Day 6
49 STATES!!
On Day 6 we met our goal of riding 49 of the 50 states, and all 48 states of the continental US! This only leaves Hawaii left to ride.
Durango, CO to Utah and Ely, NV
577 Miles
Today was a long ride and while not the hottest day so far, it was physically draining. We rode out of Durango in 51 degree temps, slowly moved up into the 70's and 80's, and peaked out in the low 90's once we got to I-70 until we were well past Sevier Lake. That's a story as well.
Durango to Moab was fairly smooth. Traffic moved along well of there were enough passing lanes to navigate relatively quickly. Once we got to Moab the really fun part of the ride occurred. We added an extra hour to the ride by taking US128 north out of Moab. This was a route along the Colorado River alongside and under some mammoth rock faces. The first half is one of the most beautiful routes on the entire trip so far. The second half rolled out into high desert and while it was plain (relatively speaking), it was still impressive.
We shot across 70 past the turn-off for Moab and I think that's the first time Denise really realized that I had not taken a more direct route. Luckily, 128 was pretty enough to make up for it.
The plateaus and mesas across Utah were breathtaking. I've added way too many photos below, and I can attest that none of them do the real scenery justice. We were riding through areas where huge layers of rock had jutted out of the ground, in many cases with identical layer markings for miles and miles. Then all of a sudden we'd cross a peak or go around the end of one of the mesas and all of a like magic we'd find ourselves in another type of terrain. Whether it was farmland, massive rock structures, miles of high desert or passing through a small town and wondering how it had sprung up, the varieties were endless.
Oh, did I mention today was DENISE'S BIRTHDAY!!! For it, I gave her the prettiest landscapes I could find.
I am having an issue with one of the trailer tires. I over compensated air pressure not realizing I wouldn't have Denise's luggage the first several days so one of the tires really wore on its center tread. With all of these hot roads eating away at the remaining tread, I'm going to have to swap out my spare tomorrow. No biggie. That's why I brought one.
Anyway, today's journey marked the conclusion of the 49-state goal. It did not, however, mark the end of this ride. Tomorrow we journey to Flagstaff to hook up with Alex and his family, and then spend part of a day at the Grand Canyon, followed by several in the Gilbert, AZ area before heading back....by way of Prescott, Sedona and the Petrified Forest. We've even decided to move up to I-40 on the way back so we can take more country road break-offs and roads like US64 across Tennessee. Come to think of it, I may be able to incorporate part of the Mid-State Ride into our return trip. Hmmmm, now where were those route files?
Enjoy the photos. It was very hard picking just a few, but I did whittle it down from the original 103 that came out well.
