Remember how I said instant coffee wasn’t bad… but that didn’t mean it was actually any good?
Yeah. Done with instant coffee, we packed up camp and headed straight into town. Both of us were looking forward to revisiting the Eklecticafe. I think they have the best coffee in Moab, in addition to great food and people watching. (Full disclosure, I think the food is pretty pricey.) Eklecticafe is also home to a drink called the Cafe Cubano. Michael loves this dairy-filled coffee drink, so I got myself an Americano. Mmmmm.
Did you know that the Americano supposedly got its name during World War II? American GIs stationed in Italy would dilute their espressos with hot water, saying that otherwise the drink was too strong for their tastes. Cafe Americano literally means “American coffee.”
Well, once we were fully caffeinated we set out for Arches National Park. The plan was to spend the morning at Arches and then head over to Fruita and go for an evening ride at the Bookcliffs area.
Arches was packed. It took us 30 minutes just to get inside the park. As we’re sitting in the car, full of caffeine, we decided to go for a run inside the park. But which trail? There aren’t that many in Arches, and most of them are kinda short. The Park Avenue trail (pictured above from a 2010 trip), is only a mile long. Our first choice was Delicate Arch, but the parking lot was full. There was a line of hikers heading up and we knew running on that trail would be no fun at all. Time for plan B.
Plan B: Broken Arch Trail. This trail can be done as a loop for 2.4 miles. Perfect for people who haven’t been doing a lot of running lately. And what a great trail! Unfortunately for me I tripped while trying to pass a hiker. I tell you, it was the perfect storm. I looked up, said to the hiker, “can I get by on your left?” and immediately tripped over a tree root. Good thing you can’t actually die of embarrassment.
So after the run we sadly headed out of Moab. If this town weren’t located in the desert (and subject to 100 degree temps for weeks on end in the summer) I’d move here in a heatbeat. The wind was really picking up as we headed east. Initially this was a good thing – a tailwind. But we had to drive over to Grand Junction first, and then head back west to Fruita. See, I miscalculated the amount of dog food we’d need and we were going to run out. Luckily GJ has a store (Murdoch’s) that carries our brand.
Getting back onto I-70 west was a nightmare. It was so windy. I was getting pulled all over the place. So, I really think that for future trips we’re going to have to invest in a hitch mount.
When we arrived in Fruita we knew immediately that it was too windy to ride. Hell, it was too windy to even set up the stove, so we went to dinner at a great little place called Hot Tomato and waited to see what the weather was going to do.
Around dusk the wind actually died down so we headed out to the Bookcliffs. Barely any wind out there – we even started a fire and Michael had a little mandolin time.
So now the plan is to ride Bookcliffs tomorrow morning, then head home with a stop at Glenwood Springs Hot Springs. I can’t decide which I’m more excited about – a shower an a soak, or riding the Kessel Run one more time.