Hurricane, Utah
I awoke to thunder.
Hubby was not feeling well at all the previous night, had another rough night trying to get good rest. Everyone was sleeping, I slipped out, grabbed the computer, found coffee, and checked the weather forecast. Yep, rain. Smart, aren't I?
Hubby arose feeling lousy and just wanting to go home. Can't blame him. We had thought to drive north to Idaho then over to Yellowstone to see Old Faithful then home. We decided that this was just not the time of year for Yellowstone. The GPS unit said 1500 miles to home. But first Zion National Park.
We gathered our stuff and made our way to Zion National Park. Ohhhhhh how beautiful, even if clouds were covering the mountain tops. It rained, it was gloomy, it was cold. We stayed on the shuttle bus most of the time. But hubby being so sweet, even sick, did a few short hikes to water falls. I love water falls. He really should not have been out in the damp, cold. But he keeps repeating... I am here. We finished driving through the park which includes a trek through a mile long tunnel. Out on the other side.... was Road 89. Several hours to I70. Not much for food, lots of scenery, mountain driving, dropping temps, oh, and it started to snow. At one point we saw a beautiful rainbow - laying on the mountain. Very cool - - couldn't get a picture of it.
We searched maps, the GPS unit, the AAA books to figure out our next step. Not much in Utah going east. A whole lot of well.... nothing. We finally reached Richfield, ate a Wendy's where I think they had to butcher the chickens and cows prior to preparing our food. I took over the driver's seat. Ummmm... that turned into one interesting drive.
About 10 miles down the road was the next town - Salida? Salina? Something like that. The sign said - last services for 108 miles. I once thought I lived in the middle of nowhere. Not a chance. I decided to pull over for one final potty break - after all I had just eaten dinner and had a big glass of Diet Coke to sip on. Back on the road. When they say last services they mean it! Nothing for 108 miles! Not a town, radio signal, or cell phone signal. But the scenery - amazing! Hubby serenaded us with Toby Keith and Taylor Swift songs from the back seat (he had his own personal ipod at that moment). There's a reason he's not been invited into the choir :)
We reached a beautiful juncture driving through the mountains/canyons. It looked as we were going through two sinking Titanic ships. I got a little apprehensive when the sign said - 'Brake test 1 mile.' Exactly what was I in for on this drive? I had driven 'up hill' for quite a ways in buffeting cross winds. It could only mean that now I was going to go down. Yep - that was it - - 6.5 % downgrade for 5-6 miles. Love those signs that say 1 mile to run away truck ramp. I think of them as 1 mile of sheer terror for the run away truck driver ... :) :)
Hubby talked me through mountain driving which was actually pretty easy compared to what he drove through in CO last week. My heart really got pumping as I was passing a semi (after the down grade part) who began swearing as I was next to him. Took a few deep breathes and prayers of praise and thanksgiving to stop the adrenaline. I have now been fully initiated into mountain driving. Thankful for a wonderful teacher in the backseat. Didn't mind the backseat driver that day. You just don't get sleepy on these roads. It was overcast and spit rain every once in a while otherwise decent driving conditions.
At one point, hubby finally figured out what we should do - - it was getting late and the towns are sparse. We were tentatively aiming for Grand Junction CO. Which we would have reached around 10pm. But then, as I said, my sweet man, said let's go to Moab, and since we are in the area - there's another neat national park to check out - - Arches. Okay..... new destination plugged into the GPS- arrival eta 9:00pm. After leaving I70 to go to Moab it was decidedly dark. The road is 2 lane, pitch black, and it began to rain persistently. By dark, I mean, no lights other than the other vehicles traversing the road with you. No traffic signs, towns, just inky black, dark. I kept driving, remember, not too many places to pull off and hubby needed the rest. DD#1 turned on Praise and Worship .... wonderful for the soul and perfect with all we have been seeing. "Lord of all creation - - - You are Holy" 30 miles later.... we are there in Moab.
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