This morning, as we entered I-80 headed west out of Salt Lake City, Penelope (our British-accented GPS voice) announced our journey for the day, “Continue 662 miles.”  We did precisely that.

West of Salt Lake City lies the Great Salt Lake.  I-80 passes along the southern end of the Lake, though you can’t see much from the road because it runs almost at the same level as the Lake.  There are a few salt extraction operations from the lake, but there doesn’t appear to be much in the way of pleasure use of the Lake, then again, it is Winter.  Further westward lies the Bonneville Salt Flats home of the Bonneville Speedway where land speed records have been set.  This area of the country is incredibly flat, flatter than Kansas.  You can see for miles in any direction, and though the far off mountains seem close, they are hundreds of miles away.

We stopped for breakfast in Wendover, a town right on the border of Utah and Nevada, which means it is packed with casinos, like all Nevada border towns.  Nevada’s landscape is marked with small mountain ranges, each slightly different from the next.  The freeway runs in the valleys between these mountain ranges, so as we drove from Wendover to Elko to Battle Mountain to Winnemucca, we were constantly looking up at (sometimes snow-covered) mountains from the floor of the desert.

Finally, around 4pm we reached Reno and debated whether to truck onward into California and over the Sierra Nevada mountains.  The weather was against us because of a storm in the area causing rain and snow at higher elevations.  California’s Department of Transportation was requiring chains or snow tires on all vehicles attempting to cross on I-80 and had closed the westbound side to truck traffic.  Despite these conditions, we decided to continue because the weather forecast for the next few days did not look any better and could have been worse.

The drive through Donner Pass was rough and tiring.  Snow was coming down heavy creating whiteout conditions, ice was forming on the windsheild so we had to stop and clear it a few times, speeds were limited to 30 mph, but we were mostly doing less than 20, and we needed to go 40+ miles in order to make it through the Pass.  Thankfully, we did not suffer the fate of the Donner Party.  Instead, just after 6:30pm, we cleared the snowstorm and harsh conditions and were making our way toward and through Sacramento.

Finally, after 12 weary hours of driving, we arrived in Davis, our final destination.

Moab is known for its close proximity to two national parks: Arches and Canyonlands.  Since we were only spending one morning in the area, we decided to go to the smaller of the two parks, Arches.  After passing through the gate, we wound our way up the main road climbing on to the plateau that forms the foundation for the park.  The first thing you notice about Arches is the color: red.  All of the stone is distinctly red in color various shades representing the banding of time.  This red was particularly vibrant in the morning sunlight from the southeast.  We drove deep into the park and worked our way back toward the gate stopping to see the Windows, Delicate Arch, and Balanced Rock among the other geological sculptures the park has to offer.  Once we returned to the park gate, we turned north along UT-128.

UT-128 is an scenic alternative route to US-191 to get back to I-70 from Moab.  It runs along the Colorado River in a canyon with 1000 foot walls.  Along the drive from Moab to Cisco (where 128 rejoins I-70), the canyon walls slowly separate into distant mesas, round out to become mountains, then flatten.  This awe-inspiring transition happens in only a matter of 30 miles.

We took I-70 westward until splitting off to follow US-6 to the north.  We continued through Price and Provo where we met with I-15 to Salt Lake City.  We stopped in Salt Lake City for the night.

Due to the expected weather, we decided to stick to the interstate on our way to Moab instead of taking more winding but possibly closed highways like US-40 or US-50.  As it turns out, I-70 west from Denver is a scenic route.  The freeway winds through the mountains leading to a tunnel that passes under the Great Continental Divide.  Instead of going through the tunnel, we decided to take US-6 up to the Loveland summit and cross the Divide at the peak.  The view at 12,000 feet was incredible, but the air was thin and cold, so we did not stay long.  We continued on US-6 through Keystone and rejoined I-70.

We stopped for lunch in Vail, which is, like most ski towns, built out as a resort that is fashioned after an alpine village.  Knowing that most ski town food is good but not great, I wasn’t expecting much, but the food we had a Vail’s Sweet Basil was delicious.  If you go skiing in Vail or happen to pass through, I highly recommend giving Sweet Basil a try.

Leaving Vail, we continued on I-70 W toward Grand Junction.  Just before reaching Glenwood Springs, there is a stretch of road called Glenwood Canyon.  The canyon alone is a natural marvel, but the fact that the freeway runs right down the middle of it is an engineering feat.  Running right next to the Colorado River, I-70 sits on stilts above the river and rocky terrain for the entire length of the canyon.  The canyon walls rise sharply a couple thousand feet on either side.  At the end of the canyon lies Glenwood Springs, an active hot spring that has been opened to the public as a hot tub and bathing area.

Continuing westward, the land begins to flatten out into the dry desert lands that make up far west Colorado and southeast Utah.  We crossed the Utah state line just after sunset.  We turned south on US-191 and headed into the small seasonal town of Moab.  Moab is quiet place during the off season, but we managed to find a way to entertain ourselves.  We enjoyed a sampling of brews from the local Moab Brewery and then settled in for the night.