ZR-1 Corvette Road Trip to the Southwest and San Diego

[QB93Z]

Day 5: Saturday was a good day to cross the Rockies. We found frost on the ZR-1 in the 33 degree early morning:



Leadville is a neat town, nestled in the mountains. Here is the view from the hotel parking lot:







We drove north on CO-24 heading for I-70. We crossed the Continental Divide on Tennessee Pass at 10,424 feet:



We got a nice view of the mountain road and near by snow covered peaks from a lookout high in the Rockies:





to be continued.....

[QB93Z]

We got on to I-70 in Vail Colorado. I-70 in the western Rockies passes through Glenwood Canyon, following the Colorado River. In many places, the design and construction of the roadway was specifically designed to have the lowest possible impact on the canyon.






The red cliffs on north side of the road were amazing:



to be continued........

[QB93Z]

We exited I-70 in Grand Junction, CO and turned south to drive through the Unaweep Canyon. Unaweep Canyon is a geologically unique canyon that cuts across the Uncompahgre Plateau, Mesa County, in western Colorado. Our route was CO-141, the Unaweep Tabaguade Scenic Byway.




The northern portion of the canyon is a rough and rugged high plateau with numerous monuments created by erosion:






Along the Byway, we stopped at the Gateway Resort to visit the Gateway Auto Museum:





The museum features some of the cars and trucks in the collection of John Hendricks and is the finest collection of automobiles I have ever seen. I highly recommend visiting this museum. Here are pictures of a few of the over fifty mint condition cars that tell the story of America's of the automobile and the open road:











to be continued....

[QB93Z]

We stopped for the evening in Naturita, CO:





In the 1950's and 60's, Naturita was a booming uranium mining area of the western Rocky Mountains.


Jim

[PhillipsLT5]

Agree


Sent from my iPhone using ZR-1 Net Registry

[diamond zr1]

Jim/make sure you stop at the Miller museum outside of Salt Lake City by the salt flats/there is a road race track and museum loaded with original ford gts and cobras,as well as others/a must see

[QB93Z]

Day 6, On Sunday we drove from Naturita, CO to Blanding, UT.


On the way out of Naturita, we stopped for a photo op at the Uranium Drive-In sign. Back in the 1960's, when the uranium mining was in full swing, the Uranium Drive-In was the center of social activity in Nucla and Naturita. After the mining industry dried up and the drive-in was closed, the sign fell into decay. Recently, the citizens got together and moved the sign to Naturita and restored it:



Lyndi liked the mining mule made from car parts:



We drove southwest through the high desert landscape:



The route to the Hovenweep National Monument is well marked:




After a stop at the Visitor Center we set out on the 2-mile self-guided walking tour around the small canyon that was the home to around 100 to 150 ancestral Puebloan people from about 1200 to 1300 AD. The group were contemporaries of the groups at Mesa Verde. They had an agricultural society and had developed sophisticated masonry skills.



to be continued......

[QB93Z]

Along the path we found flora, fauna and an interesting marking:









Can you find the rabbit in this scene?



There are about a dozen well-preserved buildings of different size and complexity:



I was very impressed with Hovenweep National Monument. The facilities are in excellent condition and the "access" to the ruins is the best that can be had, considering the need for safety and security. I highly recommend a visit to Hovenweep.


We next drove further west, into Utah. The terrain changed from the high desert to a heavily eroded dramatic landscape of desert and monuments. The traffic was very light and the roads were wonderful:











to be continued......

[Jagdpanzer]

Jim, looks like a perfect road to verify your tire speed rating.

[QB93Z]

The wide variety of landscapes made the driving very enjoyable:



Our next attraction was Goosenecks State Park. Once again, the route to the Park was well marked and the roads were in good condition. The park allows a wonderful view of the meander of the San Juan River:



After the river meander, we drove a short distance to see the Mexican Hat rock formation. This has been a favorite sight for tourists for decades:






We drove north to the town of Bluff, UT. Along the way, we got another view of this interesting formation with red and gray rocks:



In Bluff we liked the Twins Rocks:



Jim