Go West 2018 Final Chapter

It’s time to head back home – but how do we get out of this cluster of carved canyons?  Without going backwards - up and around the way we came in, the best way was to head south to Arizona before we could head east.  That path led us thru the Glen Canyon

National Park.  Driving thru the desert that early morning, we experienced the mirage of a lake in the middle of that tan & gray pile of sand and rocks!  Lake Powell is said to be one of the most beautiful lakes in the world and is one of the largest man made lakes in North America.  We found the sprawling marina sitting high on the hill over looking the valley of blue that was dotted with a

plethora of quietly moored houseboats and fancy yachts.  We had passed and had also been passed by 3 semi trucks pulling triple axel trailers, each with a massive houseboat on board.  We waited and watched as, one at a time, all three boats were slowly driven down the long wide road called the boat ramp and ever so painstakingly turned and then carefully backed into the water below.  With that task accomplished we headed off to find that huge cement block that was holding back all that water!  The lake was formed when the Glen Canyon Dam was built in 1963 on the

Colorado River.  It is a replica of the famed Hoover Dam on Lake Mead but is 16 ft shorter.  We were just in time for the first tour of the day.   We rode 10 stories down from the Carl Hayden Visitor Center, and out onto the curved top of the massive cement structure before entering yet another elevator and going further down to see the massive turbines below.

Rt 98 connected to Rt 160 and we followed along till we reached the 4 corners area of Utah/Arizona/New Mexico and Colorado.  We were driving thru an Indian Reservation but chose not to “donate” $5 each to enter their small fenced in area just to take pictures. We pushed on, up thru Cortez, Colorado for the night and then on to Mesa Verde National Park the next morning.  As we climbed that mountain’s crooked road, the full moon was still hanging in the marshmallow sky at

dawn. We found the ancient Pueblo homes still nestled beneath the huge overhanging cliffs.  Years ago we had joined a tour group to tread those walkways and climb the narrow ladders and walk the ledges of the “Cliff Palace” – but no more!   Not these bones!

In Durango we retraced more steps from previous trips! This time we took time to tour the cluttered but impressive Railroad Museum!  We found the hotel where I took a picture of the busy street and the mountain behind that looked as tho it was right in the next block - just like the picture I took way back then!

Remember CW McCall and his hilarious song “Wolf Creek Pass” – about some truckers who had chickens stacked to 13.9 and the tunnel was only 12 ft high? “ Headin’ on down to Pagosa Springs”!  We ate dinner in a lovely restaurant in Pagosa Springs and then headed up the wiggly, winding stretch of road that led thru TWO tunnels and a myriad of hairpin curves – up 10,000 ft closer to

heaven!  The rocks became granite gray and the trees were now mostly erect spruce with a splattering of golden yellow aspens in the mix. Our ears popped and then popped again with each rise and fall of elevation!

The terrain leveled out the farther east we drove.  We took a chance on checking out another National Park before the day was over but wished we had left the Great Sand Dunes National Park for someone else to explore.  The Silver Lake Dunes and the Sleeping Bear National Park in

Michigan put this pile of sand to shame.  H did get to try out his little gray burro on the narrow 2-track road tho before we left the cold and windy park.

With that disappointing stop behind us, we were now ready to really head for home.  Each day of our journey out and back, we made a point to stop and visit at least one park or town per day.  Dodge City and Boot Hill made the list for that day but it was also a let down.  On across Kansas, our chosen road was not an expressway but rural back roads lined with acres of feed lots full of black cattle and endless fields of sweet smelling fresh cut green hay or tasseled fields of ripening sorghum.  On the way out west we tackled all the big cities we encountered, but on our return trip we sidestepped them all!

In Missouri, we chose to stop in Hannibal to see if Mark Twain was at home.

No, he was not and neither was Becky Thatcher but we did stroll thru the restored Mississippi River town!  The ladies in the Visitor Center were most helpful in directing us to each site!  In the

historic area we found Mark’s whitewashed house and his father’s office building next door.  Attached to the house was the famous white fence that Huck allowed his friends to paint for him.  The bucket of whitewash was right where they had left it!  A mile south of town we found Lover’s Leap – a 200-foot high overlook of the majestic Mississippi River with its barges and picturesque paddlewheel boats and the town of Hannibal perched on its shore.

Two more states lay before us so we pressed on with only stopping each night for rest – first was Illinois, then Indiana.   Lunch in Defiance Ohio with dear NCR friends, and we were finally home!