Utah and Colorado

Sleeping in one's car is not the best way to awake refreshed and limber. But it is a way to wake up already in the driver's seat and hit the road. I little fuel and a soda pop and I was on my way south.

Flaming Gorge is an interesting area, not only for the wide vistas, winding roads, and colorful soil, but because there is a dam there. I grew up near Hungry Horse Dam and the resulting reservoir in Montana, so I'm used to driving through Hungry Horse, which has the self-dubbed moniker or "Best Dam Town In The West!" At Flaming Gorge, the dam has a small town called Dutch John. There is a visitors center that was still closed then I rolled over the top of the dam and a big steel bridge a bit farther down the road that let me drive across Green River. Of course I sang a few bars of CCR's "Green River" as I crossed.

I hooked a left at Vernal (meaning "spring"), Utah...where I snapped an out-of-focus shot of a huge pink dinosaur...and crossed into Colorado to the town of Dinosaur. That's right, Dinosaur. Apparently millions of years ago, dinosaurs walked through this area and decided to name a town after themselves. There I met a retired couple who were volunteering at the state visitors center. They suggested I stick around for lunch and have some homemade ice cream at the local cafe and then tour the Dinosaur National Monument. "But there are no dinosaurs here in this part of the Monument; the dinosaurs are all back in Utah." "Oh, is that where they disappeared to?" I felt like asking. Since I was "burning daylight", I got in my car without taking either of the aforementioned suggestions and once again headed south leaving the dinosaurs behind.

Down through Rangely and Douglas Pass to Grand Junction where I headed off the beaten path and explored the Colorado National Monument which consists of a big winding loop road through rock formations and along cliffsides. There was fog in places, making the drive seem like something out of a King Kong movie. Speaking of primates, I got a fun photo of my traveling companion monkey hanging out for a stretch on the rack atop my car. I call this Monkey Pit Stop Yoga. Apparently a new type of yoga competing with Ashtanga, Bikram, and the others.

I took Highway 50 through Delta and Montrose (not far from Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park), then 550 down through some very scenic mining country not far from Telluride. Ouray and Silverton provided some great views of the San Juan National Forest. I found myself pulling over several times to shoot photos and each time being passed by the same RV. We did this leap-frog maneuver at least three times...it was downright comical, all the while creeping along at under 20 miles an hour up the road to Red Mountain and Molas Passes with Silverton tucked in between. Somewhere in this area there is a narrow gauge railroad following the Animas River that one can take a ride on between Silverton and Durango. Durango is well known for being host to the Purgatory ski area. Once I reached Durango (which I explored back in the 1990s when I visited a friend there, the scene of my decision to leave the Army, believe it or not), I decided to call ahead for reservations for the night so as not to repeat the previous night's debacle. Motel 6 set me up, light on for me and all, at Gallup, New Mexico.

Arrangements made, I figured I had just enough time to take a quick tour of Mesa Verde National Park.