[The day we bit off more than we could chew.  Not sure how I thought we could leave Loveland in the morning, drive through Denver rush hour, head west through the mountains stopping on a whim to enjoy Vail, cross into Utah with plans of visiting both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks before heading “home” (motel in Green River) for the night?]

[With the mountains on our right (to the west) on the drive into Denver on I-25, you can see a bit of smog hanging over the city.  It’s geographic setting makes smog a continuing issue there.]

[But then we turned west on I-70 heading into a bright blue sky.  🙂  ]

[So, we’re off!  My first time driving through the mountains of Colorado.  The Super, long before I knew her, allegedly enjoyed multiple ski trips along this corridor.  My idea about skiing has always been that attaching boards to your feet so you can hurtle down mountains at high rates of speed over snow was inherently dangerous and to be avoided at all costs.]

[Attempting a revival through gambling, unsuccessfully so far according to my sources.]

[Let’s just sit back and enjoy the mountain scenery for a while.  The drive was made easier because of the unusual absence of snow.  Uncle Tom had a ski condo in Breckenridge for many years.]

[Breckenridge, here we come.]

[Them’s ski slopes, I’m told.]

[This rest area was the only place we saw copious amounts of snow.]

[Where we were, in relation to where we weren’t.]

[We hadn’t planned any stops through the mountains, but Vail was right there.  I had never been to a big time ski resort before, so why not.]

[The Super used to come here in the 80’s . . . until I brought sanity into her life.]

[Obviously, she didn’t recognize it anymore – from a sleepy little ski town to multi-story condos everywhere.]

[So, let’s just take a tour.]

[Here she caught up with March Madness in the visitors’ center.]

[And on the road again.  Some original neighbors when we first moved back to Vacationland USA now live in Steamboat.  Hi, Tina and Noel!]

[I can see how one could have issues traversing this highway in real winter!]

[Well, no wonder I couldn’t find it!]

[More big time ski areas.]

[And then we came out of the mountains . . . ]

[Seems like we’ve done a lot already, but it was just time for lunch . . . ]

[At Enzo’s in Grand Junction, Colorado.]

[And now the signs tell all.]

[This was our first visit to Arches.  Not much need for narrative here – just sit back and enjoy nature’s beauty (OK, it’s just a coincidence that we begin with a phallic symbol).]

[As you can see, there are people up there.  It either required a trail hike or an all-terrain vehicle to do so.  We didn’t have the latter, and didn’t have time for the former.]

[Remember when you were in kindergarten and you placed your arms thusly?  Then you said, “This is the sun.”  In this instance, “This is an arch.”]

[There are people climbing on that rock.  What would possess anyone to do such a thing?]

[Elephants?]

[Hang in there, kids.  The parade is on!  We’re soon coming to the park’s namesakes!  🙂  ]

[Yup, we’re looking for “windows.”]

[We begin the climb with this in mind.]

[And a sight so uniquely rare certainly requires a “selfie,” particularly if the supervisor is in the background.]

[You go, Supervisor!]

[I have no explanation for these guys?]

[Your Cub Reporter at work.]

[Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plains . . . ]

[The Super kept sprinting around, ignoring her arthritic knees.  🙂  ]

[I’m an amblin’ man, made a lot of stops, all over the world . . . ]

[The road less taken . . . though it leads to the parking lot.]

[As we left Arches, it was plain to see we would not be visiting Canyonlands National Park on this day.  And we couldn’t see how we were going to fit it in some other day?  Some other time then, though we’re always subject to its constraints.  As we left the park heading north back to the interstate, this was a Friday evening and in the inbound traffic to Moab was bumper-to-bumper.  We suspected spring break . . . ]

[We would spend the night in Green River, Utah, a speck on the map with what appeared to be one restaurant and a Subway.  We opted for the Subway because we wanted to eat in. In a town of about 30, there must have been a hundred in line at the Subway.  But with all the time-outs, I don’t think we missed that much of whatever basketball games were on that night.  In the morning we would head for Kanab, Utah, hard by the Arizona border.]

I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine marriage and a career.  ~  Gloria Steinem

Up next:  Day Four.