Natural Bridges National Monument

June 28, 2002

We were lucky enough to nab one of the last available camp sites of the total of 13 that exist in the park. It was a good spot, though and the bridges were impressive. They are created by meanders in water courses much the way the Mississipi carves it way through mud and dirt. Over the eons, these "bridges" were left standing when the water worked against the rock form both sides. Eventually there was no more rock, the meander was short cut and the water flowed under the bridges. Try this link Natural Bridges if you want to know more.

Our camp site; Kachina Bridge (you have to look close).

Views of the Owachoma Bridge.

Lake Powell

Heading Northwest through Utah on Route 95, we passed over the upper reaches of Lake Powell. We stopped at an overlook to check out the Hite Marina, which is somewhere in the photo below. There used to be a town called Hite but it's under water now. We viewed Hite from a great height. Don't you just hite puns?

Hite from great height.

Capitol Reef National Park

Next stop was capital Reef where we made a cameo appearance the the petroglyphs and a few other stops along Route 24. We were thinking of trying to get back to San Diego on Monday and this was Saturday already, so we didn't dally long.

There was a very nice shady walkway along the petroglyph cliff. The little petroglyph guy in the center of the photo on the right is used as the logo for the park.

The Fruita School house on the left was in use until 1941. On the right is a view of Cathedral Rock over the Visitor Center.

Fishlake National Forest

June 29, 2002

We stopped for the night at Mackinaw Campground in Fishlake National Forest. It was a very nice facility and the first National Forest campground that we've stayed in that had hot showers!

Our camp spot.

We eat well when we camp. On the left are our lamb chops smoking on the barbie. In the middle is the evening's wine selection and on the right is our dining table.

Getting Almost Home

After leaving Fishlake we headed straight to I-70 west and then south on I-15. Our plan was to try to find a Sunday night special rate for a room in Las Vegas and then drive home to San Diego on Monday.

This is what the road looks like. I think this was taken heading west on I-70 in Utah.

As we get closer to home, we're less careful about putting stuff away. This is what the van looks like after two weeks of hard travelling.

Alas! About 8 miles north of Cedar City, Utah, the tread flew off our passenger side rear tire! Lorri was driving and expertly pulled off to the shoulder. The tire still had air in it but most of the tread was lying back on the highway after it beat the heck out of the side of the van and the tail pipe.

Fortunately we had a second spare, the factory spare stored underneath the back of the van. I figured no big deal, I'll just pop it up on the high-lift jack, throw on the spare and then buy a couple new tires in Cedar City. Well, once I got the right tire off the ground, the van started slipping sideways! This was not a good thing. I put the old tire back on before the van tipped over on me and watched as the jack slowly settled into the asphalt at an angle against the rear door that made it impossible to jack it up or down. I'm thinking of stating a clinic on how not to change tires. We were stuck! I was on hold with AAA when a kindly Highway Patrolman showed up and called the local AAA tow service for us. They lifted the whole back of the van with the hydraulic lift on the back of their truck and we put on the factory spare and limped into Cedar City.

Here is the culprit.

We finally got into Las Vegas a few hours later than planned, found a great room (and rate) at Rio and spent a fun evening there. On Monday we reached San Diego, with a stop in beautiful Barstow for gas and lunch.

The End