6 October 2010
While lying in bed this morning I really thought we would be spending one more day at the Lucerne Campground. After leaving Craters of the Moon we found we were being blown down the road with a tail wind. After leaving Green River we were treated by a side wind that was strong enough to release our door awning and come close to taking it off. Well this morning the wind was so strong that neither Louise or I wanted to get on the road with it, so we just stayed in bed longer hoping that it would blow it’s self out. Fortunately that’s exactly what happened. Just after 10:30 we were all hooked up and heading for that mountain that I told you about yesterday. No matter how high or how low you start out driving up an 8% grade, and you’re driving to as high as 8400 feet, it’s quite a feat. We were fortunate enough not to have but 2 cars pass us during the first 30+ miles of up and down hill. There was a period when we just drove the top ridge of these mountains and all the while thinking “that all that goes up must come down”… well indeed we did get to that end and in doing so, we came upon a tanker that lead the way. During the 10 miles, with 9 20mph switch-backs, and an 8% grade, we put the transmission in 2nd gear and followed him down the hill making a top speed of 10 to 15 mph. At the bottom we found a state park that really looked interesting,
so we pulled in to see what they offered and for how much... $29 plus another $18 for our toad...sorry. Further down the hill we arrived at our next destination…Vernal, which is known as “Dinosaur Land”.
It seems that more Dinosaur parts and pieces have been found within an 80 mile circumference of Vernal than anywhere else in the world. Well after finding our campground, hooking up to water and electricity, we headed out to find Smith’s Pharmacy. Last night Louise read about Smith’s in Vernal. It seems that they are offering Shingle shots for $19 each and from what we’d been quoted in Seattle of $240, we couldn’t pass it up. Besides, we could get our flu shots at the same time. Following our shots, we went into Vernal to visit the Dinosaur National Monument (a dinosaur and fossil museum) to get a little education about dinosaurs and the area they apparently called home.