Saturday, August 12, 2006
Day 11 - Virgin, UT (Thursday)
We're on the road by 7:15am, having showered and packed up the night before. As we leave the Colorado area we see mostly the same scenery, high mountains dotted with evergreens. Near Vail the elevated highway follows the winding Colorado River through the high cliffs of the Rocky Mountains. We talk about the pioneers and how difficult crossing the Rockies must have been. Sam tells us that the pioneers would lose wagons to "stumping"; when they sent their wagons down the steep mountains the wagons would sometimes hit a stump and split apart. They learned quickly to send the wagons down empty.
Eventually we move into Utah and this is the most desolate area we've seen yet. And that's saying something. The earth is barren; only a few small shrubs inhabit the ground, there is no grass, and there are rarely exits off the highway. A lone small fence and a solitary row of telephone wires on poles are our only company alongside the highway. Once or twice we see a collapsed barn or the hulk of an abandoned car off in the distance. A crow is sometimes perched on an infrequent exit sign which reads "Ranch Exit" like all the rest. I drive for five hours straight and that is all I see. Gradually the road starts climbing up and down and then the grade gets so steep for so long that the cruise control cuts out; the truck can't get over 45 miles per hour. I've never seen an engine give out like that before. There are semis that drive in the slow lane with their lights flashing; I don't think they're going over 30 mph. I time one of the grades; I'm going uphill steadily for 5 solid minutes at 45 mph. (I'm not going to do the math but I'm sure my geeky friends will do it. You know who you are.) At one point I see a sign that says "Exiting Fishland National Park"; several miles later another signs informs me that I am "Entering Fishland National Park". Go figure.
As we cross the desert the land is completely flat and stretches to distant cliffs. There is one giant cloud that squats over a cliff ahead of us; after a few hours we begin to near the cliff, and as we ascend we begin to see raindrops on the windshield. We've been looking at this rain cloud for hours; around here you can see the weather so far away. At home that cloud would have been a day of rain and we'd never know that fifty miles away the sun is shining.
Finally finally finally we near Zion National Park. We begin to see signs of life; small farms, cattle, houses, businesses. We'd hoped to stop for dinner but don't see anything besides a highway sign that reads "Hunan Palace 9 m." in the wrong direction. We've driven for eleven hours and only stopped for gas twice and when I step out of the RV I feel like I'm still moving; it's the same feeling you get when you step off a boat after sailing for a long time. Happily this RV park is fully loaded; it has a restaurant, grocery store, pool room, table tennis, swimming pool, spa, and even offers massage. We are set up in five minutes and head to the restaurant for dinner; Mike and I are too fried to cook. The "restaurant" turns out to be one long-haired bushy-bearded man at a take-out window who wildly underestimates how long it will take him to make us dinner but he eventually finishes and it's good.
Eventually we move into Utah and this is the most desolate area we've seen yet. And that's saying something. The earth is barren; only a few small shrubs inhabit the ground, there is no grass, and there are rarely exits off the highway. A lone small fence and a solitary row of telephone wires on poles are our only company alongside the highway. Once or twice we see a collapsed barn or the hulk of an abandoned car off in the distance. A crow is sometimes perched on an infrequent exit sign which reads "Ranch Exit" like all the rest. I drive for five hours straight and that is all I see. Gradually the road starts climbing up and down and then the grade gets so steep for so long that the cruise control cuts out; the truck can't get over 45 miles per hour. I've never seen an engine give out like that before. There are semis that drive in the slow lane with their lights flashing; I don't think they're going over 30 mph. I time one of the grades; I'm going uphill steadily for 5 solid minutes at 45 mph. (I'm not going to do the math but I'm sure my geeky friends will do it. You know who you are.) At one point I see a sign that says "Exiting Fishland National Park"; several miles later another signs informs me that I am "Entering Fishland National Park". Go figure.
As we cross the desert the land is completely flat and stretches to distant cliffs. There is one giant cloud that squats over a cliff ahead of us; after a few hours we begin to near the cliff, and as we ascend we begin to see raindrops on the windshield. We've been looking at this rain cloud for hours; around here you can see the weather so far away. At home that cloud would have been a day of rain and we'd never know that fifty miles away the sun is shining.
Finally finally finally we near Zion National Park. We begin to see signs of life; small farms, cattle, houses, businesses. We'd hoped to stop for dinner but don't see anything besides a highway sign that reads "Hunan Palace 9 m." in the wrong direction. We've driven for eleven hours and only stopped for gas twice and when I step out of the RV I feel like I'm still moving; it's the same feeling you get when you step off a boat after sailing for a long time. Happily this RV park is fully loaded; it has a restaurant, grocery store, pool room, table tennis, swimming pool, spa, and even offers massage. We are set up in five minutes and head to the restaurant for dinner; Mike and I are too fried to cook. The "restaurant" turns out to be one long-haired bushy-bearded man at a take-out window who wildly underestimates how long it will take him to make us dinner but he eventually finishes and it's good.
