Plan B

Usually, when we plan vacations, we try to incorporate at least one national park.  But this time, the tables are turned (thanks to the politicians who can't work things out).  The national parks are still closed and this is day 3 of the shutdown.  Now we had to figure out where do we go from here?  Gone is the option for Canyonlands,  Natural Bridges National Monument and Hovenweep National Monument as we work our way south in Utah.  

Don had a bright idea of changing our course and staying at Mesa Verde.  Good thought.  It lasted one minute until I reminded him that it is also a National Park.  So much for that.

Plan B turned out to be doing two scenic drives near the town of Moab.  In the morning, we drove north and west of Moab on Hwy 279, also known as Potash Drive.  There are huge cliffs on one side of the road and the Colorado River on the other.

On the side of the cliffs was a section that contained ancient Indian petroglyphs.  They were at least 15-20 feet above the side of the road, which was a good thing.  There was less chance of them being damaged and defaced.  I'm guessing that the fat four legged animal is a bighorn sheep, but I could be wrong.  Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe it is a "fluffy" deer....

Near the end of this drive, we stopped so I could take a picture of the Jug Handle Arch, which is adjacent to the highway.

That was a short drive which only took an hour and a half.  We hurried back to the campground, made some sandwiches and grabbed some fruit before heading off in another direction.  This time it was Scenic Byway 128.  After going through narrow sections alongside the Colorado River, it opened up to a wide expanse of the valley floor and gorgeous views.

The road reminded me of a ribbon, winding its way through the rolling hills. Recent rains had turned much of this desert area into different shades of green.  It was a nice contrast to the purple mountains and blue skies.

We stopped for lunch at the historic Dewey Bridge, or what is left of it.  It was built in 1916 and completely restored in 2000, only to be destroyed by fired 8 years later.  It was designed to support the weight of 6 horses, 3 wagons and 9000 lbs. of freight and was Utah's longest suspension bridge.

Don stopped for a minute so I could  take a picture of the Colorado River and the layers of the cliffs.

The dirt road up to Fisher Towers was rocky, making it a very slow drive up to the trail head.  We both wondered why we saw a couple driving their newer model Cadillac up the rocky, one way road.

The Fisher Towers, below, are named for a miner who lived near them in the 1880's.  They're made out of two different kinds of sandstone and caked with a stucco of red mud.  They have been in various movies, one of them being Goldmember starring Austin Powers.

At the base of the Fisher Towers is a small campground, which has no water or electric, but totally awesome views during the day and star filled skies at night.  Great place for people who have tents or small pop up campers, but definitely not for large rigs!

Another beautiful rock formation is located off Castle Valley Road.  This little valley was lush with vegetation but the downside would be not being able to get out during heavy rains.  There were numerous low spots in the road that showed signs of recent flooding as we worked our way back to Moab.