SLC or Bust Day 1 reflections

On October 1st we pulled out of Los Lunas headed towards Salt Lake City. Our plan was to stop in Green River for the night then go on from there. As always Philip forgets 20,000 things so we didn't get out of Los Lunas until about 12:30pm. Oh well half an hour late is not so bad.

US Highway 6 from Los Lunas to Interstate 40 is only 2 lanes but is a fairly nice road. Set your speed at about 60mph and you really don't have much breaking to do. The drive along I-40 to Gallup was very uneventful and even the construction wasn't too bad. The contrast as you go along I-40 in New Mexico is awe inspiring. We stoped at the McDonalds in Gallup for a quick pit stop and a bite to eat while we where on the road.

From Gallup to Shiprock is quite the adventures route. The construction (re-paving) has the road pretty tore up north of Tohatchi. I'd use lots of caution! Again you will run into construction as they are adding more lanes south of Shiprock. I wish they would do this ALL the way to Gallup! The second set of construction isn't quite as bad though you must be careful for trucks coming on to the highway.

Shiprock became quite an adventure. I had heard that it was the fastest growing city on the Navajo reservation and one of the 5 fastest growing in New Mexico. Forty minutes in traffic waiting to turn to Cortez, I beleive it! Shiprock is a lot different than when I lived there as a kid or Philip played football there 20 some years ago.

Once we got out of Shiprock it was a pretty clean shot to Cortez for our first fuel break. We decided on stoping at the Maverick station that is on the north end of town on the highway. While it was jam packed we where in and out pretty easy. There where a few stations in town that where cheaper but only a penny or so. Cortez is a nice place to stop off if you need to and the gateway to Mesa Verde ruins and a lot of other cool places.

The road between Cortez and Green River is a very intresting drive. From the furtile farm fields around Montecellio, Utah to the high desert and archways between Montecellio and Moab, it assures you there must be a higher power. Out of Moab you start into what I think is one of the ugliest deserts in North America. Now I'm not talking the Canyonlands or Arches parks. Just the desert along the highway. I'll write more on Moab in another article.

We finally pulled into Green River just before 8pm at night. Like the poor folk we are we had decided to stay at the Rodeway Inn. Don't! Simple enough, the room was old and decrepate, smelled and was filthy! Sure other than that it had a roof over our head. We ate at the West Winds Restraunt next door the food was edible and that's about it. Though Philip is having issues with them because they mischarged his credit card almost $8.00. I'd stick with somewhere else to eat!

I'll cover Day two in a few hours. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Pollie Williams