July 9th. When you are in Utah, there are not many road choices. There are lots of big mountain ranges with lots of desert in between. Our goal for the day was to get to Vernal, a town in northeastern Utah which is a few miles from Dinosaur National Monument. This is a place I've wanted to see for many years but it's way, way off the beaten path. After examining a few options, we accepted that fact that the first hundred miles would be on the Interstate. We took I-84 east to I-80 east and headed into the southwest corner of Wyoming. From there we exited I-80 and took Wyoming route 414, then Utah 44 to 191. It was an outstanding ride through the mountains. Lots of twisty roads with many hairpin turns and great views. The higher elevations gave us cooler, more comfortable temperatures. We made an unplanned stop at a visitor center in Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. The views were breathtaking.
 |
| Boat Wake in Flaming Gorge |
The Flaming Gorge is a boater's paradise.
 |
| Flaming Gorge |
A nice woman took our photo at the overlook.
 |
| Wildflower or Weed? |
More spectacular views from Route 191 in the Ashley National Forest.
 |
| Getting Stuck Behind the Line-Painting Crew for 30 minutes |
Upon leaving the Red Canyon area of Flaming Gorge, we came upon a line-painting crew and got stuck moving at a snail's pace for over 30 minutes. The needle on the temperature gauge was steadily climbing toward the big red 'H', which was a bit concerning. You can't pass one of these trucks without tracking wet paint all over the road, not to mention the risk of getting road paint all over your vehicle. Finally the truck pulled over and we got back to normal speeds and the engine cooled back down. As we headed back down the mountains we encountered no less than nine hairpin turns with more outstanding views of the valley below. It got much warmer as we descended. We arrived at our hotel in Vernal, Utah around 3 pm after about 240 miles. Tomorrow we see the dinosaur fossils and then head into Colorado.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete