Looking for ideas for a Utah Road Trip

[Nonbryan 173]

ROAD TRIP!!!  I'm thinking about packing up a car and taking the family to Utah to visit family.  I know, I'm crazy.  I want to build some good vacation memories and for better or worse, this is an idea that came to my head.  Wife has agreed to the plan.  I'm looking for any helpful advice to help do a road trip like this.  Especially if you have done this trip from Texas to Utah and back.  

I'm thinking that renting a car might be best.  Something like a minivan that gives everyone lots of room to stretch out.  I figure it will take us 2 days there and 2 days back.  At first glance, maybe stop in New Mexico as a half way point.  Final destination will be the Salt Lake City area.  Beyond, that, I'm looking for input.  Thanks in advance!

[pops 6977]

Where are you leaving from?

[Nonbryan 173]

5 hours ago, pops said:

Where are you leaving from?

Austin

[Brew 3049]

Scroll down to the week long road trip thread. It’s the same game plan. There is also a Utah National Parks thread on the next page and a few more on Moab (easiest park to stop in Utah based on the direction you will be heading.) I would look into Park City also. There is plenty to do there with kids. 

[Napoleon 8649]

You should definitely take a circuitous route.

Arches National Park/Moab should be the midway point.

If you're really focused, the Grand Canyon should be included (probably on the 2nd half of the trip so that it doesn't blow everything else away).

If you hit lower Colorado (via Pueblo, CO) on way up, the Royal Gorge and then Black Canyon can be seen within hours of each other on your way to Grand Junction, CO before heading west into Utah.

If you come up through middle of New Mexico and going through Durango, CO, you can hit Telluride if you want and then Black Canyon as you continue up to Grand Junction.

From Austin up to Albuquerque basically sucks. If you could get cheap Southwest Flights to Albuquerque and then rent a minivan for a week from Albuquerque, it would make your circuitous route SO MUCH BETTER!!!!!! (Lopping off 11 hours at the start and finish of your trip will be a godsend.)

[Homesickhorn 2202]

Moab.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4968]

From Albuquerque I'd take I-40 west to Window Rock. If you take off North from Window Rock on 12 you basically straddle the New Mexico/Arizona border and will drive through a nice coniferous forest just kinda chilling in the middle of the desert. It's a welcome site if you go that way after driving through desert scrub so much. 12 is a small road on the map you have to zoom in to see, but it has been a good two lane road with no bad spots every time I've driven that way. There's another road, 7, that looks the same on the map and goes from Window Rock to Canyon De Chelly. It's actually a dirt road, so don't try and take that route, especially in a rental sedan. We almost ended up stuck in the middle of nowhere because of that. But do take 12; it doesn't add much time if you are going that direction and is definitely worth it.

If you go through the Monument Valley/Mexican Hat area, you definitely need to drive up the Moki Dugway to Muley Point on top of Cedar Mesa. It's in the Bears Ears National Monument area.

Moki Dugway:

Muley Point overlooks the Goosenecks of the San Juan River and you can see Monument Valley on the horizon on a clear day. To get there take a left at the top of the Moki Dugway and drive until the road ends. Don't try if the road is wet.

If you like that kind of stuff and want to see some pretty awesome ruins, check out The Citadel Ruins. They are close by, but will take an afternoon of hiking to get to. They are located on the end of a spectacular stone peninsula sticking out into the canyon. The location is kind of a secret, but PM me if you are interested.

There's a lot of other ruins in the area of you like that stuff and do a little internet sleuthing. I'm not sure how the national monument designation affects it. You can camp on most of the BLM land up that direction for free as long as you are over a mile from any established permanent camp grounds. I would also download the areas you are interested in on Google Maps so you don't have to rely on cell reception in the area as it can be spotty.

[thrillhammer 683]

I know vacation time is precious, but I think you're short-changing your family and yourself by trying to do that in two days.  There is too much to see along the way.  Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon, Carlsbad, all the national parks in Utah that are on the other thread, Monument Valley, Bandolier, Canyon de Chelly, etc.

[pops 6977]

If you just want to get there here is what you do from Dallas (not sure if it is quicker from Austin to get to Amarillo a different way, but get there).

287 from dallas up to Wichita falls and then on to Amarillo.  Then the 87 up through Dalhart and Dumas all the way to the 25 in Raton NM.  25 north as far as you want to.  I used to just put the hammer down and get to Cheyenne.  Stay at Little America.  If you stop somewhere before that the day before (Peublo is almost dead nuts middle between slc and dallas), get off in Fort Collins and take the 287 to Laramie.  Once you hit the 80 it is wagons west to SLC.

Source Level 1.  Did the drive a couple dozen times round trip back in the day.  I've tried every combination possible and that is the best all things considered.  But again, that is to just get there.  If you have time, weave your way up.  Even if it is just the 70 west from Denver to the 15 in the middle of Utah to see some shit.  Because the route outlined above (except for the 287 between fort Collins and Laramie) is not scenic.  In any way.  

 

 

 

[Nonbryan 173]

Great Stuff!  Thank you!

Now we are planning on taking 4 days to get to SLC.  We are going to stop the 1st night in Albuquerque, spend the next day at the Grand Canyon (maybe stay in Flagstaff?), then 3rd day at Mt. Zion, then head to SLC on 4th day.  Any thoughts or tips on this plan?

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4968]

Sounds like a good trip. Plenty of time to get places, so make sure to take the scenic route.

[blacklab 11915]

did a similar trip last summer.

Austin -> Santa Fe, sleep-> Four Points -> Monument Valley, sleep -> Grand Canyon -> Kanab Utah, sleep -> Zion -> Vegas -> back to Austin via Phoenix/El Paso.

Had a good time and everyone enjoyed it. Rented a suburban from enterprise, about $1000 for two weeks. 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4968]

If it hasn't been mentioned, the Dixie National Forest is worth driving through if you are in the Zion area and it isn't out of your way. 

[idahorn 26]

Take a sack lunch.  They care very little about food.  I was served a BLT in Vernal, but when it came, there was no tomato.  Despite the Salt Lake and its City, they often do not salt the food--at all.  They skin chickens and fry them without any coating.  Stick with known franchises and places like Ruth's Chris.  We ate in a Mexican cafe near Monument Valley; the salsa was watery ketchup with dried onion.  There are two In-and Out's North and South of SLC.

[Nonbryan 173]

What a trip!  We put 4k miles on a Costco rented Mini van that had 29 miles on it when we picked it up.  It was an Avis rental that cost us less than $500 for 10 days.  We went to Albuquerque the first night.  Then to the Grand Canyon which was wayyyy more impressive than I thought it would be.  It took my breath away.  I was the guy that always complained that it was just a big hole in the ground.  VERY IMPRESSIVE once I saw it live.  We then went to Page, AZ to Lake Powell and the Grand Staircase.  Then headed up to Springdale and Mt Zion.  We then went up to the Ogden Valley for some snow activities for a few days.  All in all it was a GREAT trip.  I can't believe I waited so long to see these sites and this part of the country.  It was an incredible drive and experience!

Thanks for all the help!

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

Pics?!?!?!?!?!

[thrillhammer 683]

thinking about a road trip to bears ears area in july.  first night in northern new mexico.  be at bears ears by noon the next day.  how many days will I need there?  where should I camp?  what are the must sees?

[Paco 1934]

Pics?!?!?!?!?!

Hmmm. Wow.

[mchookem 16297]

this thread is as good as any to put this...

we are on the way to Vegas/California from Denver and today drove west across CO and Utah on i70 with my driving stint starting after lunch in Grand Junction. driving across CO was a piece of cake, our first time on the western slope, very scenic, but...

HOLY SHIT i was COMPLETELY unprepared for the Utah leg of the drive.😲

i mean...just holy holy holy shit. Utah has officially taken my breath away. literally, and multiple times. for the first time EVER in my entire life i had an anxiety/vertigo/panic attack, a stretch of what felt like 80 miles or so, starting just west of Green River...i came thisclose to having to pull over. speed limit is 80(!) and i slowed down at one point to <60. an absolutely surreal landscape on all sides as far as the eye could see...at one point it felt like we were  surrounded by deep giant canyons on all sides and i swear to god i was fighting not to drive right off the side!! 

i had to focus on my breathing and attach my eyes to the trailer hitch of the vehicle in front of us and just could not even glance offroad...but my eyes felt like they were being pulled to the horizon! i felt like i was literally going to just yank the wheel off the interstate, and that feeling in turn caused near panic...this was that long stretch where there is nothing...like all the signs say 'seriously - there is nothing for the next 100 miles'. 

nothing but my god the landscape. 😲

i mean seriously, i have driven over huge bridges, the Makinac and Golden Gate, been through RMNP countless times as both driver and rider, to the top of Mt. Evans, Sandia Peak, have ridden in a car AND a bike down Haleakala...i have NEVER felt like i felt today! incredible. 😳

i have never seen such jaw-dropping scenery...and we just barely drove by/skirted the NPs! i love the Rocky Mountains and Colorado is so beautiful...but Utah blew it away today. i have seen so many pictures, i follow several National Park accounts...but nothing prepared me for what i saw today. just wow wow wow. 

i cannot wait to actually visit some of the parks. i see you, Utah! 👀

[thrillhammer 683]

8 hours ago, mchookem said:

this thread is as good as any to put this...

we are on the way to Vegas/California from Denver and today drove west across CO and Utah on i70 with my driving stint starting after lunch in Grand Junction. driving across CO was a piece of cake, our first time on the western slope, very scenic, but...

HOLY SHIT i was COMPLETELY unprepared for the Utah leg of the drive.😲

i mean...just holy holy holy shit. Utah has officially taken my breath away. literally, and multiple times. for the first time EVER in my entire life i had an anxiety/vertigo/panic attack, a stretch of what felt like 80 miles or so, starting just west of Green River...i came thisclose to having to pull over. speed limit is 80(!) and i slowed down at one point to <60. an absolutely surreal landscape on all sides as far as the eye could see...at one point it felt like we were  surrounded by deep giant canyons on all sides and i swear to god i was fighting not to drive right off the side!! 

i had to focus on my breathing and attach my eyes to the trailer hitch of the vehicle in front of us and just could not even glance offroad...but my eyes felt like they were being pulled to the horizon! i felt like i was literally going to just yank the wheel off the interstate, and that feeling in turn caused near panic...this was that long stretch where there is nothing...like all the signs say 'seriously - there is nothing for the next 100 miles'. 

nothing but my god the landscape. 😲

i mean seriously, i have driven over huge bridges, the Makinac and Golden Gate, been through RMNP countless times as both driver and rider, to the top of Mt. Evans, Sandia Peak, have ridden in a car AND a bike down Haleakala...i have NEVER felt like i felt today! incredible. 😳

i have never seen such jaw-dropping scenery...and we just barely drove by/skirted the NPs! i love the Rocky Mountains and Colorado is so beautiful...but Utah blew it away today. i have seen so many pictures, i follow several National Park accounts...but nothing prepared me for what i saw today. just wow wow wow. 

i cannot wait to actually visit some of the parks. i see you, Utah! 👀

sounds great.  good for you for doing it and gaining some memories and experience.  i did utah three years in a row, but am itching to get back.  whats ironic, and not to get too cloakroomy, but what the rest of the country loves so much about utah is what utahans hate the most - that the majority of the state is public lands.  they're craving development and the money that comes with it, and we go there to get away from all that.

the road beckons.

[Carl Spackler 3476]

20 hours ago, mchookem said:

this thread is as good as any to put this...

we are on the way to Vegas/California from Denver and today drove west across CO and Utah on i70 with my driving stint starting after lunch in Grand Junction. driving across CO was a piece of cake, our first time on the western slope, very scenic, but...

HOLY SHIT i was COMPLETELY unprepared for the Utah leg of the drive.😲

i mean...just holy holy holy shit. Utah has officially taken my breath away. literally, and multiple times. for the first time EVER in my entire life i had an anxiety/vertigo/panic attack, a stretch of what felt like 80 miles or so, starting just west of Green River...i came thisclose to having to pull over. speed limit is 80(!) and i slowed down at one point to <60. an absolutely surreal landscape on all sides as far as the eye could see...at one point it felt like we were  surrounded by deep giant canyons on all sides and i swear to god i was fighting not to drive right off the side!! 

i had to focus on my breathing and attach my eyes to the trailer hitch of the vehicle in front of us and just could not even glance offroad...but my eyes felt like they were being pulled to the horizon! i felt like i was literally going to just yank the wheel off the interstate, and that feeling in turn caused near panic...this was that long stretch where there is nothing...like all the signs say 'seriously - there is nothing for the next 100 miles'. 

nothing but my god the landscape. 😲

i mean seriously, i have driven over huge bridges, the Makinac and Golden Gate, been through RMNP countless times as both driver and rider, to the top of Mt. Evans, Sandia Peak, have ridden in a car AND a bike down Haleakala...i have NEVER felt like i felt today! incredible. 😳

i have never seen such jaw-dropping scenery...and we just barely drove by/skirted the NPs! i love the Rocky Mountains and Colorado is so beautiful...but Utah blew it away today. i have seen so many pictures, i follow several National Park accounts...but nothing prepared me for what i saw today. just wow wow wow. 

i cannot wait to actually visit some of the parks. i see you, Utah! 👀

Heading there in about a month to hit three of the five NPs, so your post has definitely stoked a fire that was already pretty hot. 

[ztejas 43392]

20 hours ago, mchookem said:

this thread is as good as any to put this...

we are on the way to Vegas/California from Denver and today drove west across CO and Utah on i70 with my driving stint starting after lunch in Grand Junction. driving across CO was a piece of cake, our first time on the western slope, very scenic, but...

HOLY SHIT i was COMPLETELY unprepared for the Utah leg of the drive.😲

i mean...just holy holy holy shit. Utah has officially taken my breath away. literally, and multiple times. for the first time EVER in my entire life i had an anxiety/vertigo/panic attack, a stretch of what felt like 80 miles or so, starting just west of Green River...i came thisclose to having to pull over. speed limit is 80(!) and i slowed down at one point to <60. an absolutely surreal landscape on all sides as far as the eye could see...at one point it felt like we were  surrounded by deep giant canyons on all sides and i swear to god i was fighting not to drive right off the side!! 

i had to focus on my breathing and attach my eyes to the trailer hitch of the vehicle in front of us and just could not even glance offroad...but my eyes felt like they were being pulled to the horizon! i felt like i was literally going to just yank the wheel off the interstate, and that feeling in turn caused near panic...this was that long stretch where there is nothing...like all the signs say 'seriously - there is nothing for the next 100 miles'. 

nothing but my god the landscape. 😲

i mean seriously, i have driven over huge bridges, the Makinac and Golden Gate, been through RMNP countless times as both driver and rider, to the top of Mt. Evans, Sandia Peak, have ridden in a car AND a bike down Haleakala...i have NEVER felt like i felt today! incredible. 😳

i have never seen such jaw-dropping scenery...and we just barely drove by/skirted the NPs! i love the Rocky Mountains and Colorado is so beautiful...but Utah blew it away today. i have seen so many pictures, i follow several National Park accounts...but nothing prepared me for what i saw today. just wow wow wow. 

i cannot wait to actually visit some of the parks. i see you, Utah! 👀

jk that's awesome. I really need to go to some of those NPs. Maybe not Utah but Yellowstone and/or Yosemite for sure. 

[Chewbacca 7745]

21 hours ago, mchookem said:

this thread is as good as any to put this...

we are on the way to Vegas/California from Denver and today drove west across CO and Utah on i70 with my driving stint starting after lunch in Grand Junction. driving across CO was a piece of cake, our first time on the western slope, very scenic, but...

HOLY SHIT i was COMPLETELY unprepared for the Utah leg of the drive.😲

i mean...just holy holy holy shit. Utah has officially taken my breath away. literally, and multiple times. for the first time EVER in my entire life i had an anxiety/vertigo/panic attack, a stretch of what felt like 80 miles or so, starting just west of Green River...i came thisclose to having to pull over. speed limit is 80(!) and i slowed down at one point to <60. an absolutely surreal landscape on all sides as far as the eye could see...at one point it felt like we were  surrounded by deep giant canyons on all sides and i swear to god i was fighting not to drive right off the side!! 

i had to focus on my breathing and attach my eyes to the trailer hitch of the vehicle in front of us and just could not even glance offroad...but my eyes felt like they were being pulled to the horizon! i felt like i was literally going to just yank the wheel off the interstate, and that feeling in turn caused near panic...this was that long stretch where there is nothing...like all the signs say 'seriously - there is nothing for the next 100 miles'. 

nothing but my god the landscape. 😲

i mean seriously, i have driven over huge bridges, the Makinac and Golden Gate, been through RMNP countless times as both driver and rider, to the top of Mt. Evans, Sandia Peak, have ridden in a car AND a bike down Haleakala...i have NEVER felt like i felt today! incredible. 😳

i have never seen such jaw-dropping scenery...and we just barely drove by/skirted the NPs! i love the Rocky Mountains and Colorado is so beautiful...but Utah blew it away today. i have seen so many pictures, i follow several National Park accounts...but nothing prepared me for what i saw today. just wow wow wow. 

i cannot wait to actually visit some of the parks. i see you, Utah! 👀

Utah's scenery is something else, for sure.  Feels like you're on the moon.  The Escalante Staircase runs all the way from Bryce at the high point to the Grand Canyon at the low point.  Lots of beautiful shit to see in Utah.  But it gets really hot in the summer.  You, being from TX, might be OK with that.  I'm definitely not.

[Chewbacca 7745]

12 hours ago, thrillhammer said:

sounds great.  good for you for doing it and gaining some memories and experience.  i did utah three years in a row, but am itching to get back.  whats ironic, and not to get too cloakroomy, but what the rest of the country loves so much about utah is what utahans hate the most - that the majority of the state is public lands.  they're craving development and the money that comes with it, and we go there to get away from all that.

the road beckons.

I've never heard that, but I also don't hang out with many people from Utah.  I love the fact that over 1/3 of CO is federal land.  That means it will always look the way it looks now.

11 minutes ago, ztejas said:

jk that's awesome. I really need to go to some of those NPs. Maybe not Utah but Yellowstone and/or Yosemite for sure. 

Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands and Zion are all well worth a visit.  I suppose Capitol Reef is, too, but it pales compared to the other 4, IMO.

[Orale 1087]

On 4/11/2023 at 5:16 PM, mchookem said:

this thread is as good as any to put this...

we are on the way to Vegas/California from Denver and today drove west across CO and Utah on i70 with my driving stint starting after lunch in Grand Junction. driving across CO was a piece of cake, our first time on the western slope, very scenic, but...

HOLY SHIT i was COMPLETELY unprepared for the Utah leg of the drive.😲

i mean...just holy holy holy shit. Utah has officially taken my breath away. literally, and multiple times. for the first time EVER in my entire life i had an anxiety/vertigo/panic attack, a stretch of what felt like 80 miles or so, starting just west of Green River...i came thisclose to having to pull over. speed limit is 80(!) and i slowed down at one point to <60. an absolutely surreal landscape on all sides as far as the eye could see...at one point it felt like we were  surrounded by deep giant canyons on all sides and i swear to god i was fighting not to drive right off the side!! 

i had to focus on my breathing and attach my eyes to the trailer hitch of the vehicle in front of us and just could not even glance offroad...but my eyes felt like they were being pulled to the horizon! i felt like i was literally going to just yank the wheel off the interstate, and that feeling in turn caused near panic...this was that long stretch where there is nothing...like all the signs say 'seriously - there is nothing for the next 100 miles'. 

nothing but my god the landscape. 😲

i mean seriously, i have driven over huge bridges, the Makinac and Golden Gate, been through RMNP countless times as both driver and rider, to the top of Mt. Evans, Sandia Peak, have ridden in a car AND a bike down Haleakala...i have NEVER felt like i felt today! incredible. 😳

i have never seen such jaw-dropping scenery...and we just barely drove by/skirted the NPs! i love the Rocky Mountains and Colorado is so beautiful...but Utah blew it away today. i have seen so many pictures, i follow several National Park accounts...but nothing prepared me for what i saw today. just wow wow wow. 

i cannot wait to actually visit some of the parks. i see you, Utah! 👀

I drove with family from Phoenix to SLC via Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon. I had that same kind of amazement/vertigo type sensation. We were switching out drivers every 30 minutes because everyone had that same discomfort. 

[RPM 26286]

On 1/27/2019 at 10:24 PM, Napoleon said:

Arches National Park/Moab should be the midway point.

This. If you go down 279 there are some cool ruins.

[mchookem 16297]

so anyways this has turned into kind of a 'way-finding' trip and it's been awesome. we've traveled in/thru NM and CO extensively, and visited Vegas and California cities as destinations but that's it for the American mountain/southwest. this is a whole different thing and hoo-boy does it exceed expectations.

hopefully will see Grand Canyon tomorrow, then Monument Valley/Valley of the Gods and past Canyonlands and Arches. 

i will NOT be driving b/t Grand Canyon and Moab 😄😳

 

[Carl Spackler 3476]

Nice pics.  Interesting wallpaper you have in your van.  To each his own.

[Chewbacca 7745]

13 hours ago, mchookem said:

so anyways this has turned into kind of a 'way-finding' trip and it's been awesome. we've traveled in/thru NM and CO extensively, and visited Vegas and California cities as destinations but that's it for the American mountain/southwest. this is a whole different thing and hoo-boy does it exceed expectations.

hopefully will see Grand Canyon tomorrow, then Monument Valley/Valley of the Gods and past Canyonlands and Arches. 

i will NOT be driving b/t Grand Canyon and Moab 😄😳

 

If you end up driving through Bluff, UT on your way from Monument Valley to Moab (don't forget to stop at Mexican Hat!), make sure you stop at Comb Ridge Eat & Drink.  Had some amazing sandwiches there a couple years ago.  And if you're passing through Boulder, UT, Hell's Backbone Grill is great.  James Beard nominee in the middle of nowhere.

[Carl Spackler 3476]

10 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

If you end up driving through Bluff, UT on your way from Monument Valley to Moab (don't forget to stop at Mexican Hat!), make sure you stop at Comb Ridge Eat & Drink.  Had some amazing sandwiches there a couple years ago.  And if you're passing through Boulder, UT, Hell's Backbone Grill is great.  James Beard nominee in the middle of nowhere.

Ribeyes & beans at Swingin Steaks in Mexican Hat -- yessir.

I have reservations at Hell's Backbone in about a month.  Looking forward to trying it.

[creeper 98]

On 4/11/2023 at 10:16 PM, mchookem said:

this thread is as good as any to put this...

we are on the way to Vegas/California from Denver and today drove west across CO and Utah on i70 with my driving stint starting after lunch in Grand Junction. driving across CO was a piece of cake, our first time on the western slope, very scenic, but...

HOLY SHIT i was COMPLETELY unprepared for the Utah leg of the drive.😲

i mean...just holy holy holy shit. Utah has officially taken my breath away. literally, and multiple times. for the first time EVER in my entire life i had an anxiety/vertigo/panic attack, a stretch of what felt like 80 miles or so, starting just west of Green River...i came thisclose to having to pull over. speed limit is 80(!) and i slowed down at one point to <60. an absolutely surreal landscape on all sides as far as the eye could see...at one point it felt like we were  surrounded by deep giant canyons on all sides and i swear to god i was fighting not to drive right off the side!! 

i had to focus on my breathing and attach my eyes to the trailer hitch of the vehicle in front of us and just could not even glance offroad...but my eyes felt like they were being pulled to the horizon! i felt like i was literally going to just yank the wheel off the interstate, and that feeling in turn caused near panic...this was that long stretch where there is nothing...like all the signs say 'seriously - there is nothing for the next 100 miles'. 

nothing but my god the landscape. 😲

i mean seriously, i have driven over huge bridges, the Makinac and Golden Gate, been through RMNP countless times as both driver and rider, to the top of Mt. Evans, Sandia Peak, have ridden in a car AND a bike down Haleakala...i have NEVER felt like i felt today! incredible. 😳

i have never seen such jaw-dropping scenery...and we just barely drove by/skirted the NPs! i love the Rocky Mountains and Colorado is so beautiful...but Utah blew it away today. i have seen so many pictures, i follow several National Park accounts...but nothing prepared me for what i saw today. just wow wow wow. 

i cannot wait to actually visit some of the parks. i see you, Utah! 👀

We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.

[Chewbacca 7745]

10 hours ago, Carl Spackler said:

Ribeyes & beans at Swingin Steaks in Mexican Hat -- yessir.

I have reservations at Hell's Backbone in about a month.  Looking forward to trying it.

Hopefully you will enjoy the drive over the backbone more than we did.  It was a full on blizzard (in May) and we could not see anything.  And my youngest was getting carsick and almost puked.  So much for a scenic drive.  We stumbled into the restaurant more as needing to stop and get out of the car than anything.  Didn't realize until we were in there what we had found.

[otisdog 365]

On 4/20/2023 at 11:21 AM, Chewbacca said:

  And if you're passing through Boulder, UT, Hell's Backbone Grill is great.  James Beard nominee in the middle of nowhere.

Boulder Mountain Lodge is a nice place to lay your head down.

[billfromlaketravis 11425]

Too lazy to look it up, what’s the average SWA flight cost from Houston to Salt Lake City?

[mchookem 16297]

finally made it home... this was one incredible road trip! feels like we 'saw' so much, even though much of it was from the car...but we spent last night in Moab and will definitely be back there as a destination in the future - so much to do around there!!

the worst - in fact the only - bad weather we encountered was today b/t Vail and Loveland ski areas...blowing snow and gusty winds, traffic was horrible. 

anyway here are a few more shots, this really probably isn't the right thread since it was so much more than Utah but too bad 😁 i mean Utah blew me away on the first day of the trip, so there's that lol

 

p.s. the lovely wallpaper above was the ladies room at The Golden Tiki in Vegas, which is way, way off strip but we had a party bus that took us and it was awesome and a total trip! gratuitous shot of a cute ass for surly. 

Vegas

 

 

 

 

[dcbc 14450]

On 4/21/2023 at 8:45 PM, mchookem said:

p.s. the lovely wallpaper above was the ladies room at The Golden Tiki in Vegas, which is way, way off strip but we had a party bus that took us and it was awesome and a total trip!

I was thinking that was from some stop in Utah, and I was like, Utah . . .