Sunday, October 2, 2016

ON OUR WAY TO ARCHES AND CANYONLAND NATIONAL PARKS

We got an early start from Park City on Saturday morning for two reasons. We could go to Saturday Vigil Mass in Moab and sleep in Sunday. Or we hoped we could find someplace around lunch time to watch the Penn State vs Michigan game. Yeah NOW I know we shouldn't have bothered but PSU hope springs eternal.

We were going to pass through Green River, UT at the right time so we started Googling. It has a population of 952. Ray's Tavern popped up on Trip Advisor so we got off the Interstate. We missed it. Right - in a town of less than 1000. We asked a police officer for directions and confirmed it was the only place in town with a TV.  I walked in and saw ONE  TV over the bar. So I didn't have much hope but I asked if there was any chance a couple of people could watch PSU/MICH game The guy said, "Sure. We've got another TV back here in the dining room. I'll put it on for you."

We won't discuss much about how the game went. By the Third Quarter I told Carol, "If they don't score on this possession, we'll leave. I also said that at the next possession. And the next. Third time was the charm and we left.

But I have to talk about the people and the food. The whole staff acted like we were the most important people there. And the place was packed with locals and river rafters. Needless to say, even leaving during the third quarter meant we should have drastically over stayed our welcome. But no one even suggested rushing us out. We weren't expecting much more than basic pub grub. Boy, were we surprised. The "Ray's Burger" was the best I've had in years. The French Fries were wonderful. And I know they were fresh because I watched a guy carry a big bucket of spuds from the backroom to the kitchen. Finished it off with fresh baked apple pie a La Mode. 

We were so hungry and the food looked so good we did not take a picture. But here is the front of  Ray's.



And here is the view from in front of Ray's, looking across Main Street.




The waiter brought the condiments in a cardboard four pack holder for Detour IPA. I immediately noticed the Airstream. But then noticed that it was being pulled by a red truck with a white topper.


When I wrecked my white Chevy, the insurance company let me keep the topper. I put it on my Big Red Truck and really tried to convince myself it looked good. I couldn't do it. Carol said that it looked perfectly OK. "White goes with everything."  We had invited some friends over for dinner and Carol said, "We aren't going to say anything. BUT if Jim comments, and you can get it painted for less than $300. I guess it'll be OK to paint it." Two minutes after Jim got into the house, right after the "hellos" Jim said, "WHAT is with that white topper. You're gonna get it painted. Right?"  So I checked with three body shops about painting the topper red. The prices ranged from $800-$900. Y'all know I'm not going to spend that much for cosmetics. MAACO came through like champs at $250. And just to be safe, I didn't order the Detour IPA.

These pictures are from our drive from Kemmerer to Park City but I forgot to post them.

My Yankee friends know what a "snow fence" is - 1 1/2" slats held  upright with twisted wire that are put on the up wind side of slopes to keep snow from drifting onto roads.

Well, in Wyoming, they're a little bigger. These are 4" POSTS holding horizontal 1x4 slats with diagonal bracing holding the whole thing up.


The newer ones use metal posts and bracing.


Literally hundreds of miles of it. We saw several crews building and repairing them in preparation for this winter. And the main (only) highway from Kemmerer to Salt Lake City is still closed for much of the winter season.

We'll be in Moab, UT for a few days. Two National Parks and lots of other sights to see.

In the meantime, here is a Facebook meme that confirms what my best friend and I are proving every day.





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