Driving the Beautiful Highway

Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018

Sometime during last night, the wind must have died down, because the lake was quiet this morning when we woke up. But we’d slept very well, and the view was just amazing! It was hard to leave, but we knew we had a long drive ahead of us.

We went VERY slowly for the first 30 minutes or so, due to the incredibly hacked up roadway along the east side of Bear Lake. But that gave us the opportunity to notice that every other campground we passed was crowded, small, and so much less desirable than Rainbow, where we were, and (btw) we drove around Rainbow before we left, noticing that the other sites, while large and all with a great view, could not compare to the solitude of our campsite. So we TRULY lucked out last night!

Cassie at Bear Lake

Sheep Creek Bay

We finally got through the construction, and began traveling at normal speeds. Rather than describe the road, I am going to link to my blog from 2011, when we drove this exact same route. I took great photos last time (back then, I used a “real” camera, not a phone!), and the descriptions are quite detailed!

Like last time, we did not arrive in time to really get to Dinosaur National Monument, which was our definite plan today. I was bemoaning not having those lost hours of driving from yesterday! But after obsessing about several options, we finally decidedd to at least come down to the Visitor’s Center and see that, and then we would look for a place as close as possible for overnight. Then tomorrow, we would make ourselves get going earlier so we could see the Fossil Wall under glass, which is the real reason we came here in the first place (if you read 2011‘s blog from the day after the drive, you will know what happened to us on that earlier visit. And by the way, we saw the same pink dinosaur today!)

So we came to the visitor’s center, only to find out that there really isn’t much there. The reason to come is to take the shuttle from there to the Fossil Wall. But we got there about 4:45 or so, and if we’d taken the 5pm shuttle, we would have had only 30 minutes, because the last shuttle left the Fossil Wall at 5:30. Instead, I asked the ranger about whether the campground here in the park would likely be full, and was thrilled to find out that it was not! So instead of having to drive around, or back to Vernal to a commercial RV park, we drove another 5 minutes or so into the park here, and got an absolutely lovely spot in the campground as near as possible for tomorrow morning’s trip to see the fossils. And yay-- it cost us only $9 (half price), because we are old! (Just kidding--it was that great American the Beautiful pass again!)

So we stopped early, had time to make a delicious steak and baked potato dinner, and it’s only 8:15, but my blog is almost done! I will upload this, and yesterday’s photos (which finally came through today), and try to fall asleep early. Then we plan to get up early, see dinosaur fossils, and then drive another 5 hours or so to meet Ben and Miriam. We are most likely NOT going to have ANY cell phone connections there (in the Colorado Rockies), so most likely this blog will be it until maybe sometime Tuesday night.

Oh, we DID have some excitement right after we set up our campsite. We’d been hearing thunder on and off ever since arriving at the visitor’s center, and even drove through some brief rain showers on our way. But suddenly, it started pouring-- and then HAILING!!  For several minutes we had this amazing hailstorm, with the sun still shining on us from the other direction, and a rainbow too! Mother Nature certainly is amazing, as the photos of Sheep Creek Bay will prove!

Map of our current location

It has BEEN a DAY!

Map of Bear Lake. We are the blue dot.

Friday, Aug. 17, 2018

This has been one heck of a day, from beginning to end.

Joe and I both slept so wonderfully last night in the Flying J parking lot. Whatever noise there was outside, it didn’t bother either of us, even with our windows open. We had nice cool air and we slept quite late, I think it was after 8:00 when I woke up!

From there, we started slowly. I even took a lot of time to upload photos etc. for the past two blogs. When I finally took Cassie out for her walk, it was a beautiful day--a blue sky, and in the low 70s (but the air IS dry, so it felt perfect.) Joe felt great after his night’s sleep too, and both of us were just feeling smug as could be at how well we felt and what a nice day we were expecting. And because he was feeling so good, and it was comfortable outside, and we were at the Flying J on a flat surface (and would be able to get anything automotive we needed), and we didn’t have to hit the road asap, Joe decided it would be a good morning to do the oil change that Sam (the RV) needed by now, about 3,000 miles since the last change.

He’s changed the oil often. He has all the equipment. So we didn’t expect any problems. He got out all the stuff he needed and slid underneath Sam to open the valve and drain the used oil into a pan. He called me for help with finding the right size socket when the one he had didn’t quite fit, and I stayed around to help pour the used oil into an empty container when it was all drained (that turned out to be a big pain, and I had to run into Flying J to buy a funnel to help with the job. But a bit went onto the asphalt). He added the new oil into the engine. And in about 45 minutes or so, the job was finished.

But after I threw away all the empty oil bottles and came back to the RV, I found him worriedly sitting at the table. He said, “I may have done something absolutely terrible.” It turned out, he was afraid he had drained out, not the used oil, but all the transmission fluid instead. The two valves are quite close to each other under the rig. He asked me what color the liquid was when I poured it from the pan into the empty bottle. Because some of it had spilled, and I’d done a lot of wiping it up, I had noticed the fluid was pinkish. Which is the color of transmission fluid. That confirmed his worry. For about an hour, he kept reading the manuals and looking online at some videos, he went back under the RV, and he used the little dipsticks to test the levels. It seemed like the oil was full, but the transmission indicator didn’t seem to have ANY liquid on it. Uh oh.

Eventually, he was convinced that he had, indeed, drained out the wrong stuff. I was still calm-- all it needed was for us to obtain 7 quarts of transmission fluid and pour it into the engine. We were sure Flying J would have it. But.... they told us they did not.

Now we had a problem. We could not go ANYWHERE with no transmission fluid. We looked up local auto centers/mechanics/services. We found 2 names in McCammon (which is the town we were in) and one at Lava Hot Springs, 12 miles down the road where we were last night. But one place was a disconnected number, one was leave a message and I’ll call you back. The third said they had the fluid at the shop, but “everyone is out on a service call” and they would call back when someone got in.

We pondered trying to get up to Pocatello, about 20 miles away, where they would have everything, but it was a shlep and we might have trouble getting back (we were picturing hitch hiking-- there was no Uber service!) Then I went into Flying J and they gave me a list of guys who had left their numbers at the place in case someone needed help. The first was another “leave a number,” but we finally found a guy who sounded intelligent! He had a mobile service business and said he could bring us the transmission fluid. All this had taken at least a couple of hours-- it was now already after noon. But we were very relieved to have SOMEONE who could help us.

At this point, as we waited, I made Joe change his clothes-- his shirt was soaked in oil, and his shorts were filthy. The new shorts he put on were missing a button, and he went into the Flying J to get a sewing kit, even though I had a small one. They didn’t have that, either! He said to the woman, “You guys are really letting me down! No sewing kit... no transmission fluid....” And she said, “I might have transmission fluid! I will look in the back.”  And she had 5 quarts after all!!

So Joe came back and added the fluid into the engine, and got a reading that it was “enough”. He yelled, “Call the guy, maybe you can catch him so he doesn’t have to come!” but just at that minute, the guy pulled up next to us. So he and Joe did some more diagnosing, we needed two more quarts of fluid (which he had brought), and after some more back and forth, it was decreed that Sam was roadworthy again. The funniest part was-- our savior was a Kiwi-- he had a lovely New Zealand accent, and he and Joe talked about his history (he came to America 30 years ago to work on race cars, and ended up staying in Idaho.) In the end, he charged us a flat $200 cash (mostly for his time, not the transmission fluid), which was a break. Joe thinks it was because he felt sorry for us, and liked Joe. But whatever, it WAS maybe dumb, but it would have been much worse if we could not have gotten what we needed.

By this time it was 2pm, and we were pretty hungry and jumpy. We drove back to Lava Hot Springs and found our same parking spot from last night. Then we decided that we should eat out rather than try to fix anything--it was hot and we were tired and hungry. The only restaurant right near us was a Thai restaurant, so after our New Zealander mechanic, we encountered a lovely Thai man at the restaurant, where we had a tasty lunch. Then we went back to the RV, and after pondering all our options, I realized that we both needed to destress, and Joe’s body needed some TLC. So we got into our bathing suits and went into the hot spring pools again. The sky had gotten overcast, bringing the temperature down to a comfortable level, so the hot tubs felt excellent and were really a VERY good idea. Clearly, we needed to give ourselves a little TLC-- the entire ordeal with the transmission was very upsetting, although we both kept our cool.

Idaho is a huge producer of Alfalfa hay. We love the color.

At about 6:00, we were soaked, dried, reclothed, and back in the RV. We had decided to shorten tomorrow’s drive to Dinosaur National Monument in Utah (5ish hours) by driving at least a LITTLE way tonight. In the hot springs, I picked up some flyers about Bear Lake, which I knew we would be passing. One of them gave me a very useful map showing all the campgrounds around the lakeshore. It being Friday night, I was afraid it was a long shot,  to find an empty site there, but it was worth a try. So we made Bear Lake, about 90 miles away, our destination for the night. On the way out of Lava, we saw an ice cream store, and Joe pulled up to a curb and I ran in. They had no-sugar-added Moose Tracks, so we further nurtured ourselves with ice cream before leaving town altogether.

Scenic but unimproved. Then it got worse.

We drove along, enjoying the southeastern corner of Idaho’s scenery, and we took the “road less traveled”, because the state park campgrounds on my map were on the less developed, eastern side of the lake. We went through the tiny hamlet of Dingle (really!), and then our road suddenly turned to gravel, and then to packed dirt. But the scenery was great! When we got to the northeast corner of Bear Lake, the pavement came back, and we drove down the lakeshore. The first campground had a “Full” sign, as I’d feared, so we kept going.  Then we got to a point where road barriers said “Road Closed, Local Traffic Only.” Seeing as how this was the ONLY road on the eastern shore of the lake, we HAD to keep going (the road work began at the Utah state line-- Bear Lake is half in Idaho and half in Utah.) We got to the next campground, with a dug-up road entrance, and it looked fairly full, but there was no sign on the road.

We made a careful K-turn so we could get into the driveway to the campground (it was slanted back toward us, so we couldn’t just turn right) when we saw a truck coming up from the campground. Sure enough, it was a park ranger, who told us the campground was full. But then he added that the next campground down, Rainbow, had three open sites. We said, “We’ll TAKE ONE!!” So we turned ourselves around yet again, and he led us on down the same dirt road, which was in TERRIBLE condition, rutted, and they are doing construction to widen it, and it was just a mess. When we got to the campground, he stopped and got out of his truck and said there were now only TWO empty slots (someone must have taken one while we were driving behind him.)

View of Bear Lake from our campsite

And then he says, “Site 1 is empty, and it is the most isolated, that’s the one I’d recommend.” So he told us how to find it (it is far away from the rest of the campsites) and when we pulled in, we could not believe it. The spot is GORGEOUS!!!  We are near absolutely NOBODY, right on the lake. For some reason (wind?), the lake is making incredible wave sounds, more like an ocean than like a lake. The color of the lake water, by the way, is famous for being the same turquoise as the Caribbean, and it IS beautiful. So it is like being on the shore of the ocean, the sound is just a wonderful ceaseless ocean-sound, and we are near absolutely no one, so it is quiet and secluded. Cassie was so excited when we got here, she actually was barking before we got out of the RV!

So it HAS been a day! Started out with us in such a good mood, followed by a lot of stress and worry and (on Joe’s side) upset. Then was the “we need to take care of ourselves now” part, and going into the hot pools was just wonderful and what we needed. And then cutting the drive down for tomorrow, and getting such a stellar spot (a mere $12/night, too!) was so unexpected, that we feel utterly amazed and blessed and incredibly fortunate. And it even has good cell reception!!

Tomorrow we will finish the drive to Dinosaur, hopefully, and get to see the new visitor center with the glass wall that was unfinished when we came here 7 years ago. And then we’ll look for a place for the night, and Sunday we will find Ben and Miriam someplace in central Colorado. Barring unfortunate situations, the next few days SHOULD be good ones.

Scenic Adventures

Day 20: Sept. 15, 2011

Today was a little different than I’d expected--I got my distances wrong in my original plans, to begin with. Then halfway along, I got confused which route we were taking, so we changed our road choices several times. But also, we found places to stop which I hadn’t anticipated, one of which we would not have seen without my confusion with the map. In the end, we were absolutely thrilled with our discoveries du jour.

We left Lava Hot Springs heading southeast toward Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. Our road took us through a valley of Idaho farms with mountains in the background on both sides… very pretty. We drove through Montpelier, ID, which sported cement planters and benches supported by black bears in honor of the Bear River which flows through the town. We stopped suddenly when I saw a historic marker reading “Bank Robbers” and the name Butch Cassidy jumped out at me. It turns out that Butch robbed the Bank of Montpelier in 1896. The original bank building (now a storefront) was across the street from the large marker, and another more detailed marker, with a delightful eyewitness story about the event, was at the curb. (If you click on this photo and enlarge it, you can read the story too!)
From there we soon crossed the state line into Utah. We enjoyed the scenery, read the roadside markers, and commented on the weathered barns and Latter Day Saints influence until we reached Bear Lake. On my map at home, Bear Lake showed up as a largish lake (for the area) which I needed to route us around. But in southern Idaho and northern Utah, Bear Lake is “the Caribbean of the Rockies” because of its turquoise color. I had read this in a flyer the other day, and was dubious, but the lake is, indeed, a gorgeous color of turquoise!
We turned southeast again when we reached the southern end of Bear Lake, and only a few miles later, to our surprise, found ourselves driving into craggy cut-out mountains.
The mountains then became rounder and softer, and then another change--we crossed the state line again, into Wyoming this time, and not longer after, saw a distinctive butte coming up, which was layered in reds, purples, grays and whites. We knew that as a result of my inadvertent route change at the south end of Bear Lake, we were approaching Fossil Butte National Monument. We suddenly realized that this butte must actually be Fossil Butte.
We didn’t know much about the place, since it was not in my original plans, but we figured that we had to stop and at least check out the visitor center and see what it was all about. It turned out to be utterly fascinating. We watched a 13 minute video to start with--it told us all about Fossil Butte, which is the remnant of three great lakes which covered the area of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado about 50 million years ago. The butte contains some of the most perfectly preserved remains of ancient plant and animal life ever found.
The fossils are there in such profusion and such perfect detail that scientists can use the fossil remnants today to understand not just the life of the past, but can actually compare the types of fish, fx, to their modern relatives. They have not just fish (which they have most of, since it was a gigantic shallow lake) but plants, insects, birds and animals also, so they can study an entire “community” of creatures which lived at the same period. The area which surrounds Fossil Butte is also rich in fossils. The ranger told us that they expect to find some kind of fossil remains in every CUBIC INCH of rock, a frequency which is just unheard of elsewhere. Private collectors and paleontologists have found millions of speciments since the mid-1800s.


There is not that much to do in the preserved area of the monument itself, although you can go fossil hunting with some commercial ventures in the area. But the visitor center has a nice little museum with lots of information and LOTS of fossils, and we found it very interesting. We spent about an hour there all together.

We left Fossil Butte feeling delighted that we’d taken the “wrong road” so we could visit there. By this time I realized my plan for getting to Flaming Gorge in the mid-afternoon was never going to happen, so I rearranged the next few days in my head, and set a new destination, for Vernal, Utah. This city is near Dinosaur National Monument, and I decided it made sense to go there first, and continue our prehistoric fossil experiences. We continued west in southwestern Wyoming, passing more colorful rocks… and to our surprise, suddenly found ourselves in what I’d call the Wyoming “Badlands”. Again, not the terrain we’d expected… it seemed that every time we took a new direction, we were pleasantly surprised by our surroundings.
We went through these kinds of craggy, “badlands”-ish mountains for a while, crossed the border back into Utah, and suddenly the mountains opened up into a beautiful valley just before Manila, Utah.
Of course we still had mountains everywhere, because Manila is just at the edge of the Flaming Gorge National Recreational Area. I envisioned that area a lot like a giant reservoir, because I knew the area was created by a dam further south along the Green River. We saw the river in the distance, but we took the road south to go around Flaming Gorge and head toward Vernal.

We couldn’t ignore Flaming Gorge for long, however, because we began one of those “oh my gosh, LOOK AT THOSE ROCKS” events which seem to happen to us so often. The rocks got redder, and craggier, and more and more colorful every mile we went.


Then we came around another curve and encountered Sheep Creek Bay.
We stood and gaped for awhile, then proceeded up the mountain until we arrived at a fabulous overlook of the bay.

By then the sun was getting very close to setting, and we still had about 30 miles to go to Vernal. We almost stopped at a Forest Service campground, but decided we’d do that tomorrow--with two blogs and all these photos today, I needed internet tonight. So, here we are in Vernal. Our plans tomorrow are to play with the dinosaurs in Vernal and in Dinosaur National Monument nearby. Then the next day we’ll be exploring those amazing red rocks and the Flaming Gorge--I am hoping we can rent a boat and get out into the river for a little while. This means we are playing for the next two days, and not driving too far. After today, that sounds like a good plan!