Catching up since Zion

 Well, it’s been a little bit since I posted.  Weather has been making us homebodies.  Mostly wind that feels like it is going to knock you over. 

From Zion we went to James M. Robb State Park in Fruita, CO.  We were going to go to the Grand Canyon, but the temperatures were going to be too low, 18 at night and only in the 30s during the day.  That’s why we have wheels, we can change course.

In Fruita the main thing we did was go to the Colorado National Monument.  Took a mile walk to get the lay of the land.  We were going to do a longer hike the next day, but the wind was not our friend.  Enjoy the scenery.

This one looks like a man wearing a hat and scarf over his mouth.  The nose is quite prominent

Our next stop was Albuquerque, NM.  The winds here were pretty consistent at 20-30 miles an hour with gusts over 40.  One day it was so windy you mostly just saw dust.  Petroglyph National Monument was in this area and we went to the visitor center.  However, due to the winds we did not do any hikes.  We did learn that this is the largest petroglyph site in North America with over 24,000 petroglyphs.  Will definitely be a place to go to when the weather is more cooperative.  They did have a display about The Horno at the monument.  Here is a picture.  It was used to bake bread, roast corn and vegetables, to cook and to fire pottery.

We are now on the trek back to NJ for the Bridal Shower so the next two stops, 3 full days driving, were Harvest Hosts to get some miles behind us.  The first was a burger place that had live music.  It was an enjoyable break from the road.  We also passed by Cadillac Ranch and checked it out.  This is “art” in the middle of a field.  It was originally supposed to just be the cadillacs and showing off their fins.  However, people started spraying graffiti on them and taking parts of the cars.  The owners embraced the painting and now it is part of the experience.  They say if you paint a part of a car, take a picture because it probably won’t last the day.

This one and the one below show the layers and thickness of the paint

The second Harvest Host was a brewery.  Dave enjoyed the beer, I enjoyed the cider.  

We got to Buffalo National River in Arkansas yesterday.  We are taking a two day break here and going to do at least one hike.

Til next time…