On the road again: Northeast

We took the scenic drive east from Bryce Canyon on Route 12; it drops in elevation and soon we were in the town of Tropic - so named because with some irrigation, the climate was favourable for fruit trees and growing alfafa and other crops. It was a lovely winding drive through valleys with fields and trees; soon though we were climbing up again, into a semi-arid area, and saw a sign for Hell's Backbone road. Luckily we didn't need to take it and followed the highway up to the town of Torrey, named for the Torrey pines in the area.

The Rabbitbush likes a hot climate

It was around Hanksville that the scenic portion of the route ended and the vast dry sandy moonscape started; it made us check the gas gauge to make sure we weren't going to get stranded. We crossed the Dirty Devil river, and not too much later crossed the Colorado river and arrived in Moab.
We didn't realize that it's still high season here, so with both a nearby Melon festival and a Skinny Tire Century bike tour happening this weekend, finding a place to stay took awhile.  What we found though is very comfortable, and we're happy to be settled in one place for five nights.
We attended at talk and photo presentation by Grant Collier, a local photographer; he showed some amazing photos taken in nearby Arches National Park; he hikes off the beaten path and takes photos just after sunrise, around sunset and at night when there's a full moon; we really enjoyed his georgeous pictures.