rob28
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We had a 2 week road trip from NW Ontario to the following destinations.
Winnipeg - Elton John concert to get the vacation kicked off.
Billings Montana. A long day of driving across N Dakota and into Montana. The high headwinds and 80 mph limits really sucked the gas. The Badlands were interesting though.
Ogden, Utah. This was via a brief visit to Yellowstone - and it was way too brief. What a place!
Tropic, Utah for 3 nights at the Bryce Trails B&B. Highly recommended. While at Tropic we visited Bryce Canyon and Zion. Both amazing places.
Our next destination was Page, Arizona so we vent via Kanab and stopped in at the Best Friends Animal Shelter for a tour and then onwards via Hwy 89a - a very scenic route and one of my favourite sections of driving. That night we hit Horsheshoe Bend and the Antelope Canyon for a night tour.
Monument Valley and the Forrest Gump highway were the following morning before we carried on north to Moab.
Day 1 in Moab was checking out Canyonlands - Islands in the sky. What an amazing place.
As we only have a stock Sport S, rock crawling and difficult trails were not on the agenda but I'd seen the Shafer trail and thought it looked OK on videos. After standing at the Shafer overlook I was having second thoughts but the wife surprised me and said she'd do it - but only if she was driving as she's the worst passenger ever of there's a drop off. She just kept it in 1st or 2nd gear and let the engine braking do most of the work, not overworking the brakes. It did feel a bit sketchy at times but it's a wide trail in most places of the big descent. Once down the bottom it's time to relax and enjoy the views and giggle as you get bounced around. Once past the Potash ponds and back on the black top, the canyon road is magnificent - I can see why it's classed as a scenic highway. I'd say Shafer is an easy trail which could kill you if you don't pay attention.
We went back to Canyonlands in the evening to try some night photos of Mesa arch as it was way too busy during the day.
Day 2 was Dead Horse State Park and then the Gemini Bridges trail. This time I was driving and it was all fine until we got to the last mile of trail which consists of the shelf road with a drop off. When we met another Jeep coming towards us, wifey panicked and bailed on me while I had to get closer to the edge. Easy trail though....
Day 3 was Arches Park before starting the return journey. We made it to Glenwood Springs, CO where we rode the cable car and had an easy evening. Onwards, up and over the mountains - probably the most strenuous part of the trip for the Jeep. 3rd gear for a long stretch up to the tunnel where water and oil temps had climbed about 15-20 degs. As soon as we were out the tunnel and descending, temperatures dropped back to normal. Onwards through Denver and as far as Mitchell, N Dakota for the night.
Final day of driving, up through Bemidji, MN and onwards to home back across the border.
7216km or 4483miles.
90 hrs of driving.
10.7l/100km or 22mpg US
No Jeep issues at all.
It was fun.
Winnipeg - Elton John concert to get the vacation kicked off.
Billings Montana. A long day of driving across N Dakota and into Montana. The high headwinds and 80 mph limits really sucked the gas. The Badlands were interesting though.
Ogden, Utah. This was via a brief visit to Yellowstone - and it was way too brief. What a place!
Tropic, Utah for 3 nights at the Bryce Trails B&B. Highly recommended. While at Tropic we visited Bryce Canyon and Zion. Both amazing places.
Our next destination was Page, Arizona so we vent via Kanab and stopped in at the Best Friends Animal Shelter for a tour and then onwards via Hwy 89a - a very scenic route and one of my favourite sections of driving. That night we hit Horsheshoe Bend and the Antelope Canyon for a night tour.
Monument Valley and the Forrest Gump highway were the following morning before we carried on north to Moab.
Day 1 in Moab was checking out Canyonlands - Islands in the sky. What an amazing place.
As we only have a stock Sport S, rock crawling and difficult trails were not on the agenda but I'd seen the Shafer trail and thought it looked OK on videos. After standing at the Shafer overlook I was having second thoughts but the wife surprised me and said she'd do it - but only if she was driving as she's the worst passenger ever of there's a drop off. She just kept it in 1st or 2nd gear and let the engine braking do most of the work, not overworking the brakes. It did feel a bit sketchy at times but it's a wide trail in most places of the big descent. Once down the bottom it's time to relax and enjoy the views and giggle as you get bounced around. Once past the Potash ponds and back on the black top, the canyon road is magnificent - I can see why it's classed as a scenic highway. I'd say Shafer is an easy trail which could kill you if you don't pay attention.
We went back to Canyonlands in the evening to try some night photos of Mesa arch as it was way too busy during the day.
Day 2 was Dead Horse State Park and then the Gemini Bridges trail. This time I was driving and it was all fine until we got to the last mile of trail which consists of the shelf road with a drop off. When we met another Jeep coming towards us, wifey panicked and bailed on me while I had to get closer to the edge. Easy trail though....
Day 3 was Arches Park before starting the return journey. We made it to Glenwood Springs, CO where we rode the cable car and had an easy evening. Onwards, up and over the mountains - probably the most strenuous part of the trip for the Jeep. 3rd gear for a long stretch up to the tunnel where water and oil temps had climbed about 15-20 degs. As soon as we were out the tunnel and descending, temperatures dropped back to normal. Onwards through Denver and as far as Mitchell, N Dakota for the night.
Final day of driving, up through Bemidji, MN and onwards to home back across the border.
7216km or 4483miles.
90 hrs of driving.
10.7l/100km or 22mpg US
No Jeep issues at all.
It was fun.
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