From the desert to the mountains

By Saturday morning we had had enough of Las Vegas traffic and noise and left for quieter parts of Nevada. We were on I-15 heading east with all the trucks, but making good time. Mesquite is one of the last places to gamble in Nevada, but we decided to eat instead! We had lunch at the buffet in the Virgin River Casino. That was a great value for the price of $9.

We were in Arizona for a short time before entering Utah. Don pointed out that this little corner of Arizona was really cut off from the rest of the state by the Grand Canyon. The scenery was so beautiful that we decided to stop early and camped at the Virgin River Canyon Recreation Area just before St. George UT. We had a lovely hike almost down to the river, but it was too steep and rocky for me!

The next day, October 5, was Sunday and we found out that the Mormons really do honor the Sabbath. Most stores were closed and we had a hard time finding a place to eat in St. George. But it was all compensated for by the gorgeous drive we had. This whole part of the country, with all of the National Parks, and interesting geology is something that everyone should visit. We have driven this route and seen most of the parks, so we just enjoyed looking at it all as we drove through. The Virgin River Gorge is particularly spectacular. We passed the back entrance to Zion National Park and Don noted that the Virgin River flows out of this park.

The early settlers tried to farm this land, but I think they found better luck in mining and ranching. We saw lots of cattle and scrubby vegetation. It must have rained recently because the road shoulders were covered with yellow wild flowers and the landscape was quite green.

We left I-15 briefly at Cedar City, which is on the way to Cedar Breaks National Park. We rejoined the Interstate at Beaver UT where we often stop to buy cheese. However, the store was closed on Sunday. We turned east on I-70 and spent Sunday night in Richfield UT. The only thing to note in this town was the lack of WiFi. Even the trusty McDonalds had a lousy connection! Maybe it was only because it was Sunday.

On Monday we decided to head for Denver. We wanted to get through the mountains while the weather was still good. It was another day of spectacular driving. We stopped in Green River UT to buy melons. It is on the Green River which meets the Colorado River in Canyonlands National Park – one of our favorite parks.

The rest of the day was spent driving through Colorado. The trees are turning, so the hills were covered in yellow. We also saw some snow, especially as we drove over Vail Pass at 10,000 feet. Colorado advertises itself as the “Color State” and it certainly is. Not only the colorful vegetation, but all the different colors in the rock formations, makes it live up to this name. We got into Denver about 6:30. We were ready for a fast food dinner and sleep in another Wal-Mart parking lot.