Ah, Day #41. We shall call you 'pull back a bit on the reins' day. We had about 6 hours of driving in front of us after several days of long, hot hiking. Our eye was on possible on Lake Powell adventures, but as we dug in to planning, we couldn't find a good something to do that wouldn't take a bunch of the day, so we decided to hit the road and get on to Colorado so we could get a few must-do domestic things and just have a little more relaxed day.

The only stop was at Four Corners. If ever there was a made up tourist stop, this confluence of four states in one spot is it. $5 per person allows you down a dirt road so you can stand in line in the 100° heat with 50 other people and take your picture by a plaque in the cement. Checked the box on that one and we headed to Cortez.

Cortez is a solid little town. Found a nice hotel, had a FANTASTIC dinner at Loungin' Lizard and then back to the room for an early start tomorrow.

So that's a short and unexciting blog post, eh? How about we take this opportunity to play a quick bonus round of 'Things we brought along on the trip that have really kicked butt!'

Thing #1 - The National Park Annual Pass. $80 and you can get into TWO THOUSAND Federally managed properties including all the National Parks. This deal should be illegal, because it feels like you;re stealing.

Thing #2 - Contigo Stainless Steel water bottles. Fill with ice, then with water. haul around in 100° heat, and if you don't drink it all, 18 hours later, it's still filled with ice and water. I think they bring them in from another planet.

Thing #3 - Kooltron 12V cooler. We weren't looking forward to messing around with ice all summer so we took a flier on this cooler that plugs into your car and can also plug into the wall in the hotel at night It's never missed a beat and after about 7 weeks of hot summer travelling, we have purchased 2 bags of ice. Winner.

OK, that's enough random for tonight. On to another National Park tomorrow. Cheers.

- Jim