Month: March 2022

New Mexico’s Capital City

La Casa de Sally

Door to door, from the Scenic View Inn in Moab to La Casa de Sally in Santa Fe, according to the Google Guy it is 378 miles and take six and a half hours. The mileage was probably about right, but the time was probably wrong. Not just because of our frequent stops and lunch break, but we ran into construction on US-84/285 just north of Santa Fe, where they were resurfacing the road and brought 3 lanes down into just one.

I took just three photos today, two out the passenger window (one of which is very blurry) and the above photo of the rental car at our home for the next week. They are a couple things to do around the house and we have a scenic train ride one day, but that is it for set plans. I’m sure we will probably do the touristy stuff and visit Old Town Santa Fe at least. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you updated here.

Canyonlands National Park

Today we started our exploration of Canyonlands in the Island in the Sky area.

Our first stop was at Mesa Arch. This was the most crowded spot we visited, but there didn’t really seem like there was as many people about as the number of cars indicated. It attracts an early morning crowd because this is the spot where if the weather cooperates you can watch the sunrise through the arch. We were after the sunrise, but we didn’t miss anything because it was a sort of cloudy morning. And as a bonus while we were there the sun did appear above the clouds.

Our next stop was the Upheaval Dome which is what they now believe to have been a fast moving meteor strike 60 million years ago. It is a large crater with the rocks in the center pushed back up. Think drop a rock in water and watch the resulting pattern. There is a strenuous 8.1 mile loop around the dome, but we opted for the “easy” 1/2 mile trail to an overlook.

From there we stopped at the Green River Overlook which has probably the most iconic view in this section of the park. After that our last major stop was the Grand View Point Overlook. We also did take in a couple of other view points and short walks before heading back to Moab.

Below are some of the photos I took and cropped square for Instagram:

Here are some more photos in their original aspect ratio:

And my favorite photo of the day came the Green River Overlook. I said let’s take a selfie and she said, “Sure, let me know when to smile.” Because of where the sun is I can’t really see the phone screen, so I’m estimating where I should hold it. When I think I’m ready, I say, “Smile.” Where then my camera shy wife takes her cue and turns away…

Mobbed Moab

Day 3 was our longest planned day on the road and from fill up in the morning to fill up in the afternoon we drove 385.2 miles. The first 60 miles was to finish up the rest of the loneliest road where it stops at the Nevada state line. At least that is what they would have you believe. Right at the Nevada/Utah line is a quickstop (Utah side) and casino (Nevada side) called Bordertown which is the last bit of services for 90 miles. That 90 Utah miles of US-50 is just as lonely as the 300 and something Nevada miles.

We spent a night in Moab on our last trip to Santa Fe in November and this time we are going to spend two nights. So instead of continuing on tomorrow morning as we did that time, we are going to spend the day going to Canyonlands National Park before moving on on Thursday. We have been through it neighbor park Arches, twice before (2009 & 2018), but have never visited Canyonlands before.

Not that Moab was a secret or anything before, but it is amazing just how crowded and built up it has become since that 2009 visit. There are reasons for that growth of course, the outdoor recreation in this bit of Utah are are as varied as they are plentiful, but still we both can’t help but wish that it was a little more like it was.

24,000 Miles of Nothing

Day 2 consisted of over 300 miles of driving on what Life Magazine dubbed the Loneliest Road in America back in 1986. The Nevada Department of Tourism has decided to run with that description and have turned it into a tourist “destination.”

Once you get west of Fallon there is pretty much of nothing along the whole way across the state. There are three whole named places along the route, two of which have populations of around 100 and are nothing more than glorified gas stops. We are spending the night in the third, Ely, a city of 4,000 that benefits from being a crossroads of 3 separate US routes, 6, 50 & 93.

This is a real pretty drive, but we probably won’t be picking it as our default route between Klamath Falls and Santa Fe any time soon. Speaking of time, for some reason my phone has already changed from Pacific Time to Mountain Time even though we are 40 miles as the crow flies to the Utah border where the change point is.

Somewhere around the middle of the loneliest road, literally in the middle of nowhere, the rental car rolled through its twenty fourth thousand mile.

When Did That Happen?

Day one of another trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico: Klamath Falls to Carson City.

Filled up the CX-5 here in Carson City at the 320.3 mile mark. Google maps says our mileage between points should have been 280, but we roamed a bit of Nevada’s capital city before arriving at the hotel and that also includes a bunch of driving around Klamath Falls the two days before starting our journey.

The first part of the drive, through mostly northeast California, we were practically all alone on the road, but into Nevada at about 20 miles from Reno the road widened and it started to fill with cars. It has been a while since we’ve seen this much traffic, about 6 months to be precise, it was the last time we ventured out of our little city in November when we did this trip the last time.

We are ensconced in our usual Holiday Inn Express for the evening and are watching a decade old 27″ TV without an onscreen guide or even a cheesy little printed and laminated one. We have resorted to scrolling through the channels looking for something to watch.

I stumbled onto the Women’s NCAA basketball tournament and stopped to watch it for a bit. I have absolutely had zero to do with college basketball since I was involved with my former workplace’s March Bracket Madness back in 2018. When did the women start playing 4 ten minute quarters instead of 2 twenty minute halves?

Mmmm…Pizza

Made a quick run downtown and back to pick up our lunch pizza.

4.1 mile drive emulating Uber Eats.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 16

 

Wash Day

Yesterday was tire swap day for the Mini and today was bath day. Even broke out the Tire & Trim Care liquid and shined up the the black trim that runs around around the lower part of the car.

14.0 mile drive running errands and enjoying the springtime.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 15