Wednesday 7th November- Down town Fort Worth

The sun was shining and the sky was blue and the temperature was due to get to around 25 degrees, just a perfect day to go down town and explore the town.

From our Hotel in Arlington we are about fifteen miles away from the main areas according our Sat Nav and this was, as always, quite accurate. So down the Interstate we went dodging the cars and trucks and we arrived just down the road from Sundance square which is the hub of this area.

Noel visited this place about eight years ago on business and thought it was a nice place to visit and it certainly is. There are streets of interesting shops and bars and restaurants but as usual the centre of town was very quiet with traffic as most people were parked up for the day. We found a handy car park and then walked in to a Barnes and Noble Bookshop to look at Texas Maps as we shall spending a little while in this state and it really helps to have a topical and large scale map. Naturally after all this hard effort we needed a coffee and of course Barnes and Noble always have a coffee shop and free Wi-Fi.

Shortly after we left the bookshop we saw in the distance a tourist tram, we thought, and dashed to catch it. It was called the ‘Molly Trolley’ and it was free and it travels around down town for anybody to use, great idea. So we did the complete tour just to see where it went and from there we could the areas we thought most interesting which quite frankly most of it, except the railways station. It was getting too close to lunchtime and we found a Texas BBQ place and had an excellent meal, Noel had the ‘pulled pork’ sandwich with home fries and Jennifer the beef sandwich with baked potato and with unlimited drinks, not booze I may add, of iced tea.

There was an shop where you can purchase your own hand made cowboy hat and this shop has been going for many years and started by a guy with 25 cents after being released from prison in the 1800’s. Lovely old shop but the cost of the handmade hats were about £ 175.00 each, not for me.

We continued walking and came across the John F Kennedy memorial which looked new, but perhaps was not, and also met some ladies from British Colombia who were dressed in a tartan. They were part of a large group of perhaps 3000 people attending a conference by the General Grand Chapter/Order of the Eastern Star, and they likened it to the ‘Masons’.

We then visited the old courthouse which still works today and it is a really a beautiful building located on the highest point in Fort Worth. There is a plaque saying that the guy who approved the project had let the costs overrun quite badly and was subsequently removed. Where have we heard that before and this was in the 1800’s

By now it was getting near 4pm and time to leave after having walked for quite some while and en-route to the car park we noticed some TV trucks and Radio station trucks and decided to ask what was happening and apparently it was the opening night of the ‘Sundance Film Festival’ and the TV crew were waiting to fil the arrival of a well know actor called Billy Bob Thornton. He was not so well known to us so we decided not to wait but chatting to the TV anchor lady and her cameraman was interesting until they suddenly had to cut off to go live on air. 

The car park design was interesting, to say the least, and we could not find the car at first but in the end we did and then did a little shopping and headed home.

When previously reading up about ‘Big Bend National Park’ we suddenly discovered that the busiest time of year is right now and around Thanksgiving and Christmas and the places to stay nearby get full. Whoops. So when we got back we spent half an hour route planning and Hotel Booking and we were lucky but we do not usual book so far ahead to take advantage of room rate price drops.

In the evening we watched the news programmes reviewing the election results after Mr Obama not only won more seats than needed he also won what they call the popular vote. Two days earlier the republicans and some of the TV New channels were singing the glory of Mitt Romney and his side kick Ryan but now they were castigating them for total failure to understand the world as it is. Romney election team raised and spent over TWO BILLION DOLLARS in the run up to the election and after spending all this money they are actually in a worse state than before. Boy I bet the night of the long knives will arrive very quickly.

One TV channel we watched showed quite a few ‘politicians’ sharing their views on Pro-Life in the case of a women that has been raped and left pregnant. Their views were appalling and it was interesting that not one of the these Statesmen? Retained their seat and that includes the potential VP Ryan, that is had the republican won. The TV stations called the Republicans loss a shellacking, whichj no doubt it was. In the UK nobody has and could get hold of this amount of money unless you fiddle your expenses a bit and the amount of money spent is beyond a joke. Many people’s lives could be saved if this cash was put to good use. Governments and Politicians are a joke in my book and are still a total waste of space and money. For a donor to spend multi million pounds there must be something in it for them?

Finally, the result of the Tornado in the North East and now the amazing arrival of early snow and with low temperatures for the million or so people without electricity it is the most awful situation you can imagine. We have now donated twice to the US RED CROSS to help those suffering.

Tomorrow I think will be a quieter and slower day.

Tuesday 5th November To Fort Worth on US Voting day

We left the Hotel around 0900 for our 325 miles drive to a place called Arlington which is snuggled in between Dallas and Fort Worth. The Sat Nav said stay on the US 287 for 220 miles which seemed easy enough and the roads were pretty boring. Miles and Miles of wide open flat space with few trees and the occasional town to pass through. Some of the towns were pretty small and we stopped in one for a cup of coffee and some really excellent doughnuts and perhaps the best we have had for quite some while.
We were getting close to lunchtime at around 1300 and we came across our first road accidents since being which is perhaps not bad really as we have covered over 3000 miles in all sorts of conditions.
Unfortunately there was a horse being towed in an open frame trailer and the car had gone off the road somehow. There was another car facing the wrong way and it must have just happened as there were no police anywhere. We both felt sorry for the horse who was kneeling down in his trailer! and we hope it was not hurt to much. The roads here were quite empty so how two cars on on an almost empty road can hit each is is quite amazing.
We stopped for a picnic lunch in a rest area which was complete with concrete tables and benches covered by roofs and complete with a BBQ. Now who would drive in to the middle of nowhere and stop by the side of the road for a BBQ, oh well this is Texas.
In the last 80 or so miles in to Fort Worth the scenery improved immensely what with rolling green hills and many trees changing their leaves to a golden colour, really beautiful. The last 25 miles were a slight challenge as there were really major road works everywhere with new flyovers, road closures and bollards absolutely everywhere and density of traffic that we had not experienced so far on our trip.Perhaps a little M25'ish at 5.30 on a wet Friday night but all knowing the road and travelling well above the 50 miles per hour speed limit.
We arrived at our Hotel, this time the Sheraton Arlington which is right by the Convention Centre and was another Hotwire special at roughly £ 39.00 plus tax for a Four Star Hotel, that is amazing. However having checked in we noticed that the place is devoid of guests which is no doubt due to lack of any conventions taking place.

We did not fancy eating the Hotel  there was a cafe of sorts which sells Burgers and Pizzas, but not cheap whist the main restaurant you would be lucky to get any change from 125 dollars. So we elected to drive down the road to Whole Foods and ended up by buying a freshly cooked Pizza, had to wait twenty minutes, and then we could eat in their cafeteria area but this was a large 16" pizza for £ 10.00 not bad and there is enough for lunch for two with it tomorrow.
Not sure tomorrow we shall go down town or sit by the pool which amazingly is only 24 inches deep???

Monday 5th November- An interesting day

We awoke at around 0815 and made some tea and sat around until about 08.55 and started thinking that we had better hurry down to the breakfast room before they clear up at 0930. Sitting in the breakfast room Jennifer espied a clock showing the time of 07.55 Wot is dis we asked, is zee clock wrong? but no it would appear that the clocks changed here on Sat night by one hour and we did not know oh well. So after breakfast we returned to the room to consider our options for the next week and do some planning for our visit to Fort Worth and Dallas. This completed we left the Hotel and in the car park was a large van marked 'Mallet Corvette' and as there were people around we went to see what it was. It turned out to be the owners of Mallet Cars in North Charlotte who had just returned form a meeting in Las Vegas and on their way home. They let me in to the trailer so that I could take a photo.
This Chevy Corvette had been somewhat modified and now sports a mere 900 BHP (brake horse power for the uninitiated) and could be considered to be  an extremely fast set of wheels. We chatted to the two brothers who owned the company and also one of their wives for about ten minutes and it was quite interesting. Its a long way from Las Vegas to Charlotte of around 2200 miles, not a bad round trip of around 3.5 to 4 days in each direction.  This company will take a standard car and modify it beyond your expectations.
We then left to visit a RV (recreational Vehicle) store where they have a selection of  historic RVs and it really is great to see such interest in old vehicles which have been immaculately returned to their original state and so well presented. They also sell the new versions as well and although size wise they have no chance in the UK whilst the internal colour is not to the European taste being very dark materials and internal wood which is also to dark, not for us although for the size they are very cheap compared to UK caravan prices.

From there we drove to the famous Amarillo steak house where if you have the appetite you can have Free of Charge, a 72 ounce steak with all the trimming for no charge proving you can eat it within one hour. No chance for us but we each had a small 8 ounce steak and then left taking a few photos of their restaurant and also the Motel/Hotel next door. From here we tried to find what is called the old historic part of town which route 66 still goes though but quite frankly apart from a couple of old shops and various signs mentioning Route 66 (Historic Route) there was nothing to see.
Time to visit the famous Cadillac Ranch where for arts sake the owner had buried the noses of ten Cadillacs in the ground and allows anybody to pay their respects by bringing spray paint to show they had been there. The only other couple there turned out to be from Chichester and were on a Route 66 revival route having started in Los Angeles and were now leaving the route to head South to stay with friends in Austin for three weeks.
Our sightseeing done we did some shopping for food for tonight and tomorrow, filled up the car with fuel and so as to be ready for the off for the long drive to Fort Worth of about 325 miles which hopefully should not take more than seven hours with two of us sharing the driving.

We plan to spend quite a few night in Dallas/Fort Worth enjoying the sights and also putting our feet up by the pool before heading off to San Antonio before returning to Austin for the Formala One GP-Cant wait for this!!!

All Amarillo photos on Phanfare at following link

http://noelgroves.phanfare.com/5797242_6641786

Sunday 4th November- No good reason to stay

Our half a day walk around Dodge City yesterday easily persuaded us to reconsider the third night and the decision was instant, lets go.
So a rather early morning and watched part of the Abu Dhabi F1 Stock car race, it seemed like, and it was jolly exiting but in the end we had to leave but at least I new which channel it would on later as a repeat.
We left Dodge and headed mostly South and went through miles of farming and cattle raising areas, again their were many animals in stockade's so we presume they were being sent off somewhere soon.
We started seeing lots of loose white stuff everywhere which initially we thought it was rubbish blowing of trucks or something but it turned out to be the cotton being grown for miles. We did not know that they grow cotton in Texas but you always learn something.
We looked for somewhere to stop for lunch but the rest stops were pretty horrible and it would not be comfortable to stop and so we pulled in to a small town and found a supermarket and parked in their car park and ate lunch in the car.
There is a lot of poverty in the Southern Kansas states and also in Northern Texas areas with countless people living in RV's and trailer parks often surrounded by discarded vehicles and rubbish. Its such a shame when you think how much money this country used to have and now wasted on pointless wars. It was easy driving and we arrived at our Hotel around pm and by the time we had settled in and discovered that the rerun of the F1 GP was being shown at 4.30 pm, that was it and so now we could watch it from start to finish, minus the bits they cut out and also the bits we missed because of the adverts every ten minutes. On the previous evening we flicked through the 60 odd channels to see what was showing and at least 45 of them were showing adverts and more b adverts. How the American can stand this I don't know.
Following the race we headed of to Alberstons for some food and purchased some chicken and microwavable potatoes and veggies. I asked the till lady whwre the nearest Liquor Stores was and she said down the road on the left and its called United something.So we followed here instructions and eventually found what we though was the correct place only to discover it was another grocery store but when asking again about purchasing wine was told that the state of Texas does not allow the sale of Liquor on a Sunday. At least the Brits have on over them there and also you can wine etc in any supermarket or corner store.
The food was excellent and we started planning tomorrow and what we would see and do.

Saturday 3rd November- Dodge City – a bit of a disappointment really

We had breakfast provided by the Hotel and when passing through the hallway one of the staff mentioned they were having a big ‘event’ at the back of the hotel with the Fire Engine, Police and cook up and as guests we could attend if we wished. So we delayed our departure from the Hotel until about 11.30 thinking by this time, whatever they were doing would be up and running by now, only it wasn't  The girl who had been posted to check tickets was snuggled under a warm blanket but still looked cold which is not surprising as it was around 6 degrees C. There was hardly anybody there apart from the fire crew and hotel staff, perhaps three or four kids playing in the bouncy castle and not more than three or four adults. We talked to the fire and ambulance crew for a while and discussed gun laws, politics and our route. They made a couple of suggestions where to visit but they did not sound too exiting.  So after about half an hour we skipped and went looking for the only other supermarket called Walmart and this is a new facility and quite smart for a Walmart we thought and we looked at their fish counter, only there isn't one just frozen which actually looked better than the previously frozen at Dillons. We decided what we  would by later in the day and then left for down town and as it was now nearly one pm we stopped at burger chain we had not tried before called A&W and it is a little different in that you do not line up fast food style but either sit in your car and order via a microphone or sit inside and press a red button to say you would like to order. There was slight difficulty as their Mexican Spanish was considerably better than mine and so we did not get quite what we wanted but the burgers were really very tasty indeed.

Down town Dodge City is a sad place and perhaps we were out of season but there are many empty shops and most shops seemed to be owned by Mexican and so there were lots of Spanish signs everywhere. We followed the road down to the Boot Hill Museum and took a few photos from the outside but it was empty and we did not see much point in spending cash to look at false shop fronts and so wandered back to car via side streets. We sat in the car and looked at each other and said another day in this town would be too much and so we would start some planning upon return to the Hotel. En route we picked up some bits and pieces from Walmart and then did some investigation on the internet whether to continue east to Wichita or Oklahoma City but then finally decided that Amarillo in Texas sound more interesting and so changed our current Hotelk booking back to two nights and found somewhere via Hotwire in Amarillo at a price of two nights for the price of one here in Dodge City. So tonight we have prawn Caesar Salad and unfortunately there is some ‘Fat Bastard’ Chardonnay left which needs to be finished or it will go off.

So early start tomorrow.

  

Friday 2nd November- More US route 50 please

We left Pueblo around 0900 and headed East on Route 50 with the knowledge that we have 280 miles or so to travel today which is actually not too bad on these roads. I may have mentioned on previous Blogs that the roads in the US are very well built and visit some of the most interesting places in this country and the complete US road structure is excellent.

It is mostly flat with the odd hill and we passed through a number of small towns with names like Rocky Ford, La Junta, Las Animas, Hasty and Lamar.

We stopped in Lamar for a Subway sandwich and then continued East and you could see hundreds of cattle in pens, actually probably thousands really and also many hundreds of sheep were also being penned perhaps getting ready for market?

We also passed through a town called Garden City, which actually sounds quite nice but actually it’s a pretty horrible place and I cannot find anything at all to recommend it except there is route 50 to get you out.

We are staying on the Hampton Inn in Dodge City which is a fairly newish Hotel and decorated in the cowboy style and it is on the outside of town right next to a convention/sport arena and also a state run Casino. We checked in and then had at look at the Casino Restaurant and from there went looking for a decent supermarket and Dillons was thought to be the best and we hoped we could get some decent fish to do in the room microwave but the quality looked terrible and even the Deli takeaway food did not look great and so we decided to head down town to see what restaurants we could find. There were plenty of fast food places but few restaurants and although we checked out an Italian place and then a cheapish steakhouse none of it looked good and so after quick drive down the main road decided to go back to the Casino as the food in these places is generally reasonably priced and of good quality and we were not disappointed.

Garden City down town

We both chose the pork ribs and they were really very good and the price for a couple of glasses of wine, help yourself to soup and salad, and two huge plates of ribs the total was about £ 30 which we thought was excellent value.

Then back to the Hotel for some email and TV watching.

  

Thursday 1st November- River walking and air museum

A breakfast courtesy of the Best Western Hotel which included, for the first time, individually prepared omelettes which we pretty good. A short drive down town through some very old houses which we guess might be at least a little expensive and we arrived by the side of the Pueblo River Walk.

The river walk was created from a need to clear water from the town to stop flooding and they have added gardens and statues, also plenty of places to stop and contemplate and also an outdoor stage where no doubt they hold concerts in the summer season. There is a boat ride, as the who walkway is 1.5 miles out and back the boat ride is quite unnecessary really but there you are. We stopped for a cup of coffee in a nice little coffee house and café where both office people and hippies went to taste what is on offer. They also serve a massive choice of tea using leaves which must be a little unique.

We took route 50 out to the airport and found an atmospheric Diner covered with photos of planes and model planes hanging from the ceiling. The airport was not an over busy place and we had missed the only scheduled flight of the day which had left at 0655 this morning. There did not seem to be a return journey though?

We arrived at the museum which was not overcrowded and were lucky to get a personal tour for about two hours with one of the managers who clearly loved his job and had spent many trips to the UK visiting old US Air Force bases. He was very interesting but the only negative was that he was only interested in what he had to say and not listen to comments from his guests, oh well never mind. We then headed back in to town and visited the Best Buy store for a few bits and pieces and then on to Albertsons for our evening meal. We did look at the microwave ready meals but after one second dismissed them in favour of quite good salads and a chunk of carrot cake. A side trip to the Liquor store for a bottle of their cheapest but finest Chardonnay courtesy of ‘Fat Bastard’ wines of France.

An evening of blogging, sorting photos and generally mucking about. Tomorrow we have about a 300 mile drive east on Route 50 to Dodge City and some cowboys, Jennifer is quite excited and I don’t understand why.

  

Wednesday 31st October- On the road again

One of the many Statues in Colorodao Springs Old Town

Forgot to mention that the pork chops we had yesterday we absolutely fantastic and the best either of us have had for years, Why can’t we get the same in UK

We departed the Hotel and headed to down town Colorado Springs and we walked around the old historic part of town which actually did not take too long in fact it took 40 minutes. We stopped for a coffee and we were interested to see a number of people dressed for Halloween in all sorts of outfits. The main part of the old town has been used for the display of countless statues of various types and shapes but it does add to the scenery very nicely. There were some really old building by US standards still being used and that was nice to see.

Looks like Big Bird

We had thought of stopping for lunch in CS but we had seen all that we wanted and so left in the direction of Pueblo which is our next night stop. We ventured down town and found the visitor information office and the lady there handed out lots of leaflets for tours which had already stopped in September? Well I suppose she only works there and it is perhaps not necessary to know what is being sold.

The old part of town Pueblo is also relatively small but backs up against the rail road museum and we had lunch in a little café and thought we saw a photo of Brian & Sheila Wyeth but after sending them the photo they denied it, but that would have been a miracle if had been them but it really does?

Mum, what are you doing here?

After lunch we walked back through the old part of town which on the main street had salons and nails and hairdressers/Barbers and so Noel decided hw would have his locks shorn. A nice young lade of 20 did the job quite well but during the usual chit chat she mentioned that she was going to vote but when I started questions about the economy/Afghanistan/Iraq/where does your water come from and what industries keep Pueblo ticking over she did not have a clue. What she is voting for, nobody can guess.

It really looks like Brian & Sheila from NZ

We found our Best Western Hotel in a new part of town surrounded by other new hotels and after a quick breather and cool down, it was 24 C outside today we used the pool and hot tub for a while before having our snack meal with a leftover bottle of wine before heading up to watch the political adverts on TV with minor interruption from programming.

Tomorrow we will do the famous river walk, well famous in this town and then visit the aircraft museum out by the airport.

All photos as usual on the Phanfare Blog

Monday 29th and Tuesday 30th- Days of rest

Our Hotel in North Colorado Springs

It is nice to get up and knowing that you don't have to go anywhere unless we think we should do. The plan was to take it easy, go for walks which we did and walked around the large shopping complex across the road which did include a very nice ice cream one day and the next a coffee sitting in the sun where it was so warm we had to seek shade.
This part of Colorado Springs is right next to the US Air force Training Academy and throughout the day single engine aircrafyt are taking off and doing bumps and then off again. In the background people are jumping out of aeroplanes and parachuting back to terra-firma. Its fun to watch and so we did for quite some while.

We have been planning the next few days of our trip now that we have had time to think and we are heading a short way south tomorrow to Pueblo via down town Colorado Springs where we understand there is an historic old town which is worth seeing. We have planned also to visit an Aircraft Museum and a river walk by the Arkansas River. We then head eat on route 50 to cowboy land in the shape of Dodge City where we hope to meet up some gun toting sheriff's... 

The Mall across the street

Tonight, the 30th, we went to the cinema to see a film called ARGO which has Ben Afleck and John Goodman and revolves around a crazy plan to get six American Embassy out of Iran during 1980 at the start of the political issues. The film clearly mentions up front how the dastardly Brits and American got together to put the SHAH in place so that we could get all the oil we needed whilst he made tons of cash, which he eventually brought to USA. Needless to say the Iranian locals did not appreciate the wealth of the Royal Family with poverty everywhere outside of the royal circus and hence the uprising with the request to send the Shah back to Iran no doubt to be shot. The US rejected this request and so relationships went down hill.Its an excellent film and well worth seeing.. 

Some times the American and the Brits what caused the issues in Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq and learn from the Swiss how to stay neutral, don't invade another's country or dictate how foreigners should live. Incidentally every minute of the day the TV is full of advertising by each side of the political agenda for the forthcoming US elections and in one of Romney's adverts they show how the US has fallen down the financial calender and at the top of the list is, wait for it, Switzerland. Perhaps he should watch his own adverts and have a better understanding how you can keep the country rich and the peasants happy.
As I think most politicians are useless and a waste of space I have no opinion who should win the White House as it really doesn't matter as nothing will change anyway irrespective of the hundred's of millions of dollars spent on the adverts where this money could be spent more wisely.
Its is very sad to see the effect of 'SANDY' on the East Coast where it has reeked devastation to an unimaginable level. Lets see if they get this sorted quicker than they did New Orleans

Sunday 28th October- We crossed the Continental Divide on US Route 50

We had a longish drive today and a little uncertain how the weather would be up in the mountains we would pass en-route to Colorado Springs.

We left Montrose and after a while stopped in Gunnison for a cup of coffee before we hit the roads which climb higher and higher and until we passed over Monarch Peak which is 11312 feet high and thankfully it was dry but just a little chill.  

The drive again was quite exhilarating with wide open spaces and then high mountains, canyons, rivers and little towns but clearly they are prepared for the snowy winter with piles of grit everywhere and most houses having either snowmobiles or quad bikes outside. Most vehicles here are 4x4 of the large American style and much bigger than the UK 4x4. These trucks?  always seem to be towing or carrying everything from quad bikes to live cows.

We stopped for lunch in a wayside stop called Lone Pine which was right by The Arkansas River where trout are available,providing you have a fishing rod and licence, and we were surrounded by mountains but nobody else was there except us-creepy.

We continued on route 50 which is known as the loneliest road in America, on our first US road trip in 2006 we did quite some mileage on this route and now we plan to do some more down to Dodge City, I wonder if the cowboys are still there?

We arrived in North Colorado Springs around 3.30 pm, nope we did not hang about, and checked in to the Homewood Suites where we have a full kitchen whilst the room has a good view over a nearby mall with mountains in the background.

Following check in we found the nearest Alberstons Supermarket and purchased some Tilapia fillets for dinner tonight and then a brief visit to the Liquor store to top up our wine selection which is virtually nil.

The fish and wine were excellent and went down a treat and then we spent the rest of the evening sorting clothes and listening to IPods before hitting the sack.

The next few days are to be ‘down time’ and stay away from the car as much as possible.

Saturday 27th October- Moab to Montrose- what a drive!!

View from the car

A little food shopping and get some fuel for the car and we were on our way to a place called Montrose which is on our route to Colorado Springs which have decided will be our next main stop for three or four days.

The roads from Moab travel through some of the most interesting and beautiful parts of the country and we climbed a mountain called the Dallas Divide after having taken coffee in a little town called Norwood. Not much is going on in Norwood as we had passed several all small towns looking for a cup of coffee but no luck until we happened upon this little place. From the signs everywhere there are many hunters around out to kill anything that moves I guess. 

Hunters welcome

We stopped for lunch overlooking the snow covered mountain at around 9000 feet and the temperature was about 12 degrees C.

We followed the road through its twist and turns and ups and downs until we reached Montrose. We did see a few dead animals en-route mostly deer.

When we arrived in Montrose we found the main sign for the Holiday Inn but the actual name on the Hotel Entrance was different and this was a touch confusing and so we drove round again and then came back to the same place. We asked somebody unloading their car and they confirmed this was the correct Hotel only as Holiday Inn had only recently taken it over they had not changed all the signs, you would have thought that this would be the first thing to do?

Norwood Main Street

We spent a little while looking at the weather condition to decide our next port of call and agreed that it was to be Colorado Springs for three nights andwe will stay in a suite hotel which has a small kitchen so that we can fully prepare our own food and also get round to doing some washing.

We popped round to the Safeway Store right next door and purchased a ready cooked chicken, some microwavable mashed potatoes and broccoli and then headed back to the hotel for our evening meal. The meal was excellent and washed down with a part bottle of Costco Malbec bought earlier in the trip.

It will be a quiet night doing photos as the internet connection speed is very good and so should be able to get completely up to date with everything.

Must have an early morning as we have about 250 miles to go and will attempt a mountain pass of about 10000 feet which might just have a little snow, let us wait and see.

Friday 26th October- Can it get any better?

After the usual breakfast in the room, the Hotel does offer free??Breakfast but it seems they give you a five dollar voucher for use in the Pancake house providing you spend more than ten dollars. So not for us at all.

Our first visit is to the Canyon Lands National Park where we arrived about 0945 and the drive to the main sites of interest is about 22 miles, not small parks these. The mountains and rock formations was truly amazing and we have lots of photos to bore you with. We had to walk to two of the best viewing points, one a simple quarter of a mile with some slope but the second walk took us an hour there and back and it was very rocky and with gravel underfoot and quite steep in places and so a little difficult for the old man whilst the younger wife led the way.

We had a picnic lunch and then went to ‘The Arches’ State Park and we spend about three hours there looking at the arches created out of stone and hewn by the wind and rain.

During both park visits we met some very friendly people which added to the interest. We returned to Moab and checked in to the Ramada across the road from the Best Western who wanted an extra $ 80.00 per night more than we paid during the first night and so we moved across to the Ramada which turned out to be a slightly better hotel.  We had dinner in a bar/restaurant about five minutes’ walk and had a very meal but even in this small town they are suggesting a tip of 20% which seems to me to be quite a lot. Anyway I used a lower amount as I think that this amount of tipping is too much.

Back to the room and upload some photos which are taking an absolute eternity due to the very slow internet speeds. At last check it said it would take eight hours to upload 150 photos.

And so to bed as tomorrow we travel east to a place called Montrose, Colorado where we will then make a decision on out next destination based upon the weather as the snow is beginning to appear and the temperature is dropping and we would like a bit of heat somewhere. We have thought of going to Colorado Springs but the weather outlook there is not great.

Thursday 25th October- What a great journey

Following yesterday’s heavy rain we watched the weather news this morning and it was more promising for today than expected. Our plans are that we go to a place called Moab in Utah and we could via the Interstate or take the much longer country side route which we decided to do. We went south out of Grand Junction and took the side roads the long way round to Moab. The journey was quite hilly and then we came to a place in the middle of nowhere called Gateway where that had a magnificent resort hotel and it should be at $ 400.00 per night. We walked around the site and lashed out on a cup of coffee and the headed of in to the most amazing drive we have done for years. We drove through canyons and over the tops of mountains with the trees in fall colour and this went on for some hours with ever improving views to the point you could not say wow any more  We stopped for lunch overlooking a mini Grand canyon and read about the ‘Hanging Flue’ which sound strange but it is one of the top one hundred places which are under threat. Basically in the 1800’s the gold miners needed water to wash the stones looking for Gold and they built this amazing water way out of wood alongside the cliff face for over thirteen miles. Not much is left today but they have tried to rebuild this amazing piece of work and they unfortunately failed financially as their process was designed for small stones of gold rather than the powder variety and hence they went ‘bottoms’ up’.

An amazing place indeed and well worth the visit. We continued our journey through the mountains via a place called ‘Paradox’ which is quite an unusual name until we arrived in Moab in late afternoon. We are booked in the Best Western which is probably not the best we have been in but it had a big advantage in being cheap. We had found a a well recommended place for Dinner called Desert Bistro and the food was excellent if on the slightly expensive side but really enjoyable. We had a beer prior to dinner in a bar restaurant called Zaq’s which was busy and fund but noisy with the typical 25 televisions playing American football, which to us Brits is a pointless game’ and baseball which our girls school play. With the football they play for ten seconds and think about it for four or five minutes, then change all the players and start again and the game goes on for ever and ever.

And then back to the Hotel where the Wi-Fi internet if off and on at the moment so perhaps we can hope its back on later.

Tomorrow we plan two National Parks, and then dinner in  a Pizza place or similar.