RAWLINS WYOMING TO MONTICELLO UTAH…RAIN, SNOW, WIND, & LOTS OF BEAUTIFUL SCENERY ALONG THE WAY

UTAH’S SNOW CAPPED MANI-LA SAL MOUNTAINS TOWER OVER MOAB

THIS IS SATURDAY’S POST……MY LAPTOP RAN OUT OF JUICE SATURDAY NIGHT

Big winds brought driving rain in the night.  When Pheebs & I stepped out of the rig this morning around 5 a.m. Wyoming’s mighty west wind blew my hat off with it’s sideways rain.  Cold & not the best start to the day. 

Twisted around through Rawlins darkened downtown & sleeping Sunday morning streets following signs for Interstate 80.  Think it was just Saturday I said about not as much traffic on the Interstates out here in the West.  Imagine my surprise at the solidly heavy westbound truck traffic in the pre-dawn hours.  About as many trucks as I’ve ever seen on any Interstate anywhere.  Outnumbered cars by 10 to1.  The drive west on I-80 was right into the wind driven rain.  Not nice.   Only had maybe 30 miles to go before we turned south off I-80 onto highway 13 heading for Craig Colorado.  It was right at this turn where the rain turned to wet snow.  Really not nice!!

Slushy snow lasted about 10 miles before turning back to rain as our altitude began dropping.  Had been around 5,500 feet at that turn.  My altimeter showed us gradually descending all the way down to Craig.  Glad to see the darkness give way to morning light.  Still cloudy & windy with occasional rain squalls along the way.  Rolling hills became a little rollier as we noticed vegetation increasing & small shrubs increasing.

Spotted a Walmart in Craig & needing a leg stretch in we want.  Don’t be surprised if you see us on a Walmartian You Tube.  After 2 weeks on the road we’re quite the looking pair.

 

YES THAT’S SNOW IN THE LEFT PHOTO

KELLY LOVES HER BLACKBERRY

 

I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE IN THE FAMILY WHO TAKES PICTURES

CLOUDS SITTING ON SNOWY MOUNTAIN TOPS

NOTICED GREEN MEADOWS

 

Thanks to Mike down there in that suburb of Congress called North Ranch for giving us route directions from Custer on down.  Really liked that scenic stretch of winding road from Craig to Rifle Mike.  So nice to see the scenery taking on it’s traditional South-West appearance.  Just love this kind of country.

AHHHHH, NOW WE’RE TALKING SOUTH-WEST:)))))  (WEST OF RIFLE COLORADO)

 

OUR FIRST VIEW OF THE COLORADO RIVER THIS TRIP & TUNNEL AHEAD

Our destination for the day was Moab Utah but we hadn’t figured on so many people being there.  We wondered if it was some kind of holiday or something.   We’ve been to Moab before so knew of some nice boondocking spots along the Colorado river just east of town.  Well, they were all full despite us driving the narrow twisting exceptionally scenic road for half a dozen miles or so.  It was already 3:30 in the afternoon & knew by the traffic we were going to have to get ourselves well south of Moab if we hoped to find a place for the night.  Fueled up & we were on our way.  Moab is a nice looking little town with all it’s artsy shops along main street.  I think NAN & JOHN were in Moab somewhere but Kelly’s still not feeling the best & did not want to infect anyone else with her cold.

JUST COMING INTO THE TOWN OF MOAB FROM THE NORTH

 

ENTRANCE TO ‘THE ARCHES’ IS AT THE BOTTOM OF LEFT PHOTO & CROSSING THE COLORADO RIVER IN MOAB

 

ROLLING ALONG MOAB’S MAIN STREET HEADING SOUTH

NOTICE THE BICYCLE PATH  BUILT ALONGSIDE THE ROAD & COLORADO RIVER

  

WE WERE LOOKING FOR A BOONDOCKING SPOT ALONG THIS ROAD BUT NO LUCK

And that brings me to a couple corrections in my Saturday post.  With the photo of Kelly tilted back in her navigator’s Captain chair I said something about her feeling better.  She was quick to let me know this morning the reason she was laying back in that chair was because she felt so sick.  I stand corrected.  Also I said our electrical problem has caused our coach interior lights not to work.  I was informed again this morning right quick that yes they do work!!  Kelly corrected the post.  Our inverter monitor on the wall doesn’t work though…& I got that right.

  

STOPPING FOR A LEG STRETCH

Having been in Moab back in May of 92 I knew of a really scenic & peaceful spot south of town called Wind Whistle Canyon.  Remembered a campground or something there so that is where we headed.  It’s a couple miles off the highway on an old narrow paved road.  What I hadn’t remembered was how small the campsites were & we had quite a time navigating our length around the tight corners between the Pinyon Juniper trees.  No way could we fit into any of the sites so it was back to the highway we headed & motored south to the small town of Monticello.  Found us a dirt lot behind an abandoned building on main street & that was it for the night.

 

ROAD LEADING INTO WIND WHISTLE CAMPGROUND & WIND WHISTLE CANYON DEAD AHEAD

We may make a run for Congress in the morning or like last year we might hole up at a small RV Park in Ash Fork & make the last relaxing leg of the journey to Congress Tuesday morning.  We’ll see how we feel Monday afternoon.  I think the sooner we reach Congress the sooner Kelly is going to bounce back from this cold & fatigue that has had her down.  We’ll see how the driving goes.   It’s only 400 & some miles & we’ve been averaging about 425 miles a day anyway………………………

LITTLE MISS SMARTY PANTS:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A man in a supermarket was pushing a cart which contained, among other things, a screaming baby. As the man proceeded along the aisles, he kept repeating softly, "Keep calm, George. Don't get excited, George. Don't yell, George."  A lady watched with admiration and then said, "You are certainly to be commended for your patience in trying to quiet little George."  "Lady," he declared, "I'M George!"