Thunder roared through the Moab valley last night. It took 2 thunderclaps before I recognized it. Then it was gone. It did leave a little rain. We should have taken that as an omen for today.
It was time to start home. Susan was ready. It is too bad she had to experience her worst day of the trip today. However, the day began with a brilliant sunrise after the air was cleansed from the rain.
We wanted to make a few stops on the way home. The first was Santa Fe. It has been one of our favorite places to visit over the years. But we hadn't been there for 15-20 years so we were looking forward to it. One potential route to Santa Fe took us past Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. It also took us through a couple of different climates We started in the high desert of Utah with the typical scrub grass and sage bushes. Then we gradually climbed to a higher plateau in Colorado - nearly 3,000 feet higher. There was water, plenty of green, and farms. What a welcome sight!
It was relatively flat until we reached the Mesa Verde area. Mesa Verde has a plethora of ancient cliff-dwellings scattered throughout a canyon high in the mountains. We had visited a much smaller version of similar cliff dwellings near Santa Fe in the past. So we had no intent to actually tour them in Mesa Verde. That was a good thing because all the tours were sold out. My plan was to drive through the park, stop at opportune photo ops, and get out of the park in an hour. No possible chance that was happening though.
As I said, the dwellings are high in the mountains. The drive from the entrance gate was over 20 miles long to the dwellings. Let me emphasize "high in the mountains"? You know what that means - switchbacks and looking over sheer drops with only guardrails or less to stop an errant driver. Susan was terrified. I think she was even more terrified than on the Road to the Sun just because there was little relief for so long a drive. So the attacks on her fears started early and they were (unintentionally) directed by me.
But she loves history and we both enjoyed looking at the dwellings from afar.
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| Cliff Palace |
The following photo provides some perspective about how deep the canyon is below the dwellings. There obviously weren't many drop-ins for dinner at the Palace.
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| Hemenway House |
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| Square Tower House |
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| Spruce Tree House |
There were so many dwellings that stops were frequent. Add the requisite stop at the museum and we were looking at 3 hours in the park rather than the scheduled 1. We chose to have a quick lunch in the park rather than make a stop in Durango in an effort to make up some time.
Because we were running so far behind, we didn't stop to take pictures of the beautiful scenery in Colorado. The mountains around Pagosa Springs were especially striking. But you will never know and I will only have my memories.
One memory I would like to forget is the second attack on Susan. We were driving between Durango and Pagosa Springs when a very loud BANG sounded on the passenger side of the car. Susan gasped aloud and visibly jumped. Something had struck our car very hard.
I can't wait to see how much this is going to cost me. I'll be testing the American Express insurance for the first time.
Neither of us was in great mood after seeing that damage. That only added to the lack of effort to take photos. The route after Pagosa Springs turns south and we were soon descending from the beautiful mountains back to the high desert of New Mexico. We were also experiencing something else - horrible roads. They were the worst of the entire trip by far. Where the pavement was good, the road was full of bumps, dips, and waves. It was like driving on a mogul course. Many areas had broken pavement with potholes and were pretty rough. Not RZR-day rough, but rough for public highways. Shortly after entering New Mexico, the car in front of us kicked up a rock and it struck the windshield in front of Susan. Yet another loud gasp was heard as attack #3 took place. She also made the backup quote of the day - "This is not a good day". Luckily, it only made a small mark and didn't chip or crack the windshield.
We rolled into our hotel just north of Santa Fe at dusk and had a delicious Mexican meal at Gabriel's, a restaurant recognized by Zagat as one of the best in the world. An early night was our hope for a better day tomorrow.
Susan’s quote of the day: “Don't quote me using curse words any more." My first thought was that she just shouldn't curse. But that isn't fair. When one is scared, the mouth reacts as it chooses. My second thought was that the timing of her comment was an influence. She said it as we were descending out of Mesa Verde. She obviously had curse words on her mind.
The highlights - Mesa Verde.
The regrets - Timing the drive better.
Today's total miles - 416
Today's direct miles from hotel to hotel - 350
Today's miles on side trips - 66
Today's miles driven by Paul - 416
Today's miles driven by Susan - 0
Today's hours in car - 10.0
Total Miles Hiked - 1.0
Cumulative total miles - 7,455
Cumulative direct miles from hotel to hotel - 4,044
Cumulative miles on side trips - 3,411
Cumulative miles driven by Paul - 6,473
Cumulative miles driven by Susan - 587
Cumulative hours in car - 155.5
Cumulative Miles Hiked - 48.8
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