Salt Lake City to Durango, CO

HEY DOGGIES, I'M HOME!!!!!

Roger here....  The dogs were happy to see me when I returned to Salt Lake City after a two-week junket to Indianapolis.  I was literally mauled when I sat down on the couch.   I was glad to see them, too.  I was also glad to see Dianne :-).  We were both (Dianne and me) eager to leave Salt Lake City for a number of reasons, but we had already paid for two more nights at the campground.  So, Dianne paid one last visit to the Family History Library.

And, we took the dogs for a couple of visits to a huge municipal dog park located just a few miles away.  Lots of room to run and lots of dogs to play with.  (To my former English teachers... I am well aware that I started the last sentence with a conjunction and ended it with a preposition :-).

As I mentioned above, we were very ready to hit the road.  Salt Lake City is not the worst place we have been, but it is far from our favorite.  The Family History Center and the dog park were the highlights.  On the negative side:  quite a bit of air pollution, trash on the streets, odor from a nearby refinery, more than the normal amount of homeless people, not many nearby groceries or restaurants, and quite honestly, the people were less friendly than we expected.  We were a little disappointed because we expected it to be pristine (it is near the Temple), clean and welcoming.  This was our experience.  I am sure that others have had better experiences.  

Time to move on...   The two-day drive to Durango was filled with a variety of scenic views.  

We returned to the Spanish Trails RV Park in Moab, UT for our overnight stay.  We were just there a year ago and felt comfortable returning to a good place.  The picture above was taken from our campsite ---not a bad view.  

One of the advantages of revisiting a place, if only for one night, is to relive a nice experience. Instead of eating in the motor home, we opted to pay a return visit to the Moab Brewery.  Good food, good beer.

The first leg of the trip from Moab to Durango skirted the eastern edge of Canyonlands National Park.  The scenery in southern Utah, even from the highways, is difficult to top.  Check out the arch that we passed along the road on highway 191.

The vistas continued to hold our attention as we neared the Colorado border.  The light traffic made the road construction a non-issue.

We arrived at our campground, Alpen Rose RV Park, in time to see the Durango - Silverton train pass by.  (Our next post will cover our trip on this train.)

A glass of wine before dinner with this view from our lawn chairs.... Life is good.

We spent the next day (actually today) in Durango.  We have visited many amazing towns in our travels.  This is one of them.

Our first stop (unintended) was at the Jean-Pierre Bakery.  The aroma of baked goodies pulled us in.  We intended to buy a couple pastries and leave, but decided to sit down and enjoy the ambience.

I had a ham and cheese croissant.  Dianne had a raspberry pastry.  We both had a cup of really good coffee.

Dianne could not resist taking pictures of the delicious-looking concoctions.  Better for our diets to look at them rather than eat them.

We left with a loaf of sourdough bread.  Ya gotta eat bread, right?  Yum.

We spent a couple of hours wandering along the shop fronts and making a few needed purchases.  I am always intrigued by classic architecture, and Durango has plenty.

This is the historic Strater Hotel which houses the Diamond Belle Saloon --- once a famous brothel.  We observed from a distance :-).  (Dianne here:  Louis L'Amour sometimes checked into room 222 of the Strater Hotel to write his western novels.  He claimed the honky-tonk music from the bar below helped set the mood for his writing.)

A couple of other interesting structures can be seen below.

This cool town also had some interesting sculptures.  We both loved the cowboy and his dog.

Tomorrow morning we will head to the train station next to the horse statues to take a ride on the Durango-to- Silverton steam train.  It will be an all-day adventure that we hope will be the highlight of our visit to this beautiful place.

The pet picture of the day is of Bandido at the dog park at Salt Lake City.  

Wait, Bandido does not have a big black spot on his back!  Meet Rosie, Bandido's twin.  Too bad they are both neutered, we could start a new breed.

We've Gone Our Separate Ways...

Beautiful Temple Square, Salt Lake City

Now that I've got your attention, we have gone our separate ways, but only for two weeks.   Roger has gone to Indiana for a little work.  Don't feel too badly for him, though; not only does he get to stay with our friends Jay and Nancy in their beautiful home, but his social calendar has been booked solid.

One highlight of his Indiana visit was to attend the Hamilton Southeastern Middle School staff reunion.  These folks were like family to Roger back when he served as their principal.  I know the laughs they had in the 1980s and 1990s, so I'm sure there were a lot of laughs at the reunion!  It tells you what a special group they are that they would plan this get-together, now that most of them have moved on to other schools or retired.

 The very next day Roger was able to attend his 45th class reunion in Pendleton, Indiana.  I've talked to him daily, and every day he's been meeting friends and former colleagues for either lunch or dinner.  This weekend he is going to Jay and Nancy's lake cottage with them for more fun, and better yet, his brother and sister-in-law are driving down there to be with them.  Roger will fly back here to Salt Lake City on Wednesday, and I think he'll need a rest!

We parked the motor home here in Salt Lake City for a reason.  Since December 1st, I've been working on family trees on Ancestry.com for both Roger and I.  The Family History Library here in Salt Lake City, run by the LDS church, is THE place to go for family research.  I wish I could tell you I've seen a lot of the local sites here, but other than a delightful visit with a girlfriend from high school in Park City, I've spent every day at the library.  (In fact, that visit was on a Sunday, when the library was closed).   Roger can tell you that when I get involved in a project, I kind of get immersed in it, if you know what I mean.

 I did take a walk around Temple Square this morning before hitting the book stacks, and here are a few pictures of the beautiful gardens and buildings:

There is a LDS church in Fishers, Indiana where we lived while our daughters went through school, and some of Robyn's mormon girlfriends did travel to the Temple here for their weddings.  One day when I walked through the square there were at least three brides and wedding parties having their pictures taken near the beautiful gardens.  None today, though, when I had my camera.

Temple Square is a beautiful oasis in the middle of the city.   Just off the west side of Temple Square sits the Church History Museum...

And next door to that is my home-away-from-home, the Family History Library...

Between the two buildings is a small plaza, at the rear of which stands a pioneer log cabin:

Hmmm...15 x 20 feet; that's not much bigger than our little coach house in Texas.  Here's a peek inside:

After my quick walking tour, I went back to the books on the third floor of the library.  

You would think two weeks would be more than enough time to do research.  I have so many things that I want to look up here that I've been playing "beat the clock" every day!  I only have three days left and I'll just barely get through my to-do list.

Here's my plan of attack:

While doing research the past eight months, I tore up an old atlas and as I was making my tree on Ancestry.com, I also wrote family names in the counties in the states where they lived, color-coding the outline by family group (Roger's, mine,  mother's and father's branches of each).

 Those counties outlined in several colors were the ones I focused on this week, meaning they had lots of different family groups from there.  Today was "Look up Massachusetts" day for me.  I started with Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, just because I was interested in the ancestors from there (sea captains).

 Since I had already written the surnames on the map, it was easy for me to look them up on my family tree the night before and make lists of their full names and dates (next to counties and towns). 

I could check the indexes in books from those counties to see if my ancestors were in the books.  Oh, and did I mention this place is huge?

This is just one of dozens of rows of books from every county in every state in the United States (and that's just the U.S.; international collections are on other floors).  Census, births, deaths, marriages, history, etc. etc.   I was more interested in the local history of each county.  It makes the names on a chart a lot more meaningful after you've read a bit about their day-to-day lives.

Time and again, what was once just a nondescript random name on my family tree turned into a fascinating character after just a little research.

Once I found a reference to an ancestor in a book, I marked it gently with a paper clip (paper tabs would have been better), then I made copies for later reference.  

Notice the card?  The copy machines here use cards to pay for the copies.  At 5 cents for each  copy, it's a steal.  I bought that $20 card the first day and today I used up the last copies on it and bought another card for $5.  They sell them in vending machines in all denominations:

There are also dozens of computer terminals for on-line research.  I didn't use those; I figure I can do that from home.  I wanted to focus on things that I wouldn't be able to find on line.

When I come across an item that is on microfilm, I spend time on the second floor at the microfilm machines.

I especially enjoyed looking up Quaker meeting minutes that included people from my grandmother's family in Parke County, Indiana in the 1800s, and reading about them in the flowery script of the time. 

 The overriding theme of my family tree seems to be "The Puritans vs. the Quakers."  I am proud to be descended from Mary Dyer, who was hung on Boston Common in 1660 for espousing her Quaker beliefs, even after the Puritans in Massachusetts told her to go home to her husband in Rhode Island and stay there.  This week I discovered that in addition to Mary Dyer (who I already knew about), I also have several other Quaker "rebel rousers" in my tree (father's side).  I also discovered several Puritans in my tree (mother's side) who were harassing the Quakers in Massachusetts.  

We've discovered that most of my ancestors landed in New England, whereas most of Roger's ancestors landed in Virginia.  He even has ancestors who landed in Jamestown Colony, although not in the first group, of which all but 60 of 500 died.  His ancestors landed there shortly thereafter, though.  (Note to our friends Bill and Nancy:  The name "Mills" keeps cropping up in Roger's tree from the Carolinas -- wonder if you're related?)  Anyway, enough family stuff.  I realize nobody is interested in our family tree except possibly our cousins.

The pet picture of the day shows Bandido and Charlie taking a late afternoon rest.  I think Bandido is daydreaming about the Oregon beaches; he sure doesn't like Salt Lake City!!  More likely, he's probably wondering when his dad will come home.

Trapped in Moab

Roger here....  Ah!!!!!! Look at the sunset views from my lawn chair outside the motor home.  So peaceful.  So beautiful.  So hot.
The soft sounds of graders and steam rollers.  The fragrance of asphalt in the air.  Pictures do not always paint the entire picture. 


Due to the ongoing nature of this topic, I will not be posting it until we leave Moab, if we are able to leave Moab.  We are scheduled to leave in a week and there are still many things we would like to do, if we are able to get out of the RV park.


Don't get me wrong.  I am happy that the workers have employment as they improve the infrastructure in this area.  I know that if highways are to be improved, that inconveniences occur during the construction.  I know that the friendly staff at the RV Park does not have control over the situation, and must have their own frayed nerves.  My purpose in this post is merely to express the frustrations that many full-time travelers face from time to time.  I'm really not complaining; I'm just whining.


Let's start at the beginning:  We were scheduled to spend two weeks in Moab.  We needed to have reservations for the Fourth of July, and there is so much to do and see here.  When we arrived two weeks ago (Sunday), we were thrilled to see that the road construction on 191 ended north of the city limits.  It did not look like it would have any bearing on our activities.  We were disappointed to see a new set of construction signs (including the dreaded flagger icon) on the south side of the city limits as we approached our  RV park.  We were relieved to see that the construction was taking place well beyond the entrance of our turn into the entrance of our park.  All was good.


The next day (Monday), we went to the visitor center, the grocery, and did some initial exploring.  I have already written about our frustrations that took place on Tuesday when we were unable to get into the RV park after hiking at Arches.  Those frustrations continued.


No problems on Wednesday.  We took the dogs to the dog park and Dianne went to the laundry.  No problems on Thursday.  We took the dogs on a canyon hike and did a night cruise on the Colorado River.  


I left early Friday morning to go on the ranger-led hike at the Fiery Furnace at Arches.  It was such a great hike.  I was in such a good mood while driving back to the RV Park.  I called Dianne to let her know I survived.  Her response was a subdued, "Good," followed by, "The entrance to the park is blocked.  I don't think you will be able to get in."  The next statement was, "Would you get some milk and bread on your way back?" At that point my thinking was that I would find things to do in town before rushing back. 


So..... I stopped by the local tire store to see if they could repair the slow leak in the car tire that had been concerning me for quite a while.  I had been adding air a couple times a week.  They were able to work me in, and had the tire repaired after an hour.  REALLY GOOD NEWS!  They found a four-inch nail.  I am amazed that we did not have a really flat tire.  Sometimes things happen for a reason.  Very lucky.


OK, with the tire fixed, I might as well find a place to eat lunch (more time for the RV park entrance to open up.)  I returned to the Moab Brewery, sat at the bar, and enjoyed cheese quesadillas with one of their home-brewed "scorpions".  Good food.  Good beer.  Since I was in no hurry to leave, I had another beer.  My time in the tire store and enjoying lunch ate up a couple of hours.

Surely, by now the entrance would be open.  I dropped by the grocery for milk, bread, and salad.  I called Dianne while waiting in the flagger line.  She said that the entrance was still blocked.  I was already in line, so I proceeded down the road.  I asked the flagger at the north end of the construction if I would be able to get into the RV Park.  He said, yes.

When I approached the entrance, I saw that it was completely blocked.  I quickly turned into the Shell station across the highway, which by this time had turned into an RV corral (three motor homes waiting to get into the park).  I walked over to talk to the flagger lady, who told me it would be another three hours before I could cross the asphalt.  THREE MORE HOURS!  I told her that I had groceries in the car (well over 100 degrees).  I asked if there was any other way to get into the RV Park.  She rattled off a series of streets and turns, mentioning a dirt road.  I had nothing to write down the directions, so I took off on the back roads looking for any familiar street name.  I ended up at a convenience store back on the main highway, where I went in to buy ice for the milk.  I was lucky to have a small cooler in the car.  I then called Dianne.  "THREE HOURS!," she yelled into the phone.  (In that time frame, I would not be able to get back to the motor home before 7:00 p.m.)  I asked Dianne to look up the phone number for the RV Park, thinking that they might know a back way in.  


When I talked with the (very nice) work camper in the office.  She confirmed that the entrance was still closed, but was surprised by how long it would still be closed.  She asked someone else in the office about directions to get to the dirt road and began reciting a series of road names and directions.  I scribbled them down as quickly as I could.  

Since I did not know how to find the first street in the series of directions, I went back into the convenience store.  A very helpful clerk and a local lady, waiting to check  out, helped me figure out my first turn.  I made a couple wrong turns before finding the correct way.  Then I found the dirt road that parallels the highway.  Thankfully, I did not get stuck as I slid around on the sandy surface. (We need to get a Jeep.)


After safely making it back to the RV Park.  I walked over to ask the guy who was blocking the entrance about the status of the construction over the next few days.  Bryce was a friendly and understanding guy.  (I suspect he was the supervisor of the entire process).  He told me that the next day we would be able to get in the RV Park, but not the Shell station (the RV corral) across the street.  I made a quick stop at the office of the RV Park to thank Judy, the lady who gave me directions, and to tell her the specific street name that leads to the dirt road.


Saturday, we stayed in.  Bandido was having intestinal problems that you do not want to hear about.  Leaving him would have been a mistake.  Lots of activity on the road.


We took the dogs to Dead Horse Point State Park yesterday (Sunday), and had no problems.  No one was working on Sunday.   (Dianne here:  I took advantage of the Sunday work stoppage to make a grocery run in the afternoon, not wanting a repeat of Roger's experience.)


Today (Monday), I am watching a flurry of activity on the highway.  The "follow the pilot car" sign is up at the entrance to the RV park, but I think we can get out.  We may try later.   We are  about to run out of wine, but can only buy it at a state-run liquor store in the State of Utah.  Wine-thirty will not be pleasant today, if we can't get out :-).  If we can't get back in, we can just drink wine at the Shell station.   :-).  Just kidding.  I am sure that would be a violation of one of Utah's strange liquor laws,  this one justified.


We still have a couple more things to do around Moab (Canyonlands, a petroglypyh hunt on Potash Road, and another hike at Arches), but we decided this morning to cut our stay short after doing those three things.  Tired of wondering if we can get out.  Tired of wondering if we can get back in after if we do get out.  Tired of listening to the construction.  Tired of smelling the asphalt. 

The RV Park sign should have an addendum....  but you may not be able to get in (or out). 


Waaaah,  Waaah, Waaaah.  Time to stop the whining :-), at least for today.  Whining is really unattractive, don't ya think?


Since writing the first part of this post, we have had no additional problems.  Our trips to Canyonlands, Potash Road (something we won't forget), and Arches this week were non-eventful as far as road construction is concerned.  No delays.  No incidents of being stranded.  Good news.  We decided to leave a day early, because we were ready for a change of scenery --- not that the scenery here is anything but spectacular. 

This is what we saw on the way back from our last hike at Arches National Park, yesterday.  Uh oh.  Today the traffic was backed up in front of the entrance of the RV park all day long.  Time to go.


Talk with you again later from the Mountain View Winery in Olathe, Colorado, unless we are trapped again in Moab.

HOLD ON.... It is the morning of our departure and it looks as if we are indeed trapped in Moab.   Only the people on bicycles (right side of photo) seem to be getting in or out.

We had no problem exiting  the RV park and breezed through town.  We thought we had escaped.  But then, just on the north side of town near our favorite place, Potash Road, Highway 191 became a parking lot.  We could not figure out why there was not a flagger sign.  We could not figure out why the four lanes of traffic had not been diverted to a single lane.  Thirty minutes later, we were a little closer.  It doesn't look like road construction. It looks like road obstruction.  (Notice the cars in the left-hand lane driving to the front, knowing that they will be able to cut in line at the last minute.  I hate that.  I have been known to tailgate the guy in front of me so as not to let the interlopers in.  Childish, I know, but satisfying.)

Looking at this photo that was taken as we were about to get past the mess, you can begin to see the source of the problem.  This looks like some of the scenery from the Lone Ranger set.  Doesn't that look like a camera boom?

It appeared that two (double) trailers being pulled by a truck,  jack-knifed while turning from Potash Road onto 191.  The trailers were definitely loaded with scenery from the movie set that we had seen a couple of days ago.  Oh well, I guess it was worth the wait.  It makes a good story, anyway.


NOW, I really do think we have escaped.  On to Colorado.