So while we were in Pitkin, the latch broke on one of our basement doors. Bob used duct tape and sealed it as best he could. Our plan was to get a part at the RV store in Grand Junction. We made it to Delta, Colorado, before the tape failed. Thankfully, someone passed us and alerted us to the open door. Bob was able to pull off, retape the door and we got back on the road. No, nothing fell out and the door was not damaged.
Grand Junction was the stop for the night. Due to a lack of campgrounds, we stopped in a KOA--not our usual choice, but the kids were happy--it had a pool! We were all able to do laundry and the RV store was less than a mile from the campground. Unfortunately, it was not open on Sunday, but it did open early Monday. Bob was able to get the latch fixed before check-out and we were on our way to Dinosaur National Monument.
Now, to get to Dinosaur National Monument, we had to drive north on Colorado 139. Bob and I did this once in the Windsport and I remembered it as a curvy climb to Davis Pass and then not so curvy on the downside, just steep. It hadn't changed! On the way up, we followed a flatbed truck.
Once we reached the top, there were some beautiful views. Yes, that is the road just below the center of this picture.
I got a picture of Sol at the pullout at the pass.
Next stop, UTAH!
From the state line it was about 40 miles to Green River Campground in Dinosaur National Monument. Can I just say that the temperature rose as soon as we left Pitkin, Colorado, and did nothing but rise all along our route. By the time we reached our campground, the temperature was in the upper 90s! Did I mention that since the campground was in a national monument, there were no hook-ups? Well, we boondocked in the sweltering heat for 3 days!
After arriving at Dinosaur National Monument, we got set up in a great site with excellent solar.
We drove back to the visitor center to visit the bones in the mountain. The last time Bob and I visited the park, the building 'housing' the bones in the mountain was undergoing major restoration. This time we got to see 'dem bones.' Of course we didn't take any pictures.
The following day, Bob and I got up early...to beat the heat...and hiked Sounds of Silence Trail. We hiked it years ago and remembered it as a good hike, not too strenuous, not too easy.
We enjoyed seeing the rock formations along the trail.
The landscape changed as we went from dry river bed with plants growing everywhere to rocks with plants growing where they could get a good root.
The only wildlife we saw was this rabbit.
This was one of the rockier sections of the trail and we had to do some climbing.
That afternoon, to escape the heat, we drove to Vernal, Utah, to visit Wal-Mart and to check out the sights. Christopher ran back to the car before we could get a picture with both kids.
Of course, on the way back to Sol, we stopped at the entrance to get a group picture. There was no place to put the camera to get everyone in the pic, so Bob is the photographer.
The next day, Christopher decided to join us for a hike. We did the bottom half of Trail of Silence, added the connector to Desert Voices, and then Desert Voices along the river trail back to the campground. Bobby dropped us off at the trailhead and he spent time with DeAnna.
Sound of Silence was rated moderate-difficult, Desert Voices was rated moderate, and River Trail was easy-moderate. This is a view of Desert Voices.
This view is from the River Trail. It was the most difficult of the trails---maybe because there was no shade and it was uphill for quite a way.
Later that afternoon, we drove Tilted Rocks car route. We saw petroglyphs along the way.
DeAnna went along with us on this hike to see the petroglyphs.
During our stay, we also made a trip to Vernal to visit Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum. They had cool dinosaurs with lots of information inside.
Outside they had a pond display with native fish...
...and dinosaurs around the garden.
We enjoyed our time at Dinosaur, but it was time to move on....Bobby was anxious to get to Washington and his next duty station.
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