Monticello, Utah

Have you heard of it? You may be thinking, "hmmmm.... it sounds familiar," but that's because it took its name from the famous estate of Thomas Jefferson. If you're one of my potential new-found readers from out in Colorado(Thanks Polly), you may have actually heard of it, but never been there. If not, it seems to me like it's worth a peek.

In my blog yesterday, the fun one, I mentioned meeting my brother halfway when I fly out to Denver in July. Halfway between Phoenix and Denver is right around the Four Corners. When I realized this, I almost just dropped everything, determined to see this marvel. But then I thought about it, in a philosophical way, and realized it's only special because cartographers got lazy and started drawing boxes that led to four states coming together at a corner. It's amazing how easy it is to make something lose it's luster if you peel back the layers.

The point of this trip, the part where I meet my brother anyway, is to strip ourselves of as many luxuries as we can. So to go to a location with people snapping pictures and reading pamphlets from kiosks isn't ideal. My main goal is to hike a mountain, and maybe even camp one. Just for fun. I searched nearby mountain ranges and came up with a few options. Then I cross-checked them with cities nearby so we could make a pit-stop if we needed and found the combination of Monticello, Utah and the nearby Abajo Mountains.

It was like striking gold. The mountains were big, but not difficult, perfect for a group of amateurs. There are bike trails and rivers and everything a wannabe outdoorsman could want. The mountains seemed perfect. But don't forget the city. 

I got my info from Wikipedia, so you know it's good: Monticello, Utah

It's a town founded by Mormons and there's only about 2,000 people in it. How personal! It's at the base of the Abajo Mountains so the view is going to be incredible. And then there's this:

The Hideout

The 23rd ranked municipal golf course in the country. I am totally an amateur golfer (although I played my first time this Saturday and got several pars through 9 and just missed a birdie) but I thought this was a great opportunity. 

Mapping out that route from Phoenix to Denver provided a bit of serendipity. I found a tiny little city that few of you know and that I think I will love. It makes you wonder what other hidden nuggets of cities are around, and why I haven't taken the initiative to see more of them.