(Sorry this has taken so long and thanks to Flocko for his helpful hints

We were headed for a family wedding in the Montrose/Ouray area of Colorado on the w/e of July 4th; but this is part of the US that we have never traveled. When I looked up the area on "Google", I happened upon a "Great Circle" web site…this included western CO and much of Utah including the Grand Canyon and down to Lake Powell in Arizona.

With a little map reading, more searching and the advice of "Flocko" in Moab Utah, we narrowed our travel to our "little circle".

ITINERARY

Grand Junction CO
Moab UT Arches National Park, Dead Horse State Park, Canyonlands
Monticello UT
Mesa Verde National Park, CO
Durango CO
Ouray, CO for 5 more days of wedding festivities

DAY ONE We flew BOS-DEN on United, then into Grand Junction CO on United Express where we met our daughter and son-in-law from San Fran at the airport, and got our prearranged SUV (won't buy one but it was comfortable, roomy and with AC). We had lunch in GJ and then headed west to Moab, Utah, about 114 miles. Our bags did not make it as they went on a plane to Montrose CO instead. Now that would have worked as we, too, were going to the Montrose-Ouray area but not for another 5 days! The 2 planes had left from the same gate in DEN and someone did not read the GJT tags. They later flew them back to Den, and then GJT, and then drove them to Moab, to arrive at midnight. The drive from Grand Junction CO to Moab UT was gorgeous and a great introduction to the Southwest's vista we'd be seeing more of in the coming days.
We had to skip the expected relaxing dip in the pool sans swimsuits, so we headed to Sunset Grill for dinner; this is a nice restaurant (a special occasion place as there were some family birthday parties going on and it seemed that everyone knew everyone else!) It is perched on a hillside overlooking Moab with a glassed-in dining room as well as an outdoor dining area. We were tempted to go to the Sorrel Ranch for dinner (the menu sounded terrific and it was about 18 miles north of Moab but we decided not to drive any more).


DAY TWO, we headed to Arches National Park, just outside of town, where every arch you've ever seen in a western movie seems to be located. Water, ice, extremes temperatures and underground salt movement caused the sculptured rock scenery. The arches range from 3 to 306 feet from bases to base. The lovely desert hues range from tans to pinks, oranges and reds. There are lots of images in the rocks as they've been carved over the years by glaciers, the sea and the wind; some have been named such as "The Judges" or "Park Avenue" but there is also fun in coming up with your own images, sort of like finding faces in clouds. We decided there was a confederate soldier rock image.
The Moab Visitor's Center, in the center of town, has maps and helpful suggestions; also for movie buffs, a list of all the movies, TV shows etc. that have been filmed nearby. We returned to the park after dinner that night to see some of the arches that were deemed more photogenic at sunset, which was close to 9 pm that night. There was even less traffic and the park had a soft tranquil feel. The sunset was truly stunning with colors of pinks and purples that seemed to burn in the sky, and then settled into a luminous glow. The animals in the area out after 6 pm, we were told, and we did see several deer, and a coyote.


DAY THREE, we headed south 31 miles to the northern section of Canyonlands National Park known as the Islands in the Sky where one canyon after another just rolls out in front of you. I've been told that it looks like the Grand Canyon; while not so deep, it is one repeated one canyon after the other for a hundred mile stretch. The vastness is awesome. The Colorado and Green Rivers cut through it and converge. There are lots of overlooks as well as easy walking opportunities. We did not spot any of the elusive bighorn sheep. Less than 10-12 inches of rain/year make this very dry country. The southern section of the park is called the Needles, another 31 miles drive, which are tall spiky spires of rock, that remind me of the sand dribbles children make in the sand at the beach. (The middle and westernmost section of the park, called the Maze, is only accessible by foot or 4WD; I read that some of it has still not been charted and many of the trails are for experienced hikers only.)
We also went to Dead Horse State Park where the story goes, a band of horses was rounded up on a point atop sheer sandstone cliffs overlooking the river, herded into a corral area but then forgotten. The horses died within view of the Colorado River over 2000 feet below. At Moab, there are some significant petroglyths; the birth scene at Kane Creek Blvd Rock Art site was one this childbirth educator/nurse had used from a text in a presentation but now got to see in person!

We had decided to stop in Monticello to break up the drive between Canyonlands and Mesa Verde but I would now opt to spend 2 nights in Mesa Verde instead. It was 120 miles from Needles in Canyonlands to Mesa Verde, 69 from Monticello to MV; should have gone the distance but we had reservations and were fading; a pool dip sounded great. The Best Western was fine but the meal choices in town were limited as some places were closed on Mondays.

DAY FOUR We headed south thru SE Utah with lots of rolling farms, noting a neatly efficient method of watering large areas of land which involves irrigation pipes on large metal wheels which simply roll from one acre to another. Lots of individualized manufactured housing, another efficiency. Through Dove Creek, home of the Pinto beans = lots of bad jokes in the car. Lots of new homes thru Montezuma…does that mean that larger farms are selling off property, I wonder. We pass Ute Peak and roll into Mesa Verde before lunch.
Mesa Verde National Park preserves the cliff dwellings and buildings of the native peoples (archeologists called them Anasazi or ancient enemies but they are now referred to as Ancestral Puebloans) generally in the time frame of 400-1300AD. Their elaborate stone communities in the shelter of the canyon walls are stunning for what they do tell about their families, crafts and life even though they left no written records.
All of it was fascinating esp. if you like history and/or archeology and have a sense of curiosity
about people's culture, the environment and how it affects their development. We took the Balcony Cliff tour after lunch, also making a reservation for the first Cliff House tour in the morning. The Balcony tour includes several ladder climbs, walkways next to sheer drops and a crawl thru a short 18-inch tunnel (a replica is outside the visitor's center so you can try it out in advance of buying the tickets!); it is not recommended for those to dislike heights or vistas near sheer drops which meant my honey who put his feet up with a good book overlooking a more level but lovely view. We also drove to many of the sites one can visit without a guide such as the overlooks and trails.
That night we stayed in the park at the Far View Lodge. All of the units are single story, with small private balconies and facing the cliffs. After a wonderful dinner (see Meals) we headed away from the lights for some stargazing, and later fell asleep with the starlit sky filling the picture window and a nice breeze.

DAY FIVE Up for a quick "coffee and" before the Cliff House tour which involves a more protected walking area in the tour of the cliff houses for all of us. The rangers were good at supplying the history although we did note some differences in facts between the rangers on each tour. They had not seen the July issue of the Smithsonian Magazine where new archeological research was discussed about the reason why the cliff dwellers left after creating such a complex community.
A sad note is the amount of fire destruction that has burned forest in the past few years. Interestingly, since the forest does not get regularly cleared of brush by those who would gather wood for burning, as did happen previously by the native people, this "clearing" by fire will continue to happen. We did notice some evidence of brush piled at the roadside, but I would imagine that it is not possible to do that for thousands of acres.

After the tour and lunch, we passed a family of 12 turkeys as well as many deer in the shaded woods as we headed toward CO to Durango and Silverton to cruise some shops and have an ice cream break. Then on to Ouray via the Million Dollar Highway, with more incredible vistas, now with forests, and snowcapped mountains overlooking rushing streams. The road loops and turns, one switchback after another, past ghost towns, a deeply red and gouged remnant of a silver mine, and into ski country (Telluride is on the other side of the mountains from Ouray). As we headed up and onto the San Juan Mountains, the temperature dropped from 94 to 76. As "Flocko" warned me, the drive takes longer than you expect because of so many photo-op stops. We used a great road map guide from www.milebymile.com, which listed everything we should not miss on this stretch toward Ouray such as Red Mountain Pass, Idarado Mine Tunnel, the ghost town of Ironton, the base of Mt Abram at 12,801 feet, and the Amphitheater Campground. We arrived in Ouray around close to 5 and we headed off to a BBQ at the ranch, the first of 5 days of great festivities with family and friends in the real Marlboro country.

Two of the public events in Ouray were a Fourth of July parade and a Volunteer Fire Department "hose-off" contest where our previous night's waitress and her dad won the father-daughter contest! The night ended with fireworks in the box canyon; there was one dud that did set a brush fire but the entire fire dept had ringed the canyon road and it was promptly extinguished as the townspeople cheered their approval from below; many of the day's events were part of a fund-raiser for the Ouray Volunteer Fire Department as they are raising money in order to accept a matching grant. There are also a number of fine older homes in Ouray of historic interest. The hot springs were a treat.

On the way home, we volunteered to be bumped from a United Express flight from Montrose to Denver and received 2 free anywhere-in-the-US-passes; I had overheard the desk staff say that the heat and humidity meant that the plane could not carry a full load. So they gave us snack, dinner and breakfast vouchers and flew us to Salt Lake City for the night so we could take a direct SLC-Bos flight in the am. (makes my honey happier with less landings and take-offs). We did have a snafu at the Salt Lake City Airport Ramada whose staff contended they did not accept United vouchers for rooms or meals. I explained that the United Airlines staff in Montrose called direct (a call I heard) and made the reservation, so not taking the voucher now seemed strange. They denied having done this (rather rudely, and refused to let me talk with the on-site manager who was in the office), so I then requested the voucher rate ($45.00!) for which we would pay and they agreed. We did, and went off to dinner but when we returned, we were led to a different room than we requested. The comment was they "didn't think it should matter" (!) and appeared to be waiting for me to explain myself! We were then given a room with requested accommodations only to discover it had a ripped and stained rug; had we been staying any length of time, I'd have refused. But given the previous unpleasantness at the desk and the hour, we just crashed, and headed home in the morning. Certainly won't be doing any Ramada in the future. And I have sent a request for reimbursement to United.

OVERALL
The entire trip was replete with one magnificent vista after another…we started with "wow" and rapidly ran through "awesome", "incredible", amazing", and then just stunned silence.
At many points, we would look at each other and simply shake our heads. The photos we took were great but just don't do the sheer magnificence of the scenery justice.

WEATHER We were there from June 28 thru July 6; it was sunny and hot…the temperatures dipped into the 70's at some of the highest elevations in the San Juan Mountains in Ouray but were mostly in the high 80-100+…the difference as they say "it's not the heat but the humidity that bothers you"…in Boston, it was 94 and 70% humidity before we left, in Moab, it was 96 but only 15% humidity…so much more comfortable, a difference we appreciated when we got there, a difference that we really minded when we returned.

ACCOMMODATIONS
Moab, UT-Microtel generous sized room, pool. Note: mirror on one entire wall?
Monticello, UT-Best Western, very cold water in the pool even with no shade, generous
self-serve breakfast with make-your-own-waffles
Mesa Verde, CO-Far View Lodge in the park in an older room, tiny bathroom, no phone/TV
(Ok with us), was beautifully peaceful with large picture window
and balcony to the star-filled sky (more of the rooms have been
updated and are spiffier)
Ouray, CO-Box Canyon Lodge, at the box canyon end of town (town is 9x6 blocks) near a
fall, with their own hot springs on the property (other places give
guests passes to the springs). Nice rooms with AC (rare in Ouray

MEALS
Moab, we had a very good meal with good service at Sunset Grill (see above)
Moab, Arches Pancake House served okay breakfasts to 3 of us but frozen blueberries on my
pancakes were a weird wake-up call (a zap in the microwave could have prevented that)
Tommie's Donuts are the Krispy Kreme of Moab
Moab, sorry, Flocko but Subway's are fresher and better than HogiYogi's
Moab, Moab Diner (it's a diner)
Mesa Verde, an excellent meal with superb service, a fine dining experience, at the Metare
Room for dinner (elk tenderloin, buffalo roast beef, and trout); also lots of variety
and freshly prepared breakfasts and lunches at the Far View Terrace Cafeteria
Ouray, yummy treats and breakfasts at Le Papillion
Two good dinners with good service at the Coachlight


PEOPLE
We met the nicest and most unassuming folks on this trip; it was a pleasure to be in the company of real people who took the time to smile and really engage in a conversation. The pace is blessedly slower than Boston; perhaps it helps to have a slower pace of living or the opportunity to be constantly aware of the beauty and peace of nature around you, of being in tune with the birth of the animals, feeling the patience it takes to make a saddle, and the tangible nature of the job one does.

SOME OBSERVATIONS:
· there was not a lot of traffic or visitors the weekend of June 28, probably because the next weekend would be a holiday w/e, a good thought to remember when planning to travel to high volume place like national parks. We went to Yosemite several years ago the weekend before Memorial Day w/e and encountered the same lack of crowds.
· The national parks were all very well maintained and every staff person we met (rangers, store clerks, reservation staff on the phone, etc.) were very helpful and a pleasure to interact with esp. at Mesa Verde where we had lodging, eating and shopping experiences as well as ranger contact.
· We packed a soft-sided collapsible cooler and refilled it every day with bottles of water and ice so we didn't have to stop so frequently for drinks, also cheaper by the case
and healthier than sodas (we were pre-warned to drink more at the higher elevations)
· The National Parks pass for $50.00 was well worth it as we can use it at all national parks and sites, which in the Boston area are numerous. We noted that we keep saying we want to tour the Adams' properties in nearby Quincy!
· Motels and hotels would make travelers so much happier if they provided counter space in the bathrooms; balancing two travel kits on the back of the toilet is silly. And what is with motels with no toilet lids?? (No, the unthinkable did not happen, thanks to the caution of draping a towel over the toilet opening!)
· Utah does not recycle….:(

PERSONAL THOUGHTS
· how incredible, how hard the journey across these lands must have been in covered wagons
· how beautiful this country is
· we did manage to see a lot but there is so much more to see
· side streets and back roads are more interesting
· how can you top a wedding on a wildflower-covered ridge overlooking a ranch in the lee of a snow-capped mountain where 10 adult and baby elk come out of the forest to watch as the string quartet starts to play??!
· There is ease in the manner of everyday life here that I envy, so much less stressful.
· In May, I went to Italy to meet family I have never known in a trip back to the town where my Dad grew up, to complete a circle as we brought his stories as recorded by my daughter back to the family mausoleum. On this trip, we meet new family in a part of the country I've never seen, to open a new path to new friends…I'll be seeing an aunt of the bride in Albuquerque at a conference in October!

Any questions, I'll be happy to share/answer.
JudyG