Road Trip from Washington State to Virginia; On the Road Back Home; Days 18 and 19

Craters of the Moon National Monument

We got an early start and crossed the Oregon/Idaho border straightaway as our hotel was only a mile away.  We decided to visit Craters of the Moon National Monument and it was worth the drive.  Craters of the Moon National Monument is an area of several volcanic eruptions that have occurred over the past 16,000 years.  The last eruption was about 2100 years ago, but it looks as though it could have been just a couple of years ago.  It is a small facility with a rather short ring road, but the scenery is second to none, but in a different way.  We spent quite a bit of time there before we drove to Arco, Idaho.

In Arco, we had a nice little lunch at one of only two restaurants we saw.  Pickles Place wasn't fancy by any means, but the food was good and the people were friendly.

Our goal for the evening was driving to Salt Lake City.  Along the way, it started to rain pretty hard. As we were both tired, we decided to stop in Ogden, Utah for the night.

This morning, the rain started hard and was persistent for the first our of our drive.  I drove south on I-15 and there was a good amount of traffic, I guess, due to the holiday weekend.  It seemed everyone in Utah has a pickup truck and was pulling a trailer of one sort or another.

Arches National Park

It took us several hours, but we pulled into Moab, Utah around 1 p.m. We decided to eat at Eddie McStiff's where I had a Jack Daniel's pulled pork sandwich and it was declicious!  Excellent. The day was sunny, the air was dry and the temperature was around 70 degrees F.  Great for eating outside.

After lunch, we drove the short distance to Arches National Park.  I had visited the park in the late 1990s so I knew what to expect.  My traveling buddy had been there as a child but didn't remember much about it.  I was a bit hesitant to visit the park on the Memorial Day weekend Saturday and my fears were borne out.  There was a line of at least 20 cars, trucks and buses waiting to enter.  Luckily, I have a lifetime pass and I was able to deviate to a side road and enter immediately.  That wasn't too bad, however, in the park, the traffic was heavy and at every one of the parking lots, there was almost no place to park.

I had been there previously in October and we had the place to ourselves.  I would recommend not going in the summer on on a holiday weekend, but go.  It is spectacular!

After spending a couple of hours in Arches, shortened by the crowds, we drove on to Grand Junction, Colorado, where we are spending the night.  We almost didn't find a room here as the junior college baseball world series tournament is playing here this weekend.  We ended up in a hotel a bit below what we normally would book, but the place is clean and safe.  That is the most important.

Tomorrow, we head across Colorado.

Thanks for looking.

Dennis Mook

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