Didn’t have a good night’s sleep in a single bed where I felt like I was going to fall out every time I turned over and would hit my hand on the night stand to the right. Oh well, breakfast made up for it bigtime! But the home was beautiful and Ashli, our hostess & manager of the B&B, was a delight. She shared her husband's art work. His tile in and outside homes was gorgeous and very innovative.
8am breakfast of French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, fresh fruit, coffee and OJ. Sure beats instant oatmeal any day! We stayed to enjoy the wifi and hit the road at 10:15a for our 4 ½ hours to Vernal via Flaming Gorge.
What a find! We were driving down Hwy 191 in Wyoming when we came upon an Historic Marker for the OREGON TRAIL! We had been at the Salt River Pass – Landers Cutoff on the 9th but couldn’t SEE the trail but just read about it. The wagon tracks went as far as the eye could see. How exciting to think about the many pioneers who suffered greatly to make this trek across our country.
We traveled Wy 530 from I-80 for the more scenic route which put us closer to the Gorge when we reached it. There were pronghorn antelope everywhere on the first half of the drive. Once Melodie had her camera at-the-ready, we didn’t see another one ever again. Thousands of acres of fenced land followed us on each side of the road. What does it take to own and maintain such vast amounts of land?
Saw the Flaming Gorge Reservoir long before reaching any visitor’s center. First we stopped at Red Canyon Visitor’s Center and got an over-the-edge view of the gorge with boaters enjoying the water. Upon leaving, we came across a herd of Bighorn sheep, probably 35 ewes and lambs. The big Daddies were up in the mountains waiting until the right “season” to make their return. They looked like a group of lawnmowers as they ate their way along the roadside eating as much lush, green grass as possible. Bighorns were on our trip list of wildlife to see and it took until today to see them. But this was an up-close-and-personal way of getting to see them. Some had ear tags and transistor tracking devices as collars. Guess they try to keep track of the herd, its movements and their numbers.
Decided to press on to the Flaming Gorge Dam even though it was out of our way and added a few more miles to trip. There were “special” parking places so my “senior” friend, Melodie, did the honors of presenting the sign for each of you. We visited the center, took the drive over the dam and reached an overlook to see the back side of the dam. Photos taken, we were awed by the high-flying osprey, so we stood and took a dozen MORE photos. I guess the Daggett County sheriff parked there must have had a good laugh at our expense. When we dumped them on our computer and saw them larger, they were all BUZZARDS! BIG RED-HEADED BUZZARDS!
Leaving Flaming Gorge, we saw a Firefighters Memorial in a campground and wanted to get a photo for my Tech Specialist, Tom. After driving throughout the campground, we found a TRAIL to the memorial. Wait a minute! We still had another hour’s drive after a long day of driving and it was 5:00 so Tom had to settle just for the sign pointing the way. We were too tired!
But our bonus for putting out good karma for Tom gave us a campside mule deer up close. Cute doe. And these porta potty visits have come to an end. Ever use the restroom and feel a breeze FROM the toilet? Can be a bit unnerving. They do a good job of keeping it clean and the smell down. The parks also provide Purell for hand "washing" as we leave.
Reached Vernal, Ut at 6:10p and checked in to our Roadway Inn motel. From the looks of the motel office, we should have known what to expect in the room. We can cope with the sink not draining, the soap dish broken off the wall in the shower, patches of tile and big white caulk filling cracks throughout the tub area as long as the beds
give us a good night’s sleep.
Let’s see.
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