Day Nine Sunday, May 22 Granby, Colorado to Moab, Utah

We enjoyed breakfast with the Stahls and were on the road by 8:00.  We really appreciated their warm hospitality.  Jerry had mentioned a scenic route which would take us along the Colorado River and would reconnect with I-70.  This involved heading west on 40 to Kremmling, then southwest on Grand County 1 to State Bridge, then south to I-70.  This involved about 26 miles on a dirt & gravel road and afforded great views of the Colorado River and snow-capped mountains.  We spotted antelope and were very thankful to have taken the “road less traveled”.

Our route continued west on I 70 through the Glenwood Canyon and all the great sites along the way to our lunch stop in Palisade.  Here we exited the interstate and took Route 6 to Grand Junction.  From here, we accessed the Colorado National Monument.  This was another suggestion that we were glad we pursued.  The cliff-side drive along free standing rock formations, mesas, and the distant vistas provided amazing overlooks.  We spotted golden eagles soaring through the Ute Canyon.  We were able to use our National Park Pass and we were thankful photography has gone digital, because we would have burned through a few rolls of film in the old days…

Exiting the park, we turned west and in a matter of 20 minutes we entered Utah.  The topography of large rock mesas gave way to more wide-open skies for a while as we headed south on Utah 128.  We picked up the Colorado River again, (our travel companion all day long) and returned to an area of bright red rock mountains and mesas.  We turned up a road prior to Moab and checked into the Castle Valley Inn.  This Bed & Breakfast is snuggled right up to some of the most beautiful country we have seen.  After we were situated, we went to dinner at the Red Cliff Ranch, site of many western movies including “Rio Grande” with John Wayne and “Wagon Wheel”.  The cliffs opposite the ranch and the adjacent Colorado River was the famous last scene of “Thelma and Louise”.   We had a great view from our table as seen below.   

After dinner we toured the museum of famous movies shot in the Moab area.  Afterward, we returned to the Inn and Teare researched area sites while I caught you up on the day’s events.  Thanks for visiting the blog and we hope you are enjoying the trip!