I should start with last night. We pulled into Pinedale and found that our first choice of motels.....actually cabins.....was full. They told us all of the smaller (i.e. less expensive motels welcoming pets) were full. There were some larger and much more expensive chain motels....one did have a room....but the cabin lady sent us down the road to a Bed and Breakfast. We ended up staying at the Chambers House Bed and Breakfast. We stayed in the Noble Suite. It was nice although more than we really wanted to pay just to sleep. We did have a lovely breakfast of frittata, fruit, scones, juice and coffee the next morning before we headed out. I wish I had taken some more pictures. It was the first B&B stay for all of us.
The landscape started out a little differently than we were used to seeing.
It wasn't long before we crossed the state line into Utah.
And then we were traversing along the Flaming Gorge Scenic Byway.
It's part of the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. Over 207,000 acres of land and water in this national recreation area spanning Wyoming and Utah.
This was posted for those going further into the area but we were on the Scenic Byway getting to enjoy all the beautiful scenery.
We were on Hwy 530 which is on the west (left) side of the map. It was completely different than our drive up where we traveled on Hwy 191 on the right side......you don't see any of the Gorge from there and we had a lengthy graveled construction zone we had to go through on the way up. Our route down was longer but better in every way,
There were all kinds of camping areas heading off to our left and once again I was really missing the RV.
The water was so blue against the rocky hills and mountains surrounding it.
A peak at a campground......no hookups I am sure.
This photo shows so many layers of different rock from different times.
I love this view. Flaming Gorge National Reservoir.
Helen was driving as we headed on down the road. We all took turns.
Back into a more treed area.
Lots of recreation happening in this area.
Pretty wildflowers.......
We stopped at a rest area high in the mountains.
And learned a lot about the wildlife and birds of the area.
Then the really exciting part of the ride started. I think there were actually 10 or 11 switchbacks with this kind of grade but we missed the camera shot at the beginning. This was one part of the trip that I was glad I didn't have the RV. It was probably doable but the adrenalin would have been flowing even more than it was in the truck.
Going to the Sun Road was not quite as exciting as this road. We are way up there.
Nice that they provided places for you to stop and pull yourself together if necessary. lol.
Hmmmm......8% for the next 7 miles. Hang on.
Such colorful scenery of the southwest.
We arrived in Vernal Utah in time for lunch. Vernal is very close to Dinosaur National Monument which we did not get to visit on this trip.
The flowers were just gorgeous on the road through Vernal.
And then we crossed another state line into Colorado.
Don't those flowing hills almost look fake? But this is a real photo.
The gorgeous scenery just keeps coming at us.
We passed through Fruita on our way to Grand Junction which was our stop for the night. Fruita is a very well known mountain biking magnet.
It is actually part of the great metropolitan area of Grand Junction and the Grand Valley.
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