The ride from Moab to Cedar City was like a roller coaster. We started in Moab at about 4,500 feet and headed north to Interstate 70 with a minimum elevation gain. When we got to Green River, the first thing we saw was a sign indicating that there were no services on I 70 for the next 110 miles. Although our gas tank was registering more than 3/4 full, remembering our Texas experience, we thought it was prudent to top off the tank. From Green River we started climbing the mountains to the west, reaching a maximum elevation of 7,500 feet . We had several of these climbs and descents of 1,000 feet or more. Interstate 70 ends at Interstate 15, where we headed south to Cedar City. We had some elevation changes, but nothing like the westbound portion.
The Interstate highway system has standards for maximum grades so that traffic would flow at a reasonable rate on upgrades. Most of us have had the experience of passing a truck on one of these upgrades that was going so slowly that you felt you could walk past it. Today, I was that truck on several upgrades. We started most of these grades at nearly 75 miles per hour and quickly lost speed to the point that we were doing 40 miles an hour as we reached the summit of the pass. We didn't take any pictures during our trip today, but I felt that I could have asked Susie to get out, walk along the truck and take pictures of our climb. The campground is on Main Street, on the north side of Cedar City. We took a quick ride through the town looking for a market to buy some groceries. We found a chain supermarket on the south end of town, a few miles away. We didn't get off Main Street during the ride but feel we saw the heart of town. A look at map shows that most of the business, hotels, restaurants and such are located here. Not a big town, but in a great location for visits to Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park and the north rim of the Grand Canyon. |
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