4,000 mile road-trip

Wife and I took a road-trip to Zion and Bryce Canyon NPs. Highlight of that part of trip was returning to Zion from visiting Bryce Canyon and seeing a Chrysler mini-van driving in the opposite direction left front wheel-tire come off right in front of us. Thankfully, the wheel missed us and the vehicle behind us.

From there, we drove to Monument Valley for a couple days. This was my favorite stop. We took an 8 hour Navajo tour and saw many ancient settlements and the views were spectacular. Our next stop took us Cortez, CO to visit the Mesa Verde National Park with a stop at Four Corners. Along the way, I loved visiting with the elder Native Americans we encountered. They all had fascinating stories about their lives and the history of their people.

Next up was up to Moab to visit Arches NP. Took an awesome 7 mile hike in the Devils Playground. I recommend this hike over the hike to the Delicate Arch as that is where everyone wants to go. You can get a great view of the Arch without having to hike to it. Devils Playground offers some stunning scenery and we got to see nine arches up close. It's a bit challenging so it's not for everyone.

After Arches, we took a side trip to the Denver area where I grew up. Visited Dad's grave at the Veterans National Cemetery and showed the wife the homes and areas where I lived. And then home.

The car performed flawlessly. The MPG varied considerably. One portion had us driving into a 25 mph headwind with gusts of 45+ mph. MPG on that portion was only 39.6. Not too bad for driving 80 mph freeways. Other portions, we averaged 56-57 mpg. I was only able to plug in at Monument Valley. But the car stayed at around 25 miles of EV range the entire trip. With most of the driving occuring on freeways or two lane highways, it didn't have an impact.

 

Unfortunately, we did not. In hindsight, I would have booked stays there after Cortez but probably would have had to bypass Moab/Arches. I remember traveling to Silverton as a Boy Scout around 1970-71. Oh well, next road trip.