Day 18: Zion NP to Bluff, UT

We packed up camp and reorganized our overfilled car without making breakfast. We were eager to get on the road, since we figured our drive would only take 4 or 5 hours. We like to try to get to a place before dark so we can properly check it out and possible get in some exercise. We took several highways: 9 out of Zion to the 89 south, 89 to Page, Arizona, where we picked up 98. We took the 98 to 160, which runs through reservation land, and 160 to 191 north, stopping at Bluff. Sounds like a crazy round-about route, but it really was the most direct path to eastern Utah.

Boy were we wrong in our estimation of time.

We stopped briefly at on overlook to view the Glen Canyon Dam at Lake Powell,

but by then it was past 1 pm and we hadn’t had breakfast or lunch.

Those of you that know us well know that when we get hungry, we get grumpy. And let me tell you, we were in danger zone. We decided to stop in Page for some food since it was the last main city on our route. Any of you ever been to Page? It’s right up there on our list with Idaho Falls. The town seems very depressed. Turns out that it was originally built up when the dam was being constructed. Once the dam was constructed, Page turned into somewhat of a ghost town. A few years later, a power plant went up and so the town became populated again.
We found a burger joint on the main street called R.D.’s Drive Through. We decided it would be best if we stopped for our lunch since our respective blood sugars were so low. The burgers might as well have been from Burger King (Clint says that Burger King would have been better), but the milk shake was good, and so was the break.
We resumed our drve through the desolate reservation land for several more hours. It was dark by the time we reached Bluff. Bluff is a very small town; it is sandwiched between BLM land and Navajo Indian Reservation land. It was so dark when we arrived that we weren’t sure how small, so we jumped at the first hotel opportunity there was - The Desert Rose Inn. After 3 nights of camping, and our 4 hikes, we were pretty rank. We were both in dire need of a shower and a change of clothes. The Desert Rose Inn even had a washer and dryer so we were able to do a load of laundry! After starting a load of our dirty and very stinky clothes, we showered and headed out for dinner. The hotel receptionist pointed us in the direction of the Twin Rocks Café, which was about a mile from the hotel. The dinner was pretty good, and we were starting to really feel good about Bluff. I had the Navajo taco-a large slab of fry bread (about the size of naan) topped with chile and lettuce and cheese. It was perhaps more of a tostada, but the fry bread was doughy in the middle. I had started with some homemade chicken soup, which was delicious, so I barely made a dent in the large taco. Clint had chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes. It came with a homemade wheat dinner roll, which was the highlight of his meal in my opinion, but he liked it. After dinner, we called it a night.