Leslie and David's Wanderings: 9 April 2021 COVID and Bridges

When we arrived on the 7^th, David began checking on our ability to get our COVID vaccines in Utah. After contacting the state health board, we were able to score a couple of Johnson and Johnson vaccine appointments at the San Juan County health department in Blanding. We were really hoping for the Pfiser vaccine, but that is not being offered in rural Utah. Plus, the J&J only requires one shot, and since we don’t want to have to travel back for a second shot, we decided the J&J would be good enough. They called Thursday and asked if we would mind getting our shots at the same time and we said that would be great. Our appointment was for 11:00 am in Blanding. After researching the J&J vaccine o line, it appeared any adverse reactions occur in the first 30 minutes and longer term symptoms/reactions would not occur until the evening. So we planned so site seeing after our shots. The shots were painless and quick. The nurse that administered them at the public heath department was very nice. We waited our 30 minutes and were cleared to leave. We headed for the Post Office to mail some of Leslie’s post cards before heading over to Patio Dinner to have lunch. The Patio Dinner is a burger joint and the burgers/fries/onion rings were excellent. We will have to stop there again on our way through Blanding. After lunch we drove along the northern border of the Valley of the Gods on Utah 95 to Natural Bridges National Monument. We checked in at the visitor center and collected our passport stamp. The Visitor Center was closed due to COVID but the shop was still open, but we were there at Lunch, so we decided to stop on the way out. We drove the scenic loop road through the NM and stopped at all the overlooks to see the three bridges (Sipapu, Kachina, Owachomo). We learned the difference between a Bridge and and Arch is that a bridge is cut by water and an Arch is free standing and cut by other natural forces. We also hiked out to the Horsecollar Bend overlook (0.5 miles) to see the ruins down in the canyon. The hikes down into the canyon were tempting, but we did not want to overdo it having just gotten our vaccines.

After leaving Natural Bridges, we headed back to Utah 261. We took Utah 261 along the western edge of Cedar Mesa to the Moki Dugway. The Moki Dugway is a three mile stretch of 261 where the road turns into gravel and descends the face of the Cedar Mesa cliff in a series of steep (10%) grades and tight switchbacks. David dropped the Behemoth into low gear, turned on the engine break and we crawled down the Moki with not a concern in the world. Only time he had to touch the breaks was to stop for Leslie to take pictures. The reviews are a lot scarier than the actual road.

Once at the bottom, we continued on toward Mexican Hat. We made a side trip to Goosenecks state park where you pay $5 so you can overlook where the San Juan River has cut a series of tight turns through the rock. Its called an “Entrenched Meanderer”. If you floated the river it would take you 12 miles to float it, but as the crow flies, its only 5 miles. Its actually quite spectacular and worth the $5 entrance fee. We notice several RVs camping along the edge of the cliffs and could imagine the beautiful sunsets they would get to see from their sites (no services).

From Goosenecks, we head to the Mexican Hat rock at the junction of 261 and US163. After stopping to get some photos of the rock, we decided we better head back to the Wanderer and Etta before it got too late. So we cruised US163 to Bluff and then took US191 north through Blanding and back to Monticello. We will be back through this area since we intend to go to Monument Valley when it opens back up and also drive the Valley of the Gods primitive road.

We really did not have any noticeable reactions to the vaccines this first night. We both felt a little flush at times, but nothing we could point to as a side effect of the vaccine.