Road trip update #11

Saturday, July 21st we said goodbye to Chris and left Pueblo driving on a beautiful road that followed the Arkansas River (how did it get that name in Colorado). There were many people rafting down the river and it was beautiful country. Jon did most of the driving during our trip because I was the navigator and can read and do many other things in a moving vehicle that Jon can't. However, that day Jon was getting tired and I wanted a chance to drive through the Colorado Rockies. We switched places right before we drove around Blue Mesa Reservoir. It was gorgeous and it was just fortunate that I didn't drive off the road while trying to catch the awesome views.

We stopped in Junction City, CO, and did some grocery shopping since the next five days we would be camping in Utah. It was 100+ degrees and the wind was blowing hard -- quite a change from the mountains. Green River is a small camp site right on the river and just off the I-70 in eastern Utah. It is quite an oasis in those desert lands. This was our first time to get all of our camping gear out, set up the tent, break out the cook stove, etc. Everything worked fine and we enjoyed a simple meal in a nearly empty campground. This may have been due to the fact that it was 100 degrees. After the sun set it cooled down a bit, but inside the tent it was very hot and it was the first night I slept very poorly. We were glad to pack up and head for Bryce Canyon the next morning.

Once again we avoided the freeway and took county roads 24 and 12 down through south central Utah.

It was an amazing drive and I highly recommend it. Here are a few shots I took as we drove. Every few miles the geology changed and the colors were just phenomenal. You'll have to go yourself to get the full value since my camera could not do it justice.























We found our camp site at Pine Lake, about 5 miles north of Bryce Canyon off a dirt road. It was more beautiful than the pictures on the web site. There were free-range cattle grazing all around the campground and they kept us awake mooing till about 10:00 p.m. and started again around 6:00 the next morning. The cliffs behind our camp site were breathtaking and the small man-made lake was so peaceful. Joshua was able to ride his bike and Jon and I enjoyed walking around the lake on the dam. The afternoon was restful and we enjoyed chicken and pasta for dinner. After our evening walk I noticed some dark clouds and was a little concerned. Sure enough at midnight I woke up and needed to go to the bathroom only to discover that it had started raining. We were under some pine trees so the wind in the trees sounded much louder than the actual rain. After about half an hour it died down a bit and I made a dash for the out-house. Got back to the tent before another down pour. Fortunately we have a good tent and Jon had pitched it well cause we didn't get wet during the night. The next day it took a little while to clean up, but we weren't in a hurry, so we enjoyed the sun that was coming in and out of the clouds. I was up early and so got some great shots of the cows that had jumped the fences and were grazing in our campground. This mama posed nicely for me.

This entry is getting pretty long, so I'll save Bryce Canyon for the next update.

Sheryl