[drron]

Now off on I-70 to Utah.Took route 128 to Moab and this is reccomended.Spectacular scenery following colorado river through a series of canyons.A lot of rafting-arranged from Moab,plus a lot of people fishing.
Into Moab and on to the Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.These lose nothing when compared to the more frequently visited southern neighbours such as Zion and the grand Canyon.Stayed overnight at a Comfort Inn in Blanding-should have stayed in Moab,much more choice.
Early morning start for drive through Monument Valley and this is a great time to see it with the rapidly changing light patterns.from ther off to the 4 corners where you can have a bit of yourself in Colorado,Utah,Arizona and New Mexico all at once-and that is the only exciting bit.it is on Navajo land so you pay to do this and there are mny stalls with Indian jewellery.Probably these places are the only places where they sell knockoffs of their own work.
from there back into Colorado to Durango.On the way stopped off at Mesa Verde NP.This is worth a visit with well preserved cliff dwellings which yoiu can go down to.
However whilst there noticed the passenger front tyre of our rental had developed a pronounced bubble so a slow trip into Durango.Mentioned it to the front desk of the hampton when checking in and before I had signed they had Hertz on the line and the Durango office had been notified of the problem.The road assistance guy told me I would have to fill out a tyre incident report but when i got to the hertz office at the airport the woman handed me the keys of a replacement car noting that this happens several times a year due to the altitudes you get to.The staff of Hertz at LAX,DEN and ATL should be sent to Durango to learn good customer relations.
Durango is a town that has got its tourist act together.The main summer activity is a train ride to silverton which we didnt do but will be back to do later.the shops downtown stay open until the last train returns which was after 7pm on the Sunday night we were there.Had dinner at the Mahogany grill downtown and it was great.Shared a dish of quail for appetiser and I had elk and mrsdrron the crab stuffed trout.
The next day drove north on 550 and once again altitudes in excess of 11000 feet.once again truly magnificent scenery including old gold and silver mines.Stayed that night at the garden Inn at Meridien just south of Denver.Half the price of places closer to the airport and very close to the tollway that runs past the airport so spent $5.75 in tolls but saved$80 on the hotel.Standard very comfortable Garden inn.
This now set the scene for my 9/11 trip-Aa1032 DEN-DFW and AA474 DFW-ATL.Denver airport impressed me again.Easiest rental return ever.Virtually empty AC.Friendly staff.The AA crew on both flights were exceptional and worked togther as a team something i had not experienced on AA before.Jon from Dallas made our flight to ATL very enjoyable.Howeverdont expect luxury on AA first domestically.From DEN we got a snack-2 very small cookies.From DFW lunch-either a turkey wrap or a chicken pasta salad.about the standard you would buy on DJ.A warm glow though as this was the first time our boarding passes were stamped AA platinum.
Next from Atlanta to Washington DC.Dont ever say the war was lost.