Thursday, July 17

What a difference a day can make....

We woke up to sunny skies and crisp mountain air, (Lester even wore a sweater to start the day) and ended up at Arches National Park in Moab, UT where the temperature hit 100 degrees.  Seriously, 100 degrees.  And the transition from one ecosystem to the next was amazing. 

We had a light breakfast in "downtown" Crested Butte then wandered the streets to take some pictures and explore a bit. It is a funky little town...

Crested Butte was an old mining town and all the buildings have a plaque identifying their original use.

I love the colors this house is painted.  Do you think it would fly in Chester County?

 Of course we took pictures of some of the sillier sights as well....

Any idea what this is for?  Perhaps transportation at Burning Man? There's 3 seats with bicycle pedals which turn the front wheels and, via a chain, the back wheels as well.

One of the stickers on the snowboard is from Firestone Walker brewery, a Lester fave! And the drink holder on the arm is two ski bindings, appropriately spaced.

A last parting view of Crested Butte

This is one of three marijuana dispensaries in Crested Butte (pop 1503), and the nicest of the three. I'm just sayin'.

Our next stop was the Visitor's Center seeking information on where the wild flowers could be found.  We were told given our plans the best course of action would be to take the Kebler Pass towards Grand Junction.  The catch.... it is 30 miles of dirt road.  But, we were told that we would see lots of wild flowers and it was the fastest way to get to Utah.  So, fingers crossed, off we went.

It was a beautiful drive.  And, the wild flowers were lovely. But it was the miles and miles of birch forest that we found most spectacular.

It was fascinating to watch the changes as we descended the mountain.  As you may recall we were at 9300 feet last night. When we started down the mountain we were pretty much at the tree line, then we were surrounded by soft pine forests, then suddenly we happened onto the birch forests.  Lastly we reached the grazing grasslands. If we were better botanists we could tell you what altitude we were at with each change. And, I'm sure someone can tell us that.  We just enjoyed watching the transition.

In Grand Junction, CO we stopped at a McDonalds to siphon off their Wi-fi and make a hotel reservation in Moab.  We are finding that Hotwire and Hotels Tonight don't have much to offer in less densely populated areas.  So, taking a break from driving and using the internet to identify a hotel seemed like a good idea. We found a very reasonable hotel then hopped back on the road and headed for Arches National Park. 

The visual feast continues.  The red, anthropomorphic rock formations are incredible.  They are more familiar than the Badlands so they didn't feel as otherworldly.  It was a nice introduction to the kind of sights we expect to be seeing for the next several days in National Parks throughout Utah.

I saw this set of rocks and immediately thought of the three wisemen.  The park has actually named it the three gossips. 

Like something out of a an old western movie.

Sorry Garden of the Gods, we were more impressed with the Arches "Balanced Rock".

Just a reminder, the next several days we are in the desert. I just thought the footprints were kinda cool. 

Just one set of over 2000 arches found in the park. Look how big the arches are relative to the size of the people below.

We ended the day with some domestic activities, barnstormers still need to remember that the outside world will be waiting. We went grocery shopping, found a really nice local session IPA, then washed the mud off the car and paid a bill or two. Another interesting and eventful day has ended.  We are settled in for the night and planning our activities for tomorrow.

A&L