As I woke up on Monday morning and I heard the wind blowing outside, I knew we would be in for an interesting ride that day. We had been in Torrey, Ut, four nights and were setting out early for Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. It was pretty windy every afternoon while we were there, but the mornings and evenings were calm, so the wind at 6 am was not welcome.
We buttoned up the coach for the ride. It was going to be a longer day than most. I am trying to keep the moving day rides to three hours or less if it’s not freeway, and we hadn’t been on a freeway since the South Rim of the GC. Today’s ride would take us on I-70 for only 40 miles of the 255-mile move.
The first 90 or so miles on US 24 were pretty windy, but we were protected to some extent by the canyon walls for the first 30 or so. And then after a northbound turn at Hanksville, the wind was mostly at our backs. But once on I-70 eastbound, the crosswind had me white knuckling the wheel to keep it going straight. And the gusts were lane changers. Kathy’s hand was firmly attached to the hold-on bar next to her seat. Once I saw the exit sign for US 191 south, I felt a bit of relief. But it was premature, the hurricane winds were about to begin.
They really picked up as we headed toward Moab, which is on the Colorado River. The canyons I was now driving thru made the wind come from all directions and at velocities I had yet to experience, ever! As we approached our intended stopping point for lunch, a sign on the road said the rest area was closed. We were hungry and tired and hadn’t planned a different place and were pleasantly surprised to see the road to it wasn’t blocked, and so we headed in. They didn’t want people coming in to picnic because of the dangerous wind conditions and closed the buildings, but we could eat and rest up in the coach.
The wind was howling thru the trees and lots of branches were blowing off into the parking area and the grassy area under those same trees. It would have been a beautiful oasis on a normal day. We both assumed they put out the closed sign due to all the branches blowing around. While standing under the trees walking the pups, I was wondering if I was going to get beaned by a large one. The dogs hunkered down so they didn’t get blown away!!
After cooking some lunch, we headed back onto the highway for the next 100 or so miles of the windy hell. Luckily as we were leaving the rest area, a poor soul towing a large trailer with a pickup truck was just in front of me. I followed him for at least 60 miles till he turned off for gas. He was like an early warning system. I kept about 300 feet behind him and watched the bigger gusts blow that trailer around like a bobbin on a windy lake, and that allowed me to know when to grip the wheel tighter so I’d be ready for them.
The rest was relatively uneventful for the occasional gust, and the wind kept blowing all the way till just before Cortez, Colorado, where it slowed way down, maybe because it was getting near 4pm Mountain time. Whew! It took us a couple hours longer than planned, but we arrived safe and sound.