. I finally decided on the latter.

But first I got off US route 50 and took state route 194 to La Junta. On the way there, I discovered Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site. What a find!

This is another fort along the Santa Fe Trail. It was not a military fort but a trading fort. It was built with adobe and was operated from 1833 until 1849. While the original fort was burned and then destroyed by time and weather, archeologists had excavated the base of the original walls in the 1930s. Quite wonderfully, a sick traveler who had been laid up in the fort in the 1840s had undertaken to sketch it with measurements of all of its rooms and walls in his journal.  He thought it so outstanding that he expected to use his sketches as a model for other trading posts in the west. While that never happened, his journal gave all the information to reconstruct the entire fort. That rebuilding was completed in 1976. What exists now is an exact reproduction of the original fort. Here, perhaps about a month's journey along the Santa Fe Trail and 600 miles from its origin in Independence, Missouri, was an outpost where indians, fur trappers, adventurers, and merchants met, lived, and traded. The primary language at the fort was Spanish, but French, English, and three native american languages were also spoken. There was nightly entertainment, shared meals, and even a huge pool table.  I really enjoyed walking through the various rooms of the fort, the kitchen, blacksmith's shop, carpenter's shop, doctor's rooms, and the living quarters of the men who ran the post.
If you want to know more, here is a link:
http://www.nps.gov/beol/index.htm

After leaving Bent's Old Fort, I took state route 71 from Rocky Ford to Limon. This route runs about 90 miles through some beautiful, beautiful grass land. Not as flat as parts of Kansas, there were some small rolling hills that afforded views that must have stretched 20 miles at times. There were some cattle out on the grassland, but not many. There was one cross roads about half way along this route and a house at that crossroads - 1 house, not more.  Isolated, yes, but so very beautiful.

Once in Limon, I took another minor road, Colorado route 86 westward and got my first view of the Rockies. Most of the higher mountains were snow capped and glistened in the sun as I approached them from the east.

As I approached the metropolitan Denver area, I could see a low haze that made it hard to see the base of the Rockies even though the higher elevations were crisp and clear. Urban haze.

I made it to the home of my sister and brother-in-law in Lakewood just about the time I had hoped. I hadn't visited them both here in quite a few years. At my request, my sister played her cello and my brother-in-law played his guitar in a little concert. They have both been taking lessons on their chosen instruments for some time and are quite good. That was a really nice way to end the day.

November 19: Lakewood, Colorado, to Green River, Utah

Today was the first day of the roadtrip where weather played a major role. The forecast for the Rockies west of Denver was for snow from today (Sunday) through Tuesday with accumulations of 1-4 feet. What route to take? I have tried to stay off the interstate system, but after checking road conditions, road webcams, and more forecast information, I decided that going by US route 40 might be difficult. It wanders through northern Colorado for at least 250 miles. So I decided to take the I-70 directly west from Lakewood.

As I reached Dillon, a little before the pass to Vail (10,66 feet), it began to snow. On the road up to the pass I was stuck behind three snowplows and the wet snow was sticking to my windshield. For the first time, I needed the wiper fluid to help clean the mud and melting snow. But it didn't work. When I got to the ski village of Vail I stopped at a gas station to buy some more fluid but discovered that there was plenty in the tank under the hood. The squirting mechanism wasn't working. Ugh. Back on the road. Very soon the sun came out and the snow on the mountains was spectacular! One problem with traveling the interstate, however, is that it isn't so easy to stop and take photos. No driveways to pull into and park, let the traffic pass as you snap a few photos. So I didn't get many.

I continued westward until I reached Grand Junction, Colorado, not too far from the boarder with Utah. I had thought I would stop there for the day. I went into the Barnes & Noble with my laptop, checked the distance remaining to Salt Lake City, and also checked the weather again. What I learned made it seem prudent to push on further today while the weather was still reasonably good, so I re-targeted my stopping place to Green River, Utah. That meant another 100 miles of driving.

The scenery was sometimes visible and beautiful, sometimes hidden in heavy dark rain and snow clouds. I passed through two rather strong and vicious storms with heavy, heavy rain, sleet, and wind gusts that were so strong I needed to hold the steering wheel tightly and continually make adjustments to counter the wind. Quite a few big trailer trucks had pulled over and stopped along the highway as the crosswinds were evidently too strong for them to feel safe.


My fuel indicator light came on. Oooops.  I had not realized that there were no gas stations out here in this deserted part of eastern Utah. A road sign noted that it was 25 miles to Green River.  Hmmmm. How much warning was that indicator giving me? Will I run out of gas before I can get there?  To conserve, I slowed down to 55 (the speed limit is 75) for a while. Then a WalMart truck barrelled past me. I decided to speed up and stay right behind him hoping that I could ride his draft, much as cyclists do in their races. It seemed like that orange indicator light was on for a long time and I kept hoping that I would make it to Green River.  I did. When I filled the tank, it took 14.9 gallons of gas. I think it holds 15.

I'm staying the night at a Super 8 motel here in Green River. This is the 3rd Super 8 that I've stayed at on this trip. All have been quite comfortable, clean, with free wifi, 24 hours of coffee in the lobby, and cost only $60-$65.

November 20: Green River, Utah, to Salt Lake City, Utah

The first half of today's trip was through dry desert and rangeland country above 7,000 feet  altitude on US Route 6 . It was quietly beautiful and there was not a lot of traffic. The driving was easy.

Then I reached Soldier Summit (really a pass, not a mountain top) and began the descent toward the valley to the west, finally reaching it at Spanish Fork, south of Provo, Utah. From there it was a busy 50+ miles on Interstate 15 to Salt Lake City. I found the condo we had rented with no problem. It sits about 300 yards from the Mormon Temple and Tabernacle downtown, but is surrounded by parking lots. I telephoned our son Jonathan who then came to greet me. We spent a little time together  and celebrated with a bottle of sparking cider.

Later the two of us drove the the Salt Lake airport to meet Kate who was flying in from Manchester via Baltimore.
It is really nice now to have the family together for a few days, including a Thanksgiving dinner we plan here in our condo unit.  So this is a pause in the road trip. I'll take up the travel story again when I depart from here on Saturday, November 27. Kate will fly back to New Hampshire on Friday.

November 21-26: Salt Lake City

We had a good time in Salt Lake. Kate and I had rented a small 1-bedroom condo two blocks from the LDS Temple and Temple Square. Photos below are of the condo building and the view to Temple Square from the sidewalk in front.

Kate had ordered a complete pre-cooked Thanksgiving dinner from Whole Foods, including an 8 pound turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans, and rolls. We picked that package up Thursday morning and Jonathan came from his apartment and joined us at our condo while we heated everything up. We had a nice dinner together in mi-afternoon.

We took a brief car ride out to see the Great Salt Lake. Jonathan had been out to see it earlier this year. Doug had last seen it in 1966. Kate had not seen it before. We arrived at a marina (!) a little before sunset. The sun was shining on the Wasatch Mountains to the east and they were covered in snow from the previous night.

Kate flew back to New Hampshire the next morning. Jonathan was working his shifts at the By Leaf Cafe on Main Street in the heart of the city.

Friday night I was going to help Jonathan move some of his stuff from one location to another, but that didn't work out. We decided to see if we could get tickets to the Utah Jazz-LA Lakers NBA game. The game started at 7:00pm at the arena two blocks from the condo. We walked over, getting there about 7:15 and found a scalper who sold us 2 tickets for $10 each. By the time we got to our seats in the upper level of the arena, the Jazz were behind by about 15 points. It was the very beginning of the 2nd quarter. The Jazz soon came back, however, and won the game 102-96. The arena was packed and the crowd loved it!  So did we.

After the game, about 10:00pm, we went to the Bay Leaf Cafe and had dinner.

November 27: Salt Lake City, Utah, to Moab, Utah

The return trip to New Hampshire started today. I gassed up the car and headed south about 9:00am. I retraced the route I had taken into Salt Lake City from Green River six days ago. There was snow on the ground today whereas it had been dry before. Somewhere along Route 6 out in the wild mountain and grassland near the tiny town of Helper I passed Starvation Creek Road. I mused about that a while, wondering what the story must be behind that road's name.

The Green River was flowing nicely at the eponymous town. There was some ice flowing with the water and the banks of the river had some ice as well.

I drove on toward Moab. Just north of that city I turned into the Arches National Park at about 2:30pm. I viewed the 15 minute movie at the visitor center and then set off to see parts of the park.

WOW !!!

My photos don't do this place justice. First, there is no way to show the scale, the size of the rock formations. Secondly, they are part of a total environment of valleys, outcroppings, canyons, mountains, snow, sagebrush, and sky. But here are a few anyway. DON'T FORGET - you can click on any photo in the blog and it will then show you a larger version.

The balanced rock in the next photo is not small. It is the size of a large house.

From the northernmost point of the park's road, I took a one mile hike further north to see the largest and most graceful of the natural arches, the so-called Landscape Arch. The walk itself was wonderful. Here is my photo of the arch from the closest allowed vantage point. This photo too suffers from the inability to show scale. This arch is longer than a football field, but it is hard to tell from a photo.

One of the larger natural arches in the National Park fell last August. This one too is in danger of collapse. Just the weight of a large snow/ice storm could bring it down. The park rangers are very clear that just as nature has created these amazing structures by the forces of erosion, so too will nature eventually destroy them. Here is no talk of trying to artificially recreate the one that fell in August or to create some sort of man-made memorial to it. Too bad that New Hampshire could not have dealt so matter-of-factly with the collapse of the Old Man of the Mountain.

As the sun was setting, I hiked the mile back to my car and drove on to Moab. I'd like to return here sometime. There is a lot more to see and do, including hikes into Canyonlands National Park and river rafting on the Green and Colorado Rivers.

November 28: Moab, Utah, to Albuquerque, New Mexico

Today was the first day that weather really affected the trip, including what route to take.

From Moab to Monticello Utah on US 191 it was generally sunny.

But soon after turning east onto US 491 snow started to fall. This was high grassland and the wind drove the snow over the road. I was lucky to follow not far behind two cars over this remote stretch of highway. At times it was near white-out conditions but there was as yet little accumulation on the road. As I neared Cortez, Colorado, on 491, the snow stopped and the roads were clear again. Great. So I pushed on toward Durango, Colorado, on US Route 160. Tht road, however, goes over a high pass in the Rockies and it was snowing hard again up there. The last 15 miles into Durango were downhill and the road was icy. The grade was 6%. I put the Saturn in 1st gear to avoid using the brakes but some other drivers seemed not to understand how treacherous the conditions were. I watched two cars behind me spin out as the drivers lost control trying to brake. The car immediately in front of me was the Deputy Sheriff's car and I kept a good distance from him. An ambulance crew was already on the scene at one accident just before Durango.

Once in Durango the temperature was high enough that the snow was not sticking to the road. But 160 goes from there up over a couple more passes on its way to Pagosa Springs and then to Santa Fe, the route I had planned to take. I chickened out. Instead, I decided to take US Route 550 south along the Animas River valley toward Aztec, New Mexico. I didn't completely avoid snow that way either. But once I got out of the influence of the Rockies, the snow stopped and I had a mixture of sun and clouds all the way to Albuquerque.


US 550 runs about 130 miles through high grassland and four Indian reservations. Along the way there is really only one town worth being called a town. Also along the way the road passes over the Continental Divide. The streams and rivers to the west flow into the Colorado River and into the Pacific while the streams and rivers to the east flow into the Rio Grande and into the Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic.

I visited Barnes and Noble in Albuquerque first. With their free wifi, my laptop, and Tripadvisor.com I was able to research the motels in the area. I'm staying tonight at a classic old motel right on Historic Route 66 two blocks from the old Spanish downtown of Albuquerque. Tomorrow I'll head east on Route 66.

November 29: Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Amarillo, Texas

Last night I stayed at the Monterey Motel, a cheap but very nice place. The motel gives out $5 gift cards to be used for breakfast at a nearby restaurant.

What a great idea! The breakfast was so much better than the usual motel fare of bagels, cheap muffins and cold cereal. I had double blueberry pancakes with sausage and egg and coffee. With that in my belly I didn't need any lunch today.

I drove through the center of Albuquerque on old Route 66, called Central Street in town. But old route 66 disappears under the concrete of I-40 on the east end of the city. In fact, as I was to find out today, much of old route 66 has disappeared that way.

There are stretches of the old highway in the small towns while the interstate loops outside of them. But on many of the long distances between towns I-40 sits right on top of 66 which it replaced. There are, however, a few places where old route 66 is a "frontage road" running parallel with I-40 and only a few dozen feet to its side. Interestingly, the railroad line also runs parallel as does a set of telephone polls that, I believe, first carried telegraph signals. Of these, the railroad would have been first, then the telegraph lines, then route 66, and finally I-40. All alongside of each other and running for miles over the expansive open grass and rangelands of eastern New Mexico and the western panhandle of Texas.

I did venture off the big highway onto a minor road and from the minor road onto a dirt county road for a while but it eventually would have dead-ended, so I worked my way back onto I-40.

The towns of Santa Rosa and Tucumcari in New Mexico and the even smaller towns of Adrian and Vega in Texas were once vibrant stopping points along route 66. Many of the old motels are still there. Some are closed and rotting away. Most of the gas stations are boarded up. Those businesses that remain open have their 1940s-1950s era signs on the road but they need repainting. Many are simply falling apart.

The countryside was beautiful but boring in its sameness for over 200 miles. Towns here are much farther apart than they are in rural Kansas and the land is ranched but not farmed. I saw no evidence of corn or soybeans or wheat. In fact, the few grain elevators I passed all had broken windows and appeared to be unused.

I drove old route 66 in Adrian, Texas, and found this sign. This is the midpoint of the old route which ran from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Amarillo is a large town, about 170,000 people. But it is set 125 miles north of Lubbock, 250 miles west of Oklahoma City,  280 miles east of Albuquerue, and there just aren't any big towns at all to the north. It is a long way from here to anywhere.

I've stayed in a few motels on this trip, both new and old. Even the new ones do not seem to be designed for the modern traveler. What I am referring to is the lack of electrical outlets. Typically there are two or three 2-plug outlets in the room. But those have the TV, a clock radio, a fridge, and a lamp plugged in. I have four power adapters to charge my electronics: one of the cell phone; one for the battery in the camera; one for the iPod; one for the laptop.

In every motel I have had to unplug something and I've chosen the clock radio. (Let the next traveller figure out how to reset it.). Two nights ago in Moab, I had to unplug the fridge, the TV, and the clock radio! Thank goodness the battery in the camera is good for a week or more.  One motel sent me an evaluation questionairre by email after I stayed there. I gave them my plea, "More electrical outlets please and DON'T put them behind the kingsize bed that it is impossible to move."