RV Adventures: A Trip Out West! Day 5

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

We were on the road by 6:30 AM and Chris and Skyah got up to see us off. It was so good to visit with him and see the area.

We needed to be on the road early because of that complete closure on route 50. It was only going to be open to one-way traffic from 6:30 to 8:30 AM. It takes about 30 minutes to get to that route from Chris’ home. Thank goodness we made it in time because it won’t open again to one-way traffic at 12:30 PM-1:30 PM. The workers are fixing rock slides and improving the road.

We lost about 45 minutes because of the slow traffic and narrow lanes. Of course this was so much better than taking the detour which was narrow and full of switchbacks!

Some of the scenery as we drove along Rte. 50 toward Grand Junction, Colorado.

We left Colorado and entered Utah. The speed limit jumped to 80 mph and almost all of the vehicles were going that speed or even faster!

Our next stop was at the Ghost Rock view area. It was a chance to stretch, use the restroom, check the car, and look at the view! We have better pictures from our camera but we left the adapter at home to download from the camera so it will be a real treat to see all of those pictures when we get home again. So all of the pictures on this trip are from our phones. It’s great that the cameras in the phone very good except for zooming in close!

We continue to drive along I-70 W and the scenery was changing as we drove along.

We drove by the San Rafael Reef View Area. The harsh elements from eons ago created this “swell” in the surface of the earth. It has been eroded and the sandstone shows different colors. The wind and water created these incredible formations! You see buttes, canyons, pinnacles and mesas! Wow!

This is like a broken record but we were in awe of the beauty of our country. It was good for our souls after a year of being home, except for our RV adventure up into Michigan in the fall. The wide-open spaces here we come!

Along I-70, near Orangeville, UT and the stupendous rock formations!

We passed Butch Cassidy’s boyhood home off of US-89. It was comparable in size to the “tiny homes” or “she shed”! He was raised in this remote cabin in Utah. Butch Cassidy, was born as Robert Leroy Parker in 1866 and he was the oldest of 13 children. You can read more about his life online.

We were so excited when our granddaughter did a FaceTime call (well, actually, her dad made the call). It was perfect because we had the chance to talk with her before we got to our campground and we didn’t have cell service. We know it’s great to disconnect, but when it’s your grandkids calling, you are thrilled to take the call!

Around 5:00 PM we made it to our campground, set up camp and walked around the area. The view from our RV was magnificent and there were some friendly horses on the site.