Early start – meet at the diner across the street at 6! Gary, Julie and I had breakfast – I had French Toast with sunny side up eggs and a slab of ham. The FT was edible, the Ham and Eggs were great.

We got on the road before 7, and I must say that driving next to the Colorado River through a canyon is just incredible. This is my second time, and it was great. This drive along the Colorado is just fantastic.

And for the entire rest of the day we had scenic views that are second to none.

We stopped for lunch at Fiesta Jalisco (#14) in Craig CO. I had a Shredded Beef Taco Salad. It was huge and really good. Everyone had huge servings, especially Gary who had a HUGE chimichanga.

The next agenda item is the Snowy Mountains in Wyoming. The trick here is you have to travel west before turning east to go through the scenic traverse. We did it. And the Snowy Mountains are just as impressive as ever. Julie took a few pictures, and I may add one or two later.

About 11 hours after we left Moab we got into Cheyenne and found our AirBnB. It’s a nice house, very clean, has everything we need.

We got ourselves sorta setup, had some wine and stuff, and went out to look for dinner. Now I’ve gotta say, after the huge lunch ( and the big breakfast) I really shouldn’t have had much to eat, but of course, well, here’s the tale.

We found a restaurant in town call The Albany. Perhaps we were a little late – it was after eight – but we had good meals and service and I’d go back there. I had fish and chips. Actually, Julie and I shared a Fish and Chips. And that was plenty, I should have stopped there. But, as luck would have it, Julie spotted Bread Pudding on a bulletin board as we came in, so I had to try it. And it was good and I ate the whole thing. I am stuffed.

And that was essentially it. We got ‘home’ around 10, too late to start Close Encounters. So we just chatted a bit and gradually faded out.

It was a long day in the car. Food was great. The scenic beauty is breathtaking. It’s a hell of a trip.

Goodnight

Let me say right here at the outset that I’m writing this after a very nice meal and evening with Gary and Jane (and Julie of course), so there is no telling what may be coming next.

This morning we were up at 5 to get everything loaded and ready for the trip. And we did that rather smoothly I think, largely because we spent a lot of time in preparation for this trip.

We said goodbyes, got hugs and kisses and were on the road to Gary and Jane just about on time. We arrived right at the stroke of 7.

Gary designate me as initial leader, and I lead over to Tatum, up to Cactus and over to I-17. That trip was unusual in that I’ve used Cactus several times recently and traffic signals never seemed to be a problem. But this time there were three instances where lights changed at a time when I could not stop but Gary had to. Just incredible.

Traffic was in general light to moderate. The trip to Flagstaff was very routine – we stopped once for a pit stop and Julie and I changed seats. The next stop was after I-40 through Flag and we gassed up. Then on to the Cameron Trading Post for Navajo Tacos! Julie and I shared one, and it was great as always.

I drove again after that. I’ll not try to describe the route in detail, but we went northeast towards 4 corners but turned north and into Utah and on to Moab where we are staying for the night. The trip was very scenic. There was only one delay for road construction, and otherwise it was pretty clear sailing.

In Moab we checked into the Motel (Moab Hotel!!!) and got settled in. It had been 9 hours since we left Jane and Gary’s and we were all pretty exhausted. After a little while, mostly discussing where we might eat dinner and breakfast tomorrow, we decided on a Thai restaurant.

We walked over – about 3 blocks, or 1/4 of a mile maybe. And our meals were great, the service was great, and Gary bought! (My turn tomorrow night)

On the way home we took a short walk along a stream/river walk that goes through town. Julie didn’t do this one. It’s a nice thought, and a nice effort, but it needs a lot of work – cleanup and such – to be a pleasant experience.

Julie had headed back to the room, but we stopped at the cafe across the street for ice cream. And the ice cream was great. I had a big waffle cone of a Pralines and Cream sort of flavor. Yummy.

Then back to the room, and it didn’t take long to decide that it was bedtime. We plan to have breakfast at 6am in preparation for an early start tomorrow.

This was a great day. A long and tiring drive, but great scenery and just a good time all around.

Goodnight

I’ve spent some time today getting this journal set up, and I hope that now it is all set up correctly for use on the trip. The next entry should be just a few days from now when we are finally on the road.

I added this picture just to add a picture. It includes my two favorite girls. Sample edit.