Utah | Temporary Sanity ...

We finally escaped the sedating effect of Kanab at either 8 or 9 this morning. We’re not sure which is true because Waze took us back to Arizona, instead of North, when I programed her for Hill AFB in Ogden, Utah. So we circled around a bit, switching back and forth between Pacific and Mountain time. Very confusing and made me blink a lot.

Ultimately, however, things leveled out, I became more aware of my surroundings. I suspect the reason for that is because the landscape began to attain a tinge of green. The change was so subtle that it was almost like an illusion. By the time we made it to Hurricane, Utah there were actually trees and the telephone signal gained a bunch of bars, becoming a very solid 4G presence. All of our eletronical devices became happy clams. Once again we could communicate.

Sadly, about 20 miles before that happened, I called brother Jim seeking permission to transit the Utah/Idaho border at some point tomorrow. He wanted a specific time but I couldn’t comply, not knowing what tomorrow might bring. Then, as luck would have it, the signal was either lost or Jim hung up. Either way the all was terminated. He was at Burger King participating in his Tuesday Coffee Clash so I suspect he hung up. So, we are in jeopardy of violating some sort of idahoian law tomorrow the punishment for which we do not know. It could be bad.

When we escaped from Kanab we began a quest to find a Starbucks so we could obtain invigorating refreshment. It quickly became apparent that Utah doesn’t allow these popular stores inside their city limits, only on freeways, and in the wrong direction. Consequently, the only caffeine we’ve had today was from the pump pot at the hotel. Diane said it wasn’t bad, but 50% of us didn’t agree. Perhaps when reach the boundaries of a larger metropolis there will be solace in the form of a Venti White Chocolate Mocha No Whip (VWCMNW).

Shortly before we got to Hurricane, an old guy on a Harley made a dedicated attempt to demonstrate how the gene pool is maintained in a manner that only allows relatively intelligent folks to breed. We were on a two lane road and he chose to pass when some very large vehicles were coming our direction at a combined closing speed of 120 mph. Had Diane moved a couple of inches to the left there would have been some serious skid marks on the pavement as he didn’t leave his lane and barely missed the front bumper when he chose to position himself in our lane. Exciting.

Glory Hallelujah!! Cedar City, Utah has a Starbucks. We’re stopping and I’m done here.

We left Mesa, Arizona yesterday around 2-ish and arrived in Flagstaff shortly thereafter. It is, after all, only about 180 miles away. For Diane, that’s a walk in the park and only took 3 hours. So, we arrived around 5-ish.

Using Siri, I contacted the Drury Hotel on the way and secured a room. We don’t often stay in hotels so this was different for us. But, a room is a room is a room and that’s what we got. A room. A pretty nice one. What made it even better was the free evening food and free breakfast. Ok, I know it’s not really free, but it’s not a line item on the bill, so technically it was all free. Not that I really think you care, but I ate wienies last night, biscuits and gravy this morning.

Now I’m bummed. Right here I attempted to add a photo of my wienies, but the internet we have at our current address is incredibly slow. So, you’ll just have to visualize them. And, I won’t attempt to add any others.

Today was a long one because from Flagstaff we went to the Southern Rim of the Grand Canyon. We spent two hours there, mingling with 30-40,000 of our friends from all over the world. Really … three out of four people were speaking a foreign language. Perhaps if I’d worn my hearing aid …

The canyon was beautiful and breathtaking as we knew it would be. But, the sun was a little off and things were a bit hazy so it detracted a little bit. That’s why we only spent 2 hours there, then we headed to the East Entrance on Highway 64 to Highway 89 and headed north to Page, Arizona. We had initially thought we would stay the night in Page but we arrived too early. So we decided to just get a Starbucks and continue one. But, we couldn’t find it so we got gas for the car instead and continued on.

The new goal became Kanab, Utah. Until I checked the map, I’d never heard of Kanab. It sounds like something you’d eat at a BBQ with toothpicks. The scenery on the way, however, just blew us away and chased all thoughts of toothpick food from our minds.

After exiting the Eastern Entrance, we crossed the Little Colorado and the mountains turned red with incredible stripes of lighter colored rock. The closer we got to Utah the darker the color and when we crossed the border all the mountains turned gray. I took a gazillion pictures which I’ll have to share later. I wish I could now because I’ll probably forget.

Kanab … what can I say? It’s smack dab in the middle of an incredible array of natural wonders like Zion, Bryce, The Grand Canyon, the red mountains, and I’m pretty positive there are some nasty snakes out there beyond the freeways. Kanab has also been the location for numerous movies over the years, including the recent John Carter. I know that’s true because I read it in a newspaper while I was waiting for dinner at Pizza Hut.

It’s dark now, Dancing With The Stars is over, and Hawaii Five-0 is starting so I need to quit.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to reach the vicinity of Salt Lake City, then it’s on to Nampa, Idaho. On the way I’ll call Jim to see if it’s OK to stop by for a while.