We all took a few steps up the mountain, to get another 10 ft in for 12000' total...
Before we left the airport, I made sure they opened any shampoo/sunscreen bottles first, before heading into the mountains, as multiple prior visitors had fallen victim to the air pressure bursting the caps off of lotions, and getting on clothes. This time the traffic was terrible heading into the mountains on rt 70. After eating packed sandwiches I had brought along for lunch in Georgetown, I took them up Loveland Pass, over the Continental Divide, following the same path as Nick and I did two months ago.
We all took a few steps up the mountain, to get another 10 ft in for 12000' total...
It was a pleasant ~70 degrees up here in the mountains.
We drove to through the mountains, across the state, and it's hard not to get excited seeing such pretty mountains, even in the heat of the summer, when only small patches of white remain on the peaks.
After stopping in Grand Junction for gas, church, and dinner (at Old Chicago), we got rained on as we left town. But on the plus side, we saw rainbow #1 of our trip.
When I saw this brilliant rainbow, I took the first side road, and stopped for a pic...
Right before getting back on the highway, I took this pic. It was unique to see the sandstone hills through the end of the rainbow...
The skies were still cloudy on our drive to the border, and the sun was low as we arrived at the state line.
Utah is still relishing in the 2002 Winter Olympic fame, according to the welcome sign...
A pic from the border, with silloutes of gentle "Utahian" ranges...
We took the scenic road to Moab, along the Colorado River, through the canyon, but it was getting dark fast due to the thick clouds and sunset, so we didn't get the best views, but planned to see it on the way back.
Got to the hotel "La Quinta" by 10:00. Nice setup there. We planned to get up early and be the 1st ones to the 7am breakfast, and head to Arches in the morning.
Back to Utah Main page