1 October, Thursday

We wake at 6:30 am so we can get an early start unpacking Jazz. We are
waiting at the door of the dealership when the service manager
arrives. She, too, is friendly and sympathetic. Paperwork is filled
out and Jazz is taken back for a tire check.

It turns out that the tire can be fixed, but the tread on the tires is
really wearing, and we have many more miles to drive. While we eat
breakfast we decide to just replace all four tires and start fresh.
We look at maps on the Kindle and decide to aim for Hanksville, UT on
the way to Glenn Canyon. If we can get there today, it will be a
short drive to Glen Canyon the next morning. We would then have most
of Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday to rest up before we head
for Grand Canyon on Monday.

With our four new tires, we hurry back to gather all our belongings still
at the Motel 6. We arrive at 11:57. The new clerk at the front desk
is not as sympathetic as last night’s clerk. She tells me the room
key will expire in 3 minutes. I run for the room while O goes to the
car. I get to the room in time and pass our gear out the window to O,
who piles it up next to the car. We are soon repacked and on our way.

We leave the Utah cities behind and head east and then south. There are
broad expanses of dry desert with mesas and ridges of all shapes and
sizes, some looking like castle walls. The colors shift and change as
clouds come and go and as the sun moves across the sky.

We arrive at the Hanksville Inn about 6 pm. The man at the front desk looks
as if he’s been weathered by the desert since infancy. His hair is
long and a bit unkempt. I do not believe he has ever been to a
dentist. But, he is very pleasant and advises us that tourists who
come here for the national parks miss all the beautiful state parks.
He suggests we visit Goblin Valley which is nearby. We think we will
follow his advice tomorrow.

Our room is clean and spacious. We chat for awhile with our neighbors and
then head across the road to Duke’s Slick Rock Grille. The food is
pretty good and served with a smile. The waitress learns we are from
PA and whispers, ”Go Steelers! Don’t tell anyone I said that!”

We return to our room and do a bit more travel research. This inn has a
very good internet connection. We will most likely look for a
campsite near Hite in Glen Canyon tomorrow.