(Which means we are starting to head towards home and so must be on the back end of the adventure… sniff… sniff)
And so our urban sojourn draws to a close and we get ready to start the homeward leg of the trip. Another fabulous breakfast and we are ready to head out of Salt Lake City. Well, after we run a few errands of course. First we need snacks for the road so we stop at the local grocery store, Harmons, which is like few stores I’ve ever visited.
Then another stop at the local Mercedes dealer. Why you might ask? Well, it seems that the hydraulics that control the convertible top are not functioning quite right. Even though Frank had 4 of the cylinders rebuilt, apparently we now have leaks in one or two of the still old ones which causes major headaches – and lots of messy fluid spurts and drips – when the top goes up and down. We bought a few bottles of hydraulic fluid when we arrived in SLC and it seemed like a good idea to have a few spares. Unfortunately, the downtown dealer was out so we stopped at one a bit farther south and extras procured, we were on our way.
For just over 300 miles across the desert, we ranged on our way to the Utah sports mecca of Moab. Even though the terrain wasn’t much different that what we saw in Idaho, it seemed less annoying this time. Maybe I am now used to the nothingness of high desert. Maybe it was the great weather or well maintained roads. Whatever the reason, the miles flew by and after a short stop to pick up some lunch to eat on the road (who knew Subway made such good chopped salads?) we finally arrived at the destination du jour: Arches National Park.
We filled up our water bottles, donned our hiking boots and headed out to explore the vast expanse of red rocks and sand as fine as talcum powder. Unfortunately, the Windows loop was closed and we were not up for the hike to Delicate Arch but we did hike to the view point. And then we traveled the full length of the park to go see more arches – Landscape Arch was the goal but along the way we stopped at others including Pine Arch which was my favorite. Probably because it was pretty shady and you could stand directly underneath it.
We got in the requisite amount of hiking then headed into Moab for supplies. We picked up all the makings of a picnic supper (crackers, cheese, sausage, wine, etc.) and headed out to the Castle Valley where our B&B is located. We had a lovely meal al fresco, hit the jacuzzi for a relaxing soak before calling it a day.
Numbers for today:
- Miles driven: 305
- Steps: 11,278
- Floors: 29
- French lessons: 1 (Je voudrais quelque chose à manger)
- Number of French people we have run into on this trip: 5 zillion or at least it seems that way.
The Cannon Family's travel blog 