Westward Ho

Leaving Rawlins, heading toward Salt Lake City, I noticed more small herds of antelope and enjoyed the many horses frolicking over the range.  Not too much to look at but I could see some of the drilling apparatus for natural gas far out and away from the hiway.

Decided to take a side trip and see a site, Flaming Gorge.  The dam was about 63 miles south of Highway 80 so off I went.  A really nice drive, lots of beautiful rock formations and the road was quite nice, even though only two lanes.  When I reached the dam I walked around a bit and then took off to drive around the area and end up back on 80, closer to Salt Lake City.  As soon as I started from the dam my battery light came on and I almost panicked.  Was not sure what to do as I was now a long way from the main highway.  I knew there was a lodge and restaurant about a mile away and I drove there, hoping my trusty Blazer would make it.  I drove into the Lodge area and there was a gas station and an area that did boat repair.  I asked the guy if he would look at my car and he put a tester on it and said it was the alternator.  The solution for this was not easy or cheap.  Someone had to drive 45 minutes to a small town, pick up the part and drive 45 minutes back.  He called and was assured they had the correct part and a fellow took off driving to pick up the part.  I was a little nervous about the whole mess but I felt I had no choice.  I worried that the parts store would not have the part and I would have to stay at the rustic lodge overnight but I lucked out in that field and was on my way  in less that 3 hours but $435 poorer.  Guess there was no choice and I was glad to get moving again.
Everyone was very nice to me during this time, letting me sit in the restaurant, use my computer and read a book.

The drive to Salt Lake City was long from Flaming Gorge and, of course, I worried about something else happening to my car.  The scenery made the drive worthwhile and I am happy I was able to experience the beauty even though it was an expensive ride.!!!  Arrived in Salt Lake City about 6PM just in time for rush hour traffic but made it to the motel with no problems and believe me, I really slept well!!!

Flaming Gorge

Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area was established by Congress October 1, 1968. The area contains 207,363 acres of land and water, almost equally divided between Utah and Wyoming.

Flaming Gorge Reservoir is the most popular attraction here. It is a huge reservoir providing outstanding opportunity for boating, fishing, skiing, jet skiing, houseboating and other water sports. Five full-service marinas offer launching, storage and maintenance facilities.

The reservoir surface water is cool even during the heat of summer. That means the reservoir provides excellent habitat for trout, and it is invigoratingly cool for water skiers.

Flaming Gorge is famous for its trophy lake trout. Good number of 30+ pound fish are caught each year. The Utah record went 51 lb 8 oz, and there may yet be a bigger one swimming in the reservoir. Fishing is also very good for rainbows, brown trout, kokanee salmon and smallmouth bass.

Only primitive roads lay across the eastern Uinta mountain range when construction of Flaming Gorge Dam began in 1958. Construction of the dam, development of the recreation area, and highway access have ushered in the modern era for this ageless country.

Request a brochure with information about this area.

Rising 502 feet above bedrock, Flaming Gorge Dam impounds waters of the Green River to form the reservoir, which extends as far as 91 miles to the north. The reservoir has a total capacity of 3,788,900 acre-feet. At full elevation of 6,045 feet, it has a surface area of 42,020 acres.

Pony Express Stop In Nebraska

Corn, corn and more corn

Leaving Fairmont I headed west on I-90 to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  Need I tell you that I have never seen so much corn in my life!!!!  Fields and fields and fields of corn, now picked and dried, some fields already cut down.  Interesting driving in this area, partly along the Missouri River, which was part of the Lewis and Clark Trail.  If you remember from part of my blog in Oregon, that I had visited the end of the Lewis and Clark Trail in Seaside, Oregon.  After reaching Sioux Falls, I headed south to Omaha and then west on I-80.  I have never been on I-80 in that part of the country so decided to add it to my driving experience. Driving through Nebraska was another "corny" experience!!!  Really, the corn fields continued for mile after mile, but interesting that I crossed the South Fork of the Platte River at North Platte, Nebraska.  I did lose track of how many times I crossed the Platte River.  Spent the night in Kearney (pronounced Karney), Nebraska, which is just about central Nebraska, a town of about 30,000.  Kearney is the home of the University of Nebraska Kearney.

Forgot to mention that one of my favorite gas stations on this trip is called "Kum and Go".  Always good for a laugh.

Next morning continued on thru Nebraska and yes, there was more corn and I made a stop at an old pony express stop.  Hard to imagine that mail was delivered by horseback way back when.   My grand kids think I was alive during the days of the pony express.   As I proceeded further west toward Wyoming, the corn fields started to disappear and now there were wheat and alfalfa fields and I started seeing more cattle.  Arriving in Wyoming  thru Cheyenne and Laramie, I saw small herds of antelope along the way.  I spent the night in Rawlins and learned from people there that this area is booming with the drilling of natural gas.  Very interesting and a boom for this small town.

Fairmont, Minnesota

Sadly it was time to get back on the road and head toward Monterey.  Sad to say goodbye to Ron and Bernice.  We had such a great time traveling for a month and I wish we lived closer so we could get together more often.  I know that we all have loads of memories of this trip and will have lots to talk about for years to come.

Drove from Minneapolis southwest to a small town, Fairmont, Minneapolis.  Nice drive along the river and with the trees changing colors--reds and yellows among the evergreens.  Then as I was closer to the southern part of the State the corn fields appear, acres and acres of corn or soybeans. 

Fairmont, MN, is a small town that sits in the middle of corn and soybean fields.  Some of the corn fields come right up to the back yards of some homes.  Larry's nephew, Bob, and his family live in Fairmont and a corn field comes right to their back yard.
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Bob is an optometrist in  Fairmont and the girls are cross country runners.  Lauren is a state ranked runner and Jacklyn is in junior high but does some running for the varsity high school team.  We did a nice 4 miles walk around one of the lakes in Fairmont.  I understand there are five lakes there and you can go from one to the other in your boat.  I also saw Lauren and Jaclyn's mother, Diane, and she accompanied us to lunch.  Great to see everyone and it was fun to see where they live and play.  Jaclyn may come to Monterey next summer to train with another runner.  Will be fun to have her.  Hope that Lauren can  come sometime also.  Really sweet and great girls.  We are all very proud of them.

Super Friese Family 

Robyn, Greg, Clayton and Clay

Robyn is Ron and Bernice's younger daughter.  She lives with her husband Greg, sons Clayton and Colin in Savage Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.  Greg works for Lufthansa and Robyn works in the medical field.  Clayton and Colin keep busy with school and all the activities for boys 9 and 5.  We had a super steak and shrimp dinner at their home and ate way more than one should eat but it sure was fun. 

Randy, Bird and Jake Anderson

Unfortunately, in the commotion, I did not get a picture of this wonderful family.  Randy and Bird rented our golf course house a few years back while Randy was attending the Language School, studying Spanish.  After Monterey they moved to Uruguay and now Randy is out of the Navy and the family lives in Minneapolis, a very short distance from Ron and Bernice.  Jake is a first grader, so very cute and extremely intelligent.  He attends a Quaker school in St Paul and it certainly seems to be agreeing with him.  We had a delightful brunch on the patio with the Anderson's, eggs and cheese baked over heirloom tomatoes, yummy.  When they moved to Minneapolis they purchased an older home and have done so much work on the inside and outside of the house and their backyard is so inviting, with patio and vegetable producing garden. 

We spent a wonderful morning catching up and hearing about Randy's new job and all of the activities of the family.  They were about to drive to the country and enjoy the day in a corn maze and hay rides.  Again, I am so sorry I do not have a picture.  Hopefully they will come to Monterey in the near future.