Today it felt like we were slipping into the inevitable "get home" mode, as we concentrated more on making distance than seeing the sights. We had a discussion in the car about how ten days of travelling have taken their toll -- perhaps too much stimulation? Getting back into the daily grind now seems quite appealing. Isn't that weird?

We started the drive from Ogden, taking us southward through the Salt Lake City metro area. The freeway was very congested, but the kicker is that it was full of gravel trucks driving at 80+ mph with gravel flying all over the highway. No doubt that there are many projects going on as Salt Lake City tries to get ready for the 2004 Olympics. However as we passed the 60 mile mark on the odometer and still were going through a congested suburban area, it seemed like Salt Lake City had finally pushed the envelope of urban sprawl.

We gradually got away from the aggressive traffic as we departed southeast out of Provo. It was already a hot morning with the noon temperature at 94. Fortunately we were climbing into some rocky mountains.

The drive was pretty uneventful as we gradually made it along a winding road about 75 miles to Price, and then another 50 miles to Green River, a town on a flat sagebrush desert out in the middle of nowhere. We then turned south towards Moab and The Windows National Park. The traffic was quite congested but cleared up as we left Moab, which Shannon said was a pretty town.

It remained uneventful as we headed another 30 miles to Monticello, and then turned east towards Colorado, gradually catching up to a high-based thunderstorm that began raining on us around Dove Creek (where lightning hit nearby) and again near Cortez, which was quite congested and was where we got lunch.

About 10 miles east of Cortez we suddenly saw a large adobe wall with the words "REPTILE RESERVE". It didn't take Shannon long to pull in so we could check it out. There wasn't much to see and it was $4 per person, but the display mostly consisted of a large outdoor pit filled with 83 snakes, mostly diamondback rattlesnakes. They were active, too! The enthusiastic snake handler said that we were lucky -- the snakes usually hid under rocks during the day, but thanks to the clouds from the storms they were out in full force.

After spending about 20 minutes checking things out, we hit the road again. Another 30 miles brought a sudden change in landscape as things turned green. And then we saw tons of polished SUV's, new cars, and suburban estates as we neared Durango. The town was also full of aggressive drivers in a hurry. What is it with that about Colorado?

Another 30 miles brought us to Pagosa Springs, and then we headed southeast along a winding road that was fairly devoid of traffic. We kept pushing on into New Mexico, where I switched and drove a stretch. Eventually at dusk we made it to Espanola, and then into Santa Fe where we got into our motel room around 9:45 pm.

Miles travelled: 650

Likes: