South Pass, scenic Utah

It was a cool 58 degrees when I began to load the bike this morning, but by the time I got 30 miles down the road to Lander where I had breakfast it had climbed to 70.

An Antique store in Hudson (maybe) Wyoming. The rest of the down appeared to be deserted

 In the restaurant I met Blaine and Todd, who are from Salt Lake City and who had been at the BMW rally. They suggested that instead of taking the road around the west side of Flaming  Gorge as I'd intended, that I stay on US 191 instead because it was more fun. Shortly after Lander, State Road 28 goes southwest off State Road 789 over South Pass, a famous point on the Oregon Trail.

Along Wyoming State Road 28 near South Pass

Soon after crossing South Pass (7660 feet) I went over the Continental Divide for the last time this trip - 8200 feet. I stopped to take a picture of an unusual house outside of Farson.

This place would be right at home on US 1 in California

Along SR 28 in Wyoming

In Farson I went south on US 191 to Rock Springs at I-90 where I stopped to get gas. A few miles on the Interstate and I exited at 191 and rode through the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, although with the son high in the sky the colors were muted.

Overlooking the valley from 191

US 191 continues along Flaming Gorge in Utah, and the road becomes delightful, with sharp turns, changes in elevation, and beautiful scenery. Unfortunately, this is a holiday weekend in Utah - Pioneer Day - and  every person in northern Utah who has an RV, motor home, travel trailer, camping trailer, or boat went out on the road and on Sunday morning was headed for home. There were great photo ops, but they all seemed to occur just after I'd passed several cars with trailers, so I didn't  stop. The road goes over a 8400 foot summit before descending into Vernal. I reached Vernal at about 1 PM and before looking for food I stopped to take a picture of the pink dinosaur on the east end of town.

The dinosaur may have had a new coat of paint since last year.

I stopped in a coffee shop to get a good cup of coffee and something to eat, but while the coffee was good all they had were muffins. Since I knew from past experience that restaurant coffee in Utah was usually very weak, I went with a coffee, and while I was sitting there a local came in and began talking with the young woman who was working there. In the course of their conversation she mentioned that she was from Macedonia, and when I said that I was part Bulgarian, she began talking about the politics and history of the region, and I stayed there far longer than I'd planned.

Anna Maria from Macedonia in Vernal, Utah

After several tries at restaurants that were closed (the owners were probably out driving their motor homes up and down US 191) I managed to find an open restaurant and was soon on my way out of town on US 40/191 towards Duchesne. The last time I was through Vernal (just last year in fact) there was a lot of construction, but the place is looking good now. There's even a new and very large dinosaur museum. However, all the towns along that section of heavily traveled US 40 seem to begin 5 miles outside of the town on each end - all the businesses are strung along the main road. I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years there will be bypasses around the towns, and a Business 40 that goes through town. In Duchesne I split from US 40 and followed 191 south. There was little traffic, and that section of 191 between Duchesne and Price is great. The road goes through a canyon with sparsely wooded hills on each side, and climbs and twists.

Along US 191 south of Duschene, Utah

Blaine and Todd had suggested a slightly different route through the Wasatch Plateau than the one I usually take, so about 10 miles outside of Price, I turned right on a small county road that ended 10 miles later at US 6, which I followed north to State Road 96, which goes west to Scofield and becomes 264 to Fairview. This was another good road and I'll add it to my long list of great roads in northern Utah. In Fairview I went south for 6 miles to Mt. Pleasant and then west on 116 to Moroni, and then west on 132, a road I've been on many times. There's a coal mine a few miles outside of Fairview, and apparently the coal is transported down the mountain via a long chute.

Coal chute 

 There wasn't much traffic going up 132, and the road was so much fun that I didn't mind when I came upon a line of cars and motor homes going down towards Nephi. Besides, I was a bit worried about the darkening sky and I did hit a few sprinkles, but the real afternoon thunderstorms were someplace else.

The sky is beginning to get dark

In Nephi I checked into the Safari Motel (one of my kind of places - $48) and had dinner at Lisa's Country Kitchen. Can this be a chain? I think that I've eaten at two other Lisa's on this trip.