Today is the last day that we will be spending in our temporary home.  We were anxious to get the trike out one more time before we loaded it up on the trailer for the long miles home.  Spencer and Laura decided to take the truck and venture on down the road to Mesa Verda Ruins.

Our decision for a breakfast stop was pretty easily made.  Today (July 24) is an official holiday in Utah and a lot of places were closed.  We noticed that there was a second diner in Dove Creek, Colorado.  So we thought we’d give Deb’s Diner a try.  We pulled in and there sat Spencer and Laura.  It seems that we were all on the same wavelength.  They finished up and headed out.  We lingered a while longer trying to decide what to do.

We ended up headed back through Monticello to check out some jewelry at the local Artisan store.  We didn’t have any luck finding what Jana was looking for.  Heading back to the house seemed like a waste of a beautiful morning.   Blanding looked like it might have some possibilities so we fired up the 3 wheeler and headed south.

By the time we hit the Blanding outskirts I needed a bio-break.  The visitor’s center was open and in we went.  The attendant there was extremely helpful in pointing out some local ruins and told us exactly how to get there.  I was surprised that there were no signs that anything interesting was in the area.  We were able to find the ruins and a natural bridge.   A few photos were taken.  While we were doing that another couple pulled in with a small camping trailer in tow.  It turned out they were from Cincinnati but the wife was originally from Ft. Wayne, Indiana and informed us that she would always  be a Hoosier at heart.  Another “small world” example.

Shopping at a local trading post yielded no treasures so we headed back to the house after successfully killing off the morning and part of the afternoon.  The rest of the afternoon was taken up by doing almost nothing.  I managed to take a short nap on the couch.  Packing got started and a couple of loads of laundry were finished up.

We didn’t feel much like hopping back on the trike so we ordered pizza from “That’s A Pizza”.  It was delivered and we were finishing up when Spencer and Laura showed up.  Now that the truck was back, the trailer was reattached and all the bikes were loaded.  The trailer had a low tire so a morning trip to Monticello was planned to air up.  All luggage was stacked by the front door in preparation for loading.

Ugh – this is the time of the vacation that I always struggle with.  The number of days left is getting smaller and the draw to be at home is getting bigger.  I didn’t sleep much running everything through my head.  Was this a good trip?  What would I change if I had a Mulligan?  I guess I’m not quite ready to answer that yet.

Ready or not here we come – starting tomorrow.