This trip account was partially written by Dave while we were on the road, then afterward Teri edited and added photos.
Trip Route Day 1 - Thursday May 7th
Zero hour approaches. The Toyota Tundra is loaded with just about everything. Even the 3-wheeled stroller. We had dropped Starboard Kitty off at Cat Nap Inn at 4:20pm Wednesday evening so it is just Teri, Dave, Joey and Sadie. We have worked hard to get everything prepped and high time to start another adventure. It is 7am and we rolled out of the driveway. It is a fine day for a drive. Raining and gloomy.
Leaving home – in a heavy rain
Climbing Snoqualmie pass on I-90 It was snowing as we climbed to the top of Snoqualmie Pass but once on the other side the weather began to clear and the sun, our central heating system, came out so it was a fun drive across Eastern Washington.
Top of Snoqualmie Pass
Eastern Washington We did hit some heavy spits of rain from isolated clouds lurking over the Columbia River around the Tri-Cities area. That was unexpected with the sun blasting through, but it gave us an opportunity to clear the bugs off the windshield using the wipers. New wipers by the way. Crossed the Columbia River and headed into Oregon. Another nice drive through the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon. Pulled into Boise, Idaho and found the Oxford Suites, our first nights stop about 6:30pm or so. A very long 12 hour drive. The pups did well but everyone was tired. The room was very nice – granite countertops, tile floor, separate shower and tub. Here are pictures of the bathroom. Separate water closet to the right.
Picked up a couple orders of Halibut n Chips with a cup of chowder from a nearby restaurant, McGraths Fish House. Pretty tasty for our tired travelers. Crashed.
Day 2 - Friday May 8th
The sun was out and after a hot complimentary full breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, hash browns, fruit, etc, it was time to pack up and move out. Sadie wasn’t that enthused about getting back into her kennel.
Today it was another longer haul with a slightly longer drive across the bottom of Idaho and down into Utah. It would be familiar country and we would journey through the cities of Ogden, Salt Lake City, Provo, and Cedar City. We did all that and after many hours arrived at our Holiday Inn Express in Coral Canyon. The town of Hurricane/Leeds was just up the road to the NW on Highway 9. St.George/Santa Clara/Ivings/Washington area was a few miles to the South. Coral Canyon is just far enough away from all the noise and we had a view of red rocks, yet just minutes to several towns. Sweet!
Well, Teri did good and set us up with a great place. It was a ground floor one bedroom suite and away from everyone else. Close to parking and a grass area for the pups. The room itself was great with a full kitchen and separate bedroom. There was a large flat screen tv next to the fireplace in the main room. It had a couch and once I put the steps in place near it, Sadie climbed up, picked out her spot, and crashed. She was exhausted after spending most of the time on the road sitting up looking out the window! She loved watching the changing scenery. Off the main room was a sliding glass door that led to a walled patio. Very cool. The master bedroom also had a large flat screen tv and a computer desk. In the bathroom was a huge jetted Jacuzzi tub with shower. Teri did very good.
Here are some pictures of our suite:
Sadie getting some much needed rest.
That night we just had enough energy to make some tomato soup and bologna sandwiches for dinner and hit the rack. We would be here for two full days.
Day 3 - Saturday May 9th
Got up in the morning to beautiful clear blue skies and sunshine. Excellent. The weather would be like this for days and the temp in the 90’s. Bring it on.
After another hot complementary breakfast we took a little drive into Hurricane. After that we drove into St. George along Bluff Rd Snow Canyon
On our way out to Tuacahn
We found it ok, parked the truck and loaded up the pups in the stroller and listened to a few sets. It was an open air casual affair but in no time people were gathering around the stroller to check out the pups. After Eric finished his modern country set, Teri wanted to let him know that we made it so she went up to have him sign some CD’s, and then after he was done signing autographs for all his fans he came over to meet the pups and do a mini photo shoot with us and chat for a bit. Very cool. Teri had been following Eric on the web for about a year, chatted some via email, and had all his CDs, so it was neat to finally meet. He gave us some restaurant tips before we left which were really good. Thanks Eric!
Eric Dodge at the Tuacahn Amphitheater
We left there and after stopping by the grocery store in Hurricane to pick up a few things, headed back to our hotel to relax and give the pups a break from driving. Dave hit the pool. Had mac n cheese, salad & green beans for dinner.
Day 4 - Sunday May 10
Took a drive after breakfast. Checked out Quail Creek State Park and saw the lake/reservoir, then up to Sand Hollow State Park, another reservoir. Saw a place where the dune sand was drifting over the road.
Headed back to St.George to explore. Took the back road into Washington along the Verde River . It was mostly industrial. The road went up one of the scattered volcanic mounds/bluffs. These small mountains divided the St.George area up into Santa Clara/Irving/Washington and St.George. We could see a lot from the top. There were some nice houses perched on the bare edge. Down we went the other side and into St.George, then back up to check out the view from the airport which resides lengthways on one of these butte thingys. An even better view.
Down once more and off we went to check out Snow Canyon and Pine Valley Snow Canyon was very nice – Zion
Returning to George we stopped off at Ernesto’s Mexican for an order to go.
Back at the Hotel, Dave fixed a couple margaritas. It was a tasty and welcome meal for our tired and thirsty travelers. Joey and Sadie immediately crashed.
Later, Dave and Teri and the pups all hit the pool and then headed back to Washington
Day 5 - Monday May 11
Back on the road again. Goodbye St. George! Off to Payson. This will be a short drive (6 hours) but we want to see Zion
Drove through Hurricane on 9 and before long we arrived at Zion
Exited Zion and at Kanab we headed South-ish on 87a. Arrived after a time to the turn off to Grand Canyon North Rim – but it was closed for a few more days. Proceeded down down down the twisty road until we came out at the overlook and the Vermillion Cliffs. It was 95 degrees. 
Did a big swing around until we crossed the Colorado River and then headed South to Flagstaff. It was ..yes, getting to be a long drive. We followed the highway as it climbed up to 7,000 feet passing between a large Cinder Cone on our left and the San Francisco Mountains on our right and then decended slightly into Flagstaff.
This time we got the exits and off ramps correct and connected smoothly to Highway 17 which took us South past the Montezuma Castle turnoff and our next road, Highway 260. We filled the truck with gas at Camp Verde and headed out for our last leg of the day.
Love this part of the freeway heading south towards Sedona
This was a windy 55 mph road (with a few bumps) that took us up and down wandering this way and that through the pine forests of the Tonto National Forest (it goes all the way down to Tucson). Eventually we arrived at Strawberry, then drove through Pine and finally Payson and the Best Western Payson Inn where we would stay for a couple days.
We got a two room suite (250) that was located above the lobby area. It used to be the owners home until Best Western took over management. It was pretty nice with a balcony that overlooked the grounds and the pool. It had a full kitchen but no stove – just microwave. We closed up the 2nd bedroom to keep it puppy free. There were some steep stairs to climb from the parking lot to the suite. Joey had no problem. Dave got some exercise carrying all our stuff up.
We zipped out after getting settled and got a to-go at El Rancho, a Mexican place.Day 6 - Tuesday May 12
Today was explore Payson. After a so-so complementary breakfast the first thing our 4 intrepid travelers did was to drive all the way down to Scottsdale. So much for checking out Payson. :)
It was a pretty cool drive. Payson is up in the mountains and Scottsdale is in the flats on the eastern side of Phoenix. We went up and down over mountains – mostly down on the way there- and saw all kinds of different landscapes. Large scotch broom flowering with bright yellow blossoms stretched as far as the eye could see. This was mixed with little prickly pear cactus and then miles and miles of tall saguaros. Sagebrush and desert wild flowers filled in the gaps.
We looked around the area, got something to eat, found the Mayo Clinic (no, we weren't looking for it!) and headed back to Payson. We drove around a bit near the airport.
Scottsdale Back in Payson:
View from our balcony of the pool:
Day 7 - Wednesday May 13
Today was explore Payson housing day. We headed east from our Best Western hotel and got into the twisty interconnected roads of a semi planned housing area. Some were a bit shabby. Some had horses and some were not bad. We worked our way to the top of the ridge and discovered a few potential keepers. Views to the west and views to the east. Yards that were landscaped with something other than gravel or red rock. Some had nice lawns and trees mixed with native desert plants and flowers. No, we didn’t look at the prices but figured it was probably up there a bit.
Took a drive after that East on 260 about 30 miles to work our way to the top of the Mogollen Rim. There was an overlook and a closed up ranger station. The view was stupendous with pine forest trees covering mountains and hills to the South, West and North as far as the eye could see. We were the highest point around there and could see pretty darn far.
Back in Payson, Teri hit the pool. The pups escorted her in the stroller via driver Dave. Later Dave splashed.
It was a nice night but our last. Tomorrow – Moab.
Day 8 – Thursday May 14
Hit the road after breakfast. Decided to check out the Meteor Crater near Winslow. We had a great drive through the wonderful Pine forests that covered all that area below and above the Mogollon Rim. After a time we left the trees behind. Highway 89 stopped curving and became straight as far as the eye could see. Eventually we arrived at Winslow.
Winslow. A rocking town. There was a Prison just outside of town and the strip mall along both sides of the street dated back to the 1940’s before strip malls existed. We didn’t stop.
Once near the Crater Teri tuned into 1640 AM on the Radio and we listened to ‘the voice’ tell us about the Crater. It was great, like a 1960’s intro to a grade Z horror movie.
A little disappointed at the ticket booth. They didn’t allow dogs and adult tickets were $15 bucks each. It reminded us of the shysters at Royal Gorge. We decided seeing the raised circle of the Meteor Crater would have to do and headed up and moved on out. Here's what we would have seen if we were in an airplane:
On to New Mexico and Gallup.
We had a little issue with a huge line of bikers that were doing some kind of rally. It was several miles long and really backed everyone up. They pulled off at Holbrook which is where we wanted to stop and take a break but decided to keep going. Well, it sort of thinned out after that but we were locked in with a bunch of irate and discourteous truckers. So driving got a little interesting at 80 mph for a while.
Eventually we entered New Mexico. Yea!
Got something to eat and topped off the gas and then it was a straight shot North to Shiprock, NM and then Cortez in Colorado. On the way we were in Navajo Land and went through a police sobriety check. Sometime later we came upon huge singular rock formations.
Navigator Teri got us to Cortez and we took a loop road toward Delores. There are huge farmlands here with aqueducts supplying water. It is green with rolling hills. There are views of the San Juan Mountains and Mesa Verde. Pretty cool. We drove past a large reservoir – Roosevelt? It looked to be about 10 miles long or more.
Well, we were getting way tired now and the sun was getting low in the sky. About 2 hours left to go. An hour to Monticello and another hour after that to Moab. Caught up and passed a wide load truck hauling an enormous wind turbine blade. It must have been at least 100 feet long and flexing slightly. Scary. Zipped though Monticello and then drove through the nifty red canyon rocks to finally arrive at Moab and the Mecca House where we would stay. Whew.
Front Yard
Back yard
Kitchen
Bedroom
Bathroom
After figuring out how to get the key out of the lock box on the door and getting settled, Dave picked up an order of Manicotti from Pasta Jay’s. It was very yummy. Then …we crashed. :)
Day 9 – Friday May 15
Huh. It’s Friday already. Good thing we’re writing this in the log. So easy to lose track of time when you’re doing fun stuff.
The Mecca
There was also a storage shed for bikes and whatnot. In the partial daylight basement was another guest area.
We went to the City Market and got some stuff. The manager of the store helped check us out. Then it was to McDonalds to use up our two for one breakfast coupon.
And lunch at La Hacienda.
The plan for today was to check out the housing and then take a quick drive up 128 and do the loop road into Castle Valley
Most of Spanish Valley Colorado
We first took Highway 279 along the Colorado River .
Highway 279 
Petroglyphs along Highway 279 Took the loop road after that. Whoa. It was very neat. We went way the heck and gone up around nasty little switchbacks. Great views. The pups were very good travelers.
Day 10 - Saturday May 16
This would be our last day in Moab
Dave noticed in the evening the Swallows would call it a day & retire to their trees and small bats would come out and buzz around to continue the work of keeping the airways free of small flying bugs. The Mecca
Tomorrow – Grand Junction & Glenwood Springs.
Day 11 – Sunday May 17th
Loaded the truck in the morning and around 10am left Moab and cruised up highway 128 along the very full Colorado River.
Passed the entrance to Castle Canyon , passed the entrance to Fisher Towers
On the way through the awesome canyons, we saw a few rafters drifting down river. Toward the end of 128 where it merged into I-70, we passed through the ghost town of Cisco.
Zoom, off we drove to finally arrive at Fruita. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then it was up up up and up into the heights of the Colorado National Monument.
Great road. This one, with the typically vertical drops on one side of the road or the other, actually had curbs which presented some sort of security, Dave kept telling himself, as we rounded another hairpin turn to look off into a vast abyss of another magnificent canyon.
We saw some wonderful views. From where we were our eyes could look off to the NE across the Colorado
Once down, we skirted the SW side of the valley on a side road so we could take a look at the county and housing. It was green and a little like Whatcom County
Checked out the center of Grand Junction
Anyway, after a time we got back on I-70 and went through towns with interesting names like Rifle and Silt. There were some canyons on the way as we were following the Colorado River and there were very neat rock and cliff formations.
Pulled into Glenwood Springs a little after 3pm. Made good time even with our side trips.
Checked into our Quality Inn on Gilstrap road.
Sadie making herself at home, not on her blankets (foreground) but against our pillows! 
Our room looked right out on the muddy brown Colorado River . Across the river were the tracks but we had to wait until the wee hours of the morning before the a train finally came through. Last time we stayed here it seemed like there were a bunch of them going up and down.
This one had four pulling engines hauling about 100 hoppers either empty or filled with coal. At the end was one pusher engine. Dave thought it was fun to watch. Teri at the time was asleep and missed it. Darn.
Day 12 – Monday May 18th
Hey, today is Teri and Dave’s anniversary. Four wonderful years. The pups gave us a very nice card. :)
This morning after breakfast we explored Glenwood Springs. Started at the West end and looked at houses on the NE slopes. Worked our way through various roads and ended up on the West side of the river to drive by the railroad tracks. Saw a wicked looking snowplow. It was yellow with deep gouges on its massive blades and looked all business. Saw about 10 or more engines all lined up waiting for work. Other than that the yard was empty.
Checked out Glenwood Meadows which was the Mall area with all the shops and stores. We enjoyed looking at signs posted every 100 feet or so that read; no skateboarding, no rollerblading, no bicycles, no scooters, no – well you get the picture. Appears City Council declared martial law. Good job.
We found 3 mile road which wound up into a canyon and after that 4 mile road which went way the heck up into the hills. Found some nice houses. Big, nice, expensive houses on 3 and 5 acre lots. Gated stuff and new developments. Looks like, as in other areas they went crazy up here with the housing boom. We saw some potentials but we were getting up pretty high and they probably have winter a little early here and spring comes late compared to the areas next to the Colorado and Roaring Fork rivers.
Back in town we found the Turtle Liquor store and picked up a bottle of Anejo Hornitos Tequila. Different than the Reposodo’s, the Anejo is aged longer and is a darker color. We’ll have to try it and see if we like it. Dave talked to the guy behind the counter who was also a realtor. He described some of the carnage that occurred when the housing boom stopped. He said from the town of Rifle
Drove into the established older original houses after that. Interesting that none of them were listed for sale. Found the trail where we hiked up to see the old west cemetery where Doc Holiday is supposed to be.
Now we were looking for lunch so we pulled into Tequila’s Mexican restaurant for an order of chicken enchilada’s and beef taco’s to take back to the hotel. It was pretty yummy.
Today is our last day in Glenwood Springs. Tomorrow we began the trip back home with a stop over in Ogden and Pendleton then Bellingham
Day 13 – Tuesday May 19th
Up and Gone. Goodbye Glenwood Springs. Flew along through the towns of Silt and Rifle looking off in the distance at what looked like drilling platforms. There were many other capped platforms that may have been or are now producing natural gas.
The day is ok. Got Gas in Grand Junction Grand Junction
Our intrepid travelers continued on I-70 past Cisco and connected with 6 and headed more North-ish to Price. It got a little breezy but the day was fine. Crossed the Wasatch Mountains and came out at Spanish Fork and Provo
The weather had changed. It was overcast and spits of rain were trying to come down but evaporated before they could hit ground with the heat. Even so it was kind of a opaque look up the road North once we caught I-15. Got through Salt Lake City and then Ogden Ogden
Dave got the con polo from Cactus Reds and we thought it was pretty good eats. Crashed early. Next to last day tomorrow.
Day 14 – Wednesday May 20th
The next morning Teri woke first and then said quietly to Dave, “Good Morning. It’s 6 am.”
Start the day.
Packed, Breakfast and gone by 8am. Not bad.
We drove what seemed like …all day. You’d think we’d be used to this by now.
Got some gas and eats at Mountain Home and continued on. We had been making some great time in Utah and Idaho with a 75 mph speed limit but in Oregon
Kept on going. Rolled into Pendleton just after 3pm (Pacific Standard Time) –which was really 4pm Utah
Relaxed in the room with the pups and watched tv. Tomorrow we do the last leg for home.
Day 15 – Thursday May 21st
Got up, had the complementary breakfast and headed out. It was a fairly nice day.
We made good time and crossed the Columbia River . Welcome to Washington
From there it was a familier drive across Eastern Washington . Looked down at the gas gauge long after we had passed the tri-cities area and noticed we were about on fumes. Fortunately there was an off ramp just ahead with services.
As we drove along we saw several wide load trucks carrying large silver cylinders. They looked like space shuttle fuel tanks. They were very bright and polished and looked very expensive. Teri got a couple on film.
The picture of the tank on the trailer was taken at a rest stop just before Cle Elum at the As we neared the pass we decided to put a little more in the tank at Cle Elum so we could make it the rest of the way home without stopping. Yikes, Gas was $4.15 a gallon!! We didn’t put much in. Then it was time to continue but…Odd…at this end of town there was no West bound on ramp, so we had to drive back East on the freeway before we could find another on-off ramp that would take us West. Cle Elum. Fine place.
Over the pass and down into the busy and congested I-90, I-405, I-5 corridor. Let’s hear it for the HOV lanes. We scooted right through and after a time finally arrived at our good ol’ home
We got a few bugs on the front of the truck. The yard was a bit overgrown but after a few days of work it was back in shape. While it was an excellent trip, We were all glad to be home.
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