The plan today was to get up early and hit the road so we could minimize the amount of time we spend riding in the very high heat in the Southwest. After quickly getting ready, we were out the door a little after 6:00, which was good for us and allowed D to get a morning bike ride in.
We headed south on the interstate which had very light traffic considering it was Saturday morning and got off on US-6, headed to Southeast Utah. After leaving the interstate, we were in an area full of canyons with lots of elevation changes. The temperatures dropped considerably in the canyons to the point that it actually got somewhat cold. Riding and being part of the scenery in the area with the rising sun was spectacular.
We were generally headed toward Moab, Canyonlands and Arches which was exciting since I had always wanted to ride through this area of Utah. As we headed south and east, some areas were hilly, almost mountainous
There were also several areas which were flat and straight. These areas plus ample passing lanes kept traffic moving very well.
Finally we made it to Moab. The actual town of Moab was messy with other tourists so I was glad we weren't actually stopping. What I found interesting about the Moab area, including the National Parks, was the changes in geography as we were riding through. Some of the areas were sharp cliffs and very jaggedy.
While other areas that were the same color of rock and in areas that weren't terribly far away were very smooth, suggesting much more history to round and erode the rocks.
Overall, the varying geography of Southeast Utah was pretty and amazing.
We had a very good quick lunch at Deb's Diner in Dove Creek, Colorado. The bacon cheeseburger was very tasty. Then, we continued south on US-491. This road used to be US-666, but the name was changed sometime around 10 years ago due to satanic connotations with the number 666 and the fact that the road signs were continually being stolen.
In 2009, we had been in this same general area, but had bypassed the four corners. We were piling on the miles that day and I had recently read a story that the actual point marked by the four corners is off significantly from the monument. How much the monument is off is debatable. The National Geodetic Survey says it is "in exactly the right space," but then goes on to say it is only about a third of a mile off. This document is government bureaucracy covering its ass in a big way. But, we were not in a hurry so decided to stop this time. This was a mistake. The four corners was a significant disappointment. We pulled into the lot, which is organized by the ultimate chaos theory of parking with anybody parking anywhere in any direction in a rough gravel lot. It cost $5/person to get in. Money NOT well spent.
Once in, if one wants to stand in exactly the right spot which is about a third of a mile from where four states meet, one must stand in line for quite some time and wait for every snot-nosed kid scream and get her picture taken.
We chose to quickly walk through four theoretical states which is nearly a third of a mile from where four actual states meet, yet still serves as a celebratory monument despite the fact that the hundreds of GPSs in the parking lot likely all showed the same thing mine did - that the point where four states meet is some ways away.
After our walk and glancing at some of the Native American crafts for sale, we jumped back on the bike and left. We probably spent about a dollar a minute to see the Four Corners Monument, which serves as a reminder of what a pain National Monuments and Parks can be.
Adding insult to injury, I left my metal kickstand plate in the rough parking lot since it sank into the soft sandy gravel. Granted, this was a self-induced insult, but it was irritating that I left it at the Four Corners. (as an aside, I bought a electrical blanking plate to replace it at home depot at the day's stop)
It started to rain briefly as we headed east in New Mexico. It was just a few very large raindrops, but with the days heat assaulting us, a brief downpour would have been nice. The bulk of the rain stayed to the south.
From the Four Corners, we headed into Farmington, New Mexico for the night. Dinner was at The Spare Rib BBQ. There has been a lot of smoked meats this trip, and that can only be a good thing.
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