Today we had a quiet 293-mile return drive to Walla Walla.  Our return route was a little different and added exactly one mile to the journey, relative to the route we took to get to Sunriver.

The entire group:



Now just the cousins:



Roadcam below.  The scenery transitioned from pine forest, to grassy hills and scrub brush, to the majestic Columbia River Gorge, then to the rolling wheat fields and vineyards that are part of the Walla Walla valley.



The results of yesterday's tie-dye workshop:



Notes to myself if I return to Sunriver:

1.  Elk 6 was good.  It’s near the village and near the lodge, and it’s relatively inexpensive.  It sleeps 4 very comfortably but could also accommodate a couple more people.

2.  Bring your own bikes.  The condos all have at least two functioning adult-sized bikes in their garages, but they can be creaky and not always easy to use.  Bill’s bike rack holds two bikes, so you’ll have to install an additional rack or hitch on the van to transport the other two bikes.

3.  Bring your own food.  The grocery store in Sunriver is way expensive.

4.  The observatory was really fun.

That’s a wrap!  This blog will now take a rest for several weeks until the next travel adventures occur (November and December).

Got up.

Rode bikes through the pines to Sister C's condo.

Ate lunch al fresco at the big lodge.

Swam in a very crowded pool:



At poolside:



All the cousins, enjoying their quiescently frozen dairy confections:



Later, at Sister C's place...



...we had spaghetti & meatballs for dinner, followed by some kind of chocolate goo for dessert.

We hung out until bedtime playing games and talking:



...



Is there someone in the kitchen?



Summer's great.

I'm taking advantage of the freedom from the academic schedule that the summer months provide, so it's down to Sunriver for a few days to meet up with Sister C and family.  A few new blog entries are forthcoming:

August 2: Drive to Sunriver, OR
August 3: Sunriver, OR
August 4: Sunriver, OR
August 5: Return to Walla Walla, WA

Arose at 8 am, had breakfast at camp, then packed and got ready for the road.  We took US Route 191 going north, and then briefly took Interstate 70 (about 25 miles) before heading northwest on US Route 6 until we reached Salt Lake City.  There, US 6 merged with Interstate 15 north, which in turn merged with Interstate 84.  Altogether, we drove 462 miles from Moab, UT, to Jerome, ID.

Just out of Moab, we stopped at the Copper Ridge Sauropod Dinosaur track site.  For several years, I've been trying to find the site depicted in one of my college textbooks of what was once a dry mud bed with a streak of dinosaur tracks running across it.  I remember that it was a dramatic photograph, in black and white, of the sun high overhead and the tracks receding into the distance along the flat rock.  Unfortunately I don't know in which book I saw that photo; I just remember that the photo made an impression on me, making me realize better than all the dinosaur books I possessed in first grade that the world was once a very, very different place, with creatures that are alien to the world we inhabit today.  I don't know if that site was in Wyoming, Montana, Utah, or somewhere else, but I'm hoping it's here, just north of Moab.  It's worth a check.

We drove off the highway onto an unmarked gravel road and drove about 2 miles, very slowly so as to avoid jostling various delicate systems of digestion possessed by the backseat inhabitants.  Such systems are known to react violently with excessive jostling, so the utmost care must to be taken in order to avoid massive digestive upheaval and a serious cleaning of the car upholstery.  There is a little parking area at the end of the two-mile lurch, and a short trail pointing us in the direction of the tracks:



There is an interpretive sign at the end of the trail and we look at the rock area beyond the sign for evidence of tracks.  The tracks aren't very obvious.  We're looking at all the various impressions and dimples in the rock thinking, is that one?  How about that one?  Yes?  No?

Maybe?:



After about 20 minutes of disappointment, V calls us over to an area in front of the sign, which she says contains a very obvious track.  Yes, this is waaay more obvious than the indentations about which were fooling ourselves earlier:



A theropod (maybe an allosaurus) was here 65 million years ago or more.  That's astounding.  Sixty five million years ago.  Or more.  It's exceedingly difficult to grasp just how long of a time period that is, but the more I think about it the more amazed I become at this impression's survival rate.  This footprint was here long before Lucy roamed the earth, in fact long before anything resembling humans existed.  A remarkably old remnant of a living creature.  I'll be really lucky if anything I do or create survives 200 years, 1/325,000th as long as these footprints.

Walking in your footsteps:



Copper Ridge was not the site from the old textbook, but this photograph is similar to the one in that book:



I didn't realize that the cairns, which I had noticed earlier, were markers for the individual tracks.

Nearby, brontosaurus tracks, turning to the right toward R:



Later, a fast food lunch in Green River, Utah.  The area around this part of Utah is some of the most barren, desolate land I've driven.  Favorite road sign: Almosta Ranch.

Heavy rain & lightning in Salt Lake City, clearing as we proceeded north, then more heavy rain and lightning appeared as we approached Jerome.  I hate driving through electrical storms.  Nevertheless, we arrived at our kabin safe and sound, then immediately high-tailed it for the nearest Chili's (V's request).  Dinner cam:



Two margaritas went down easily.

Back at the kabin.  Rain is keeping us inside, which is fine because it's dark, we're fatigued, and we're ready to call it a night.  Some computing and iPhoning, then time for bed:

Today we drove to Moab, Utah and visited Arches National Park.  Morning started in Cortez, CO, and was spent packing and getting on the road.  We had a relatively short and easy 112 mile drive, first heading northwest on US Route 491 out of Cortez (known as US Route 666 until 2003 — the Devil's Highway), crossing the Utah state border, then taking US Route 191 north to Moab.

The scenery through western Colorado and eastern Utah became increasingly awesome as we approached Moab.  Huge rust-colored sandstone formations jutted skyward out of the scrub plains.  Roadcam:



Church Rock along Route 191, as seen from the car:



We arrived in Moab at about 12:30 pm, first checking in to the campsite and then proceeding into downtown Moab in search of food.  Moab Diner looked good, right on the main drag through town.  Lunch cam:



We then retraced our route back to our campsite.  Dramatic cliffs to the west, below.  Not so dramatic in the picture, but trust me, they're dramatic.  Go there and you'll see:



We're tenting it tonight:



An afternoon swim for the kiddos, then it's off to Arches National Park, about 8 miles away.

At the entrance:



There is much more to see at Arches National Park than arches.  The park contains several balancing rock formations, fins, spires, eroding monoliths, and other geological structures.  These unique formations were caused by layers of sediment that were deposited on top of an ancient salt bed.  The salt bed was no match for the weight of the sediment as it turned into rock and so the salt layer began to buckle, shifting and tilting the sandstone in various directions, thrusting some parts into the sky and ramming other parts together.  At the same time that these geological forces were at work, wind and water erosion sculpted the arches and formations that we see today.
 
The site called Park Avenue is one of the most spectacular sites.  A monumentally grand view that everybody should see.  I think this site was my favorite:



Looking left:



Looking right:



There they go, down the Park Avenue trail:



It's very hot and dry here, and although the girls marched ahead, I suggested that we take it easy due to our lack of water as well as R feeling a little under the weather with her sore throat.  This was a good call, because R began to feel a bit worse thereafter.

Balanced Rock below.  The top portion is 55 feet tall.  The whole thing is about 128 feet tall.  It could topple at any time.



Keep it up there, E:



You too, R:



Don't let go:



Garden of Eden, below.  Not sure why this site is called the Garden of Eden:



One of the "window" arches:



We drove further to get to the Delicate Arch viewing spot.  You've no doubt seen this iconic arch on Utah licence plates, and here it is through a zoom lens from about a mile away.  Notice the people at the base:



The heat was really zapping our energy and R was pretty much drained, so we decided to call it a day and rejuvenate ourselves in town.  Dinner at Eddie McStiff's Brewpub did have its desired restorative effect, no doubt accomplished by sucking down several glasses of water and a couple of wheat beers.  As we awaited our meals:



The finale:



More swimming back at the KOA, and then bed in the tent.