On our usual road trips, two nights in the same hotel is luxury – it means we get a ‘free’ morning due to not having to pack, load the bike, plan the route etc. Today, we were back on the road. The boy worked out in the hotel gym, then we did the whole packing/loading routine, checked out the hotel, and hopped on the bike. We rode all of 2 blocks to the Moab Diner, where we promptly halted and went in for breakfast.
Lena and I ate here a few years ago on one of our trips, and the diner was excellent, so Ben and I retuned to the scene of the crime. We were not disappointed.
Duly fueled for the day, we saddled up (for real, this time), and hit the open road. We left Moab on a southbound trajectory, following the highway for about 20 miles, where we turned left towards Naturita. We were heading towards the La Sal mountains for a bit, and they are still snow-covered. It got quite chilly, and we stopped by the roadside to add layers and change to the warmer gloves.
The road itself was pretty, and we dropped into a lovely canyon, with some tight, twisty bends keeping things exciting. The canyon was lush and very green. We crossed the state line back into Colorado, and were happy to be back in our home state.
The Canyon opened up into a very broad, flat valley – called Paradox Valley. Paradoxically, I couldn’t remember why it was called that! I just googled, and the paradox is that the local river (called Dolores), bisects the valley instead of running along the floor for the length of it. The valley is 3-5 miles wide, and about 25 miles long. After the pretty descent, traveling the length of the valley is boring.
At the end of the valley, one intersects State Highway 141, and we joined this thoroughfare, heading north towards Gateway. The road follows the river (East and West Creek) through the Tabeguache canyon, another beautiful and breathtaking natural feature of this wondrous land. There is an almost imperceptible divide in the canyon, with the east creek flowing one way, and the west the other. Apparently it is unique in the world for this feature of one single canyon with 2 opposing outflows.
Anyway, science aside, the beauty and road were both incredible, and we ate up the morning miles in relative warmth and suitable awe. We reached the far northern end of the canyon at Gateway, where we stopped at a gas station cum country store to a rest, to gas up the bike, and to have some of dads famous homemade biltong for a lunchtime snack. We passed a pleasant hour, then took off again. We rode for an hour or so til we got to Grand Junction once more. Here, we rejoined Interstate 70, this time eastbound.
An hour and a bit of motorway travel brought us to Glenwood Springs, our destination and final night of our brief tour. There is a huge spring pool next to our hotel, so we dutifully went and lowered ourselves into the waters. The temperature of the water was about 104f/40c, and was just the thing for our bodies that had spent 3 days on the road. We soaked for an hour, and once cooked we showered, donned our best evening wear, and headed into town.
We crossed the pedestrian bridge over the Colorado river, and landed at a cute street full of restaurants on both sides. We chose wise – the Colorado Ranch House, and were treated to an excellent meal. A shared stater of grilled asparagus and caprese salad, followed by a smoked half chicken each, and we finally forced ourselves to have a pudding. I had apple crumble pie, and B had the raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake. Both of these were divine.
We staggered around the lovely little town to try and walk off the meal, then headed back across the rolling river to our hotel, where we caught up on emails, blogged, and went to sleep.
Tomorrow is the final leg, and while this has been a wonderful journey – and a privilege as always to spend some time on the road with Mr B – I am looking forward to being back home with my cats and dogs and (mostly) lovely wife. We are planning a slow start – likely we will boil ourselves in the hot spring one more before we mount up for the final ride of this series. Anyway – thanks for riding along with us. I will provide a final report once we get home.