Friday Morning, May 16
Yesterday was a great day.
We left about 11:30 and filled
up with gas in Loveland then
went to Family Tire to get the spare
and mounted it under Antelope.
That was a huge relief that we
were able to get the spare.
Next stop was JAX outside Fort Collins
where we filled up the propane tank.
Another huge relief.
Finally we were on our way!
The drive up Poudre Canyon
was really pretty and we saw
4 moose between Gould and Walden.
The drive over Rabbit Ears Pass was a little scary
because we thought we might run out of gas.
But we didn't.
We had clear roads
to drive on all the way but there was
a lot of snow everywhere around.
Not in Steamboat Springs though.
It's beautiful here.
We are in spot E in Steamboat Campground right by
the river with nice warm bathrooms and showers nearby.
Last night we soaked in the hot springs for a couple of hours.
Wonderful. So relaxing.
And this morning we are going to breakfast at Freshies.
Coffee!
After breakfast we will be heading to
Dinosaur National Monument.
Friday night, May 16
We're sitting around the campfire
in Green River Campground in
Dinosaur National Monument.
I'm writing this now because we're
leaving early in the morning to
go on a bird walk.
We had such a great breakfast at Freshies.
I had tofu scrambled eggs, potatos and pumpernickel raisin bread.
And coffee!! In green cups!!
Then we drove to Dinosaur
National Monument.
On our way, when we were in
Maybell, Faith called and said we
had a water leak in our downstairs
bedroom. I said no problem.
We've had that before. And I
instructed her how to go up by the
road and turn the water off.
No problem. Steven will fix it
when we get home.
We stopped to get gas in
Dinosaur, Colorado and I was
just fixing to buy a toothbrush
(I forgot mine and and have been
using Steven's) when Steven asked me
to go clean Antelope's windows while
he went to the bathroom.
So I am still using Steven's
toothbrush.
Here we are in Green River
campground site #3.
It's such a great spot right beside
a really old cottonwood tree.
We went for a fun hike by the
river and I found the coolest fossil!
But I left it there because you
are not supposed to take them.
I saw this unusual rock formation
that I wanted to hike to and
Steven climbed up to it so
I could get a picture of him there.
When we got back from our hike
we drank wine by the river.
It's heavenly to be
camping in Utah.
Saturday night, May 17
We went on a bird walk this morning
and met a new bird...
Yellow-breasted Chat.
Then we went to the Visitors Center and rode
the shuttle up to the Quarry Exhibition Hall and saw
1500 dinosaur bones and got to touch some of the really big ones.
These amazing creatures roamed the earth 149 million years ago!
We got to see the fossils of Allosaurus, Apatosaurus, Camarasaurus,
Diplodicus, Stegosaurus and several others.
We walked back to the
visitors center on the Fossil Discovery Trail,
had lunch in Antelope, then drove
to Vernal, which is where we are
spending the night in the
Resides In Hotel room 9.
I finally bought a toothbrush! Hallelujah!
Tomorrow we are looking forward
to seeing lots of petroglyphs
and hiking more trails.
Sunday night, May 19
We slept good in the Resides In Motel,
had their continental breakfast,
then drove to McConkie Ranch which is 10 miles
outside of Vernal and hiked up to see 100s of cool petroglyphs.
We also saw a cool gopher snake.
Then we went back to Vernal
and had a yummy lunch at
Plaza Mexicana.
We went back to Green River
Campground and got site # 8
then did the Cub Creek Road autoguide tour,
hiked around to see lots more petroglyphs
and hiked the Box Canyon Trail
and the Hog Trail at Josie's cabin.
We just now drank wine down by the
river and as I was sitting here in
Antelope writing this Steven said
"Come out here.
There's a cute little toad sitting on your shoe"
Monday night, May 19
We're almost home. Should be there
in about 45 minutes. This morning
we went on one last hike before
heading home, the Sound of Silence Trail.
That was an adventurous 3 mile
hike and we thought we were lost a
couple of times. Then we went back
to the Visitors Center so I could
get souvenirs for the kids.
We ate mango pie and bananas
for breakfast while we were driving
and had a late lunch of leftovers
at a scenic view pull-off outside
of Walden. It was a fabulous
mini vacation and the weather was
absolutely perfect. And now we are
anxious to get home and see
Koyuki.
If you want to see all 119 pictures
from our trip click here
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+zoenishimuta?tab=wX#photos/113331472821012850589/albums/6016300929345906609
Lots of Love
Zoe
