On the road, continued

Taos is 592 miles (11 hours and 4 minutes) from Bryce Canyon, Google tells us.

That wasn't long enough for us.

We took an alternate route, I-70, that's 71 miles (but only about 30 minutes) longer. The main reason, I guess, is that the shorter route did not have an obvious place near mid-way where we could spend the night, whereas I-70 runs through Grand Junction, Colorado, just about halfway to Taos. And Grand Junction has a lot of motels.

We arrived in the La Quinta in Grand Junction around 4:00, relaxed a little, and then drove down to Main Street. We weren't expecting much of anything, but the downtown is actually very nice, with lots of public art (mostly sculpture), dozens of small, artsy shops, and plenty of restaurants. The wonderful wife showed great restraint by not investigating every shop; I'm sure she skipped a few. And I didn't sit outside every shop on a bench -- only the ones in front of the store she went into.

Nice as the downtown was, it didn't take long to see all of it. We ate an early dinner at Il Bistro Italiano -- the wonderful wife ordering pasta (see below*), while I again went with a couple small dishes (bruschetta and a caprese salad) instead of an entree. Mine was very good. The wonderful wife's was too, I suppose; every 20 minutes for the rest of the evening she said "That was a really good dinner."

A quiet evening in the motel room -- quite nice, a fine introduction to the La Quita chain -- and so to bed.

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* To quote from the menu, "PROSCIUTTO E AVOCADO - Homemade spinach pasta tossed with a sauce of shrimp, prosciutto di Parma, thyme, avocado, garlic, cream and white wine."