Day 9 – Provo UT to Grand Junction CO – 371 miles

Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/brandonjhuff/CanadaSeptember13

By the numbers:
0 – people out on a Sunday in Utah
1 – rain storm
2 – busted iPods – almost
3000 + - great views of the desert

6am came WAY too early. I was beat and there was no way I was getting coffee at a Mormon Presidents house. So, we went a couple miles down the road to a Texaco for a fresh cup of joe and a chocolate donut. Just what we needed. We head south on Hwy 6 – apparently the most dangerous road in Utah according to locals. Hmm – sounds like a challenge compared to California roads. So, we head south on 6 to 89 south and are pelted with about 40 mph wind. Unfun. We make it past some large windmills and it finally clicks what that large half propeller was a couple days ago. Hmm - I must not be using my brain on this vacation.

The canyon is cold. Much colder than the 65 degree weather in Springville. My summer gloves were a bad idea. A real bad idea and my lack of layers underscores that sentiment. Ooops. We keep rolling south on some gorgeous, unpatrolled roads before I finally wuss out and pull over to get warm in the 40+ degree weather. We pause just long enough for me to look down the road an take stock of the dark clouds and rain that would tease us the rest of the day.

Sure enough, the skies opened up and we got wet but it wasn’t for long. This was good since we were both cold and we dried out quickly. We kept on truckin’ down 89 past town after town. Or shold I say ghost town after ghost town. Sunday in Utah is predictably dead. So dead that we aren’t sure if we can find a restaurant to serve us breakfast. Hmm – maybe we’ll have to wait until Colorado. That’s a long way away. Fortunately, as we go south Utah has fewer Mormon and we find a town full of heathens willing to serve us breakfast. Mom’s café is cute and has all the usual fixins for us. And it’s good – real good. Must be the fresh ingredients.

We head south the hours roll on with nothing special to see. Kinda boring. But we’re freezing so we just want to get the miles over with. We finally hit I-70 and head south to 24. Well, we were *supposed* to head to 24 but it was north on I-70 so I completely screwed that one up. I didn’t realize it until 20 miles down the road when I don’t see the turn off for 24. Oooops. We chat for a minute and decide to keep going on I-70 since we had a long day anyway. Turns out, it was a blessing in disguise. I-70 is the most picturesque interstate in America. It’s stunning. Unreal. Gorgeous. I have to put this road very close to the top of the list for this trip. It’s that good. Go and check it out – it’s worth the drive!

Dodging rain all day, we finally make it to the exit for Moab and quickly head south hoping to avoid more wet stuff. We do…but it gets hot quickly and we strip on the side of the road looking for some relief. None comes as we head into the hotter, and slower moving, section of the road. We head in to Arches to see the sights and make our way to Grand Junction. The heat was worth it - I enjoyed Arches as much, if not more, than Glacier park. I was disappointed that I didn’t actually see the arch stone…bummer. I still don’t know where I was supposed to see it. Can anyone enlighten me??

We head back to I-70 to make our way to Grand Junction and it goes by fast. We hit the state border quickly and about 45 minutes later we’re pulling into the hotel at ~5pm. Nice. I’m beat and we relax a bit, drink a little whiskey, do our laundry and watch Top Gun. Nothing else was on. Don’t judge me! We head to the Mexican place next door and eat a feast for $20 and spend more on margaritas. We go looking for a bar but all we can find is an Applebees. Boo. It’ll do and we have a beer and talk up the cute waitress before calling it a night.