I have been meaning to write up a fun story about my trip from Wyoming to Virginia, but now that it's been almost two months, and some of the smaller details are fading, I thought I better get to it and get it written.
I already wrote about my trip around Wyoming. I also took a Geocaching road trip to add a few states and see a few sights. I was originally going to do up to seven days and include Death Valley and the Hoover Dam, but for the sake of my back I decided to cut out those two places and just go see what I was already going to be passing, and not go out of my way.
I started early on August 13th and took Georgia to Four Paws in Fort Collins to board as I normally do. I had to be at Kanab, UT at 10am on the 14th, so my goal was to get to at least Salina, UT by nightfall. I made good time, going over Vail Pass in Colorado, and on to Salina and then headed South. I honestly can't remember where I stayed that night, which surprises me. I was camping in the back of the car, so the plan was to drive until I got tired or found a really good spot, and then start again as soon as I woke up.
The morning of the 14th I was up early and got to Kanab in plenty of time to relax before my tours. Visiting
Best Friends Animal Sanctuary has been something I've wanted to do for nearly 15 years. They do amazing work saving animals, both at the sanctuary, and across the country, and they deploy to emergencies like Katrina and go out and physically save animals. It's amazing what they do. I took the 10am Grand Sanctuary Tour, which gives the history and overview of the facility. I had lunch at their on site cafe, which was a full buffet for $5. I got a table overlooking the canyon on the outside deck and I could have sat there forever. After lunch I headed back to the visitor's center for the Old Dogtown Tour. This was a more detailed history of the Sanctuary, and it's original buildings. We walked most of it and got the opportunity to go in several dog kennel areas and meet a few of the residents. We got to see one of the Vick dogs that was court ordered to live out its life at the Sanctuary because of behavior issues. After the tour I drove around myself, and spent some time quietly sitting in Angel's Rest, the cemetery they have with the most amazing wind-chime garden. The wind-chimes were hanging from one end to the other, in clusters, and I'd say that it was at least a football field long. You could hear the wind start at one end and go to the other, and I have to say that I've never thought of wind as going anywhere, it just blows. But hearing it start at one end and then fade away as it got louder at the other end really moved me.
I was at Best Friends until around dinner time, and then I headed West. I drove through Zion National Park, and over to Nevada. I passed Las Vegas at dusk, and it didn't look quite like I thought that it would, and headed on to California. I debated spending the night at the California geocache I found because it was off the main road, and in a place where nobody would see me, but I was on a roll, and wanted to keep driving. I think it was about 10pm, so I took a short nap to rest my eyes and headed to Arizona. I got to a large truck stop around 2am and decided to spend the rest of the night there. I paid the fee to take a much needed shower after two days on the road and one day spent walking in the desert sun. I slept until sunrise and then was back on the road.
I got to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon right around 10am on the 15th, and got fantastic parking, as I just missed the biggest crowds of the day. I spent more time there than I would have thought. I imagined I'd walk to the edge and go yep, it's a big hole, and be ready to head out, but it was impressive, and there was a light breeze, and it was in the low 80s, which I think was rare since I'd been seeing warnings of over 100 through the summer. I spent several hours siting and enjoying the view before hitting the road again. Looking at my map, there wasn't much between where I was and Durango, CO, which was too far to drive on this day, but was where I had to make a decision.
My friend Maria had recommended I go North and visit Gunnison, her hometown, and the Gorge there. My friend at the bank had recommended I continue East and visit Mesa Verde and Great Sand Dunes National Park. I wanted to visit each equally, but was going to wait to see how I felt when I got to the turn off. As I left the Grand Canyon, I made several stops at side of the road attractions, and at one of them I met a lovely lady named Clarissa, who along with her sisters and children made crafts to sell. We had a nice long discussion about her Native American items, and I bought several things. I told her how disappointed I had been when I stopped at the trading post on a reservation in Wyoming and most items had stickers saying made in Canada, and how I'd much rather support items made by the person selling them. We talked about how her business had suffered since 9/11, and when she asked where I was moving to, we discussed the events that had just happened in Charlottesville. I was sad to have to move on so soon, as I could have talked to her much longer, but I had a long drive ahead.
I saw a sign for a Native American World War II Code Talker Museum. The museum was in a Burger King, so I got dinner there. I packed food for my whole journey, but ate one hot meal a day, and this was the best I'd passed in hours. It had a large parking area in the back, so I thought I might spend the night there, even though there were still several hours of daylight left. I changed my mind, however, after an older gentleman followed me around filming me on his phone. It made me quite uncomfortable, and I ate and left, and because I was then paranoid, I drove another four or five hours even though I was exhausted. I made it to Cortez, CO and slept.
On the morning of the 16th I was up and after mapping both route options again, I decided to go the shorter route, and I visited Mesa Verde, which was a lovely drive and got to see cliff dwellings and fire towers. It took several hours, and then I got to Sand Dunes National Park in the afternoon. It gets very hot there, but this day was beautiful as well. The water had not dried up, as it sometimes does, so I got to experience the full beauty of the area. I left there and headed to Colorado Springs to stay the night.
The oldest geocache in Colorado is just West of Colorado Springs, and it had been on my to do list for over a year. I was annoyed that when I'd been down here the year before I didn't think to get it, so I wanted to make sure that I got it this time. It was about 40 minutes away, and I got to use my 4 wheel drive for the first time on the rutted and sandy path up to it. I found it right away (I knew it was a 10 gallon bucket) and then headed back to town. Traffic made the drive from there to Fort Collins tedious and tiring. I was so happy to pick up Georgia and then get back home to Laramie. I pretty much brought everything in the house and then fell asleep for the rest of the day.
My total mileage was 2426 in five days. As tired as I was, I am very glad that I made the journey. In these photos, the yellow areas are states or countries that I've visited prior to starting to Geocache in 2011, and the orange areas are the states or countries (Providences) in which I've found at least one Geocache.
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When I was doing my Wyoming road trip I decided to get the annual National Parks Pass. I knew that I was going to Devil's Tower and Grand Tetons, but also figured I'd hit up Shenandoah when I got back to Virginia. Those three visits alone would pay for the $80 fee. Little did I know at the time that it would be the value that it turned out to be.
Devil's Tower National Park $15
Grand Tetons National Park $30
Zion National Park $30
Grand Canyon National Park $30
Great Sand Dunes National Park $15
Shenandoah National Park $25
