Determined to get to California today, we got up bright and early and on the road from Grand Junction, Colorado. However, distractions on any road come quickly for the Niebuhrs and we were no more than a few miles down the road when we began to realize that the beauty of this area was going to require us to pull over a few times.
Utah surprised both of us as soon as we crossed into it from Colorado. Breath taking scenery on Hwy. 70 in Utah seemed equal to the Grand Canyon to us.
At a wayside near Green River, we found the scenery spectacular, the geckos fun, and Denice showed surprising depths by reaching into a snake hole and pulling out the skin for her husband. What a gal!
A pull off into the town of Green River, Utah, proved a great find for road side signage. Take a look at these beauties as I warmed up for the Mother Road.
Basically we are north of Arches at this point and at another wayside we were treated with additional wonders to behold.
But nothing prepared us for our journey down through Arizona near the Grand Canyon in the north west corner of the state. I will say that this is the most beautiful highway drive I have ever had. Unfortunately for you, I was too busy driving to take photos and there are no safe turnoffs in this area. Wow!
Lunch was a sub from Cousins in Mesquite, Nevada, proving that even the most adventure seeking travelers occasionally just go for expediency.
After we crossed into California and the Mojave Desert, things got a bit warm and this picture below sort of sums up my mood:
However, I am not as worried about the 100 degree heat as some poor dog who is offered this landscape upon which to poop:
Crossing California's Mojave did afford the first sightings of Route 66 and I cannot wait to get to a place called Newberry Springs which appears to be filled with nothing but ruins.
We made it to our abode for the next two nights, the Wigwam Motel in Rialto, California, firmly on Route 66. There old motto used to be Do It In a Teepee but they have scaled that back a bit for families. The highlight of this decision was dealing with Kumar, the desk clerk. Denice warned me that she had some reservations about our reservation when talking to Kumar on the phone prior to leaving home. Today we called the place and asked to add today to our reservation (more on that later). Sure enough, upon arrival Kumar had some difficulty finding our reservation or anything about adding a day. However, to his credit, he proved to be our first great character of the trip.
Kumar suggested the El Kiosco Mexican Restaurant for dinner and that was satisfactory. The neighborhood right around the Wig Wam is a little temperamental but the restaurant was in a fine area of the city and night travel there and back was not a big deal.
So that ends our long, three day, highball to California.
Today's mileage: 763
Total mileage so far: 2,083
All the photos for the trip can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gniebuhr/
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