Today I drove from the middle of Utah to the middle of southern Colorado. I drove through the Jeep Mecca, Moab, and through the Uncompahgre, San Juan, and Rio Grande National Forests. Today was the worst day of my trip so far. That being said, a bad vacation day still trumps a mediocre work day. If only all my bad days were like this. Either way there might be some whining in the post below. Don’t like it? Don’t read it.

I want to give a shout out to the Rodeway Inn, where I stayed last night. The desk guy was there at 5:00pm when I arrived and checked me out at 6:30am. Both times he was super friendly. Also I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels and motels in my life. The Rodeway had the nicest, least scratchy towels ever.

My first stop was Hole N” The Rock. Originally I thought it similar to House on the Rock. Both are homes built into large rocks by eccentric men with the help of their saintly wives. The Hole however, is far less grand than the House. Rather than being a carved mansion, the Hole was a TNT blasted one-floor, three bedroom, one bath room condo. All of the rooms were “separated” by small pillars. It was more like a really large loft. Unfortunately it was a guided tour and photographs aren’t allowed inside.

There were plenty of fun things outside though, like their small zoo. Technically you can feed all of the animals but most weren’t very interested. The exceptions were the camel and the ostrich. You have to appreciate the naming…

Forgive the terrible video. I was working on holding my phone and feeding the beast without it actually pecking my hand.

Here’s a two story outhouse like the one mentioned in The Fundamentals of Caring.

After some more fearful driving through twisty mountains…

I arrived at Silverton, CO. There I was going to visit the Christ of the Mines shrine, a 16 foot tall Jesus dedicated to the importance of miners and the mining industry in that region. Also on my to-do list was the Hillside Cemetery which is comprised of interesting graves. Unfortunately weather was not in my favor. By 9:30am, I was in 96 degree weather. At 3:00pm when I rolled into Silverton, it was 54 degrees, raining, and hailing. I was not dressed for or interested in that nonsense. Below is a picture I took of Christ with my telephoto lens and a picture of a popular grave at the cemetery that someone else took. It was around 2 hours off my route to go to this town and all I did was pee and snap one picture. Oh well, at least it was pretty.

During my travels I picked up these 3 pennies! One was in Moab. I would have never seen the machine on the side of the road if it hadn’t been for a guy in a super bright Hawaiian shirt. One was at Hole N The Rock and the third was from the Visitor’s Center in Silverton. Good thing I had to pee or I wouldn’t have gone in!

I had to hurry to get to my room for the night! Tonight is in my most expensive room on the trip, but it’s totally worth it. I’m at the Best Western Movie Manor, where my room looks out onto a drive-in theater! This is very reminiscent of my night at the Wildwood Inn in Kentucky. Unfortunately for me, the movie tonight is The Emoji Movie…Sorry I can’t seem to get a better photo but I’m sure you get the idea.

At least the lady at the desk recommended a delivery Chinese restaurant for me! Unfortunately the egg roll was too gross to eat, the sesame chicken was mostly batter and very little chicken, and my fried rice was frozen. Also the hotel only sells diet pepsi (gross) for $2 a bottle. I’m looking at the bright side though! I have a microwave for my frozen rice and delightful pot stickers.

Hopefully I wasn’t too negative and you enjoyed reading this post. Now I’m off to “enjoy” The Emoji Movie.