July 1-2
We left the Grand Tetons on Sunday, July 1 and traveled to Manila, Utah to spend the night in the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area. Other than the interesting name, the Flaming Gorge is a huge reservoir 
and surrounding area of high desert with buttes and red rock formations. We didn't get to spend any real time exploring the area or enjoying the reservoir, but seeing the change in scenery was refreshing as we drove to and from the area. In particular, as we left the area on the 2nd and made our way to Steamboat Springs, CO, we traveled up from the valley floor to have expansive views of the gorge area and saw some very interesting geologic history. Along the road they had signs posted identifying the various rock formations and at what time in geologic history they were laid down and what type of fossils could be found in them.
and surrounding area of high desert with buttes and red rock formations. We didn't get to spend any real time exploring the area or enjoying the reservoir, but seeing the change in scenery was refreshing as we drove to and from the area. In particular, as we left the area on the 2nd and made our way to Steamboat Springs, CO, we traveled up from the valley floor to have expansive views of the gorge area and saw some very interesting geologic history. Along the road they had signs posted identifying the various rock formations and at what time in geologic history they were laid down and what type of fossils could be found in them. On our way to Steamboat we stopped at Dinosaur National Monument in 
Jensen, UT. It is known as one of the richest deposits of dinosaur fossils in the world. The visitor center is world-renowned because it actually encloses a huge section of rock face that has exposed fossilized bones of literally hundreds of dinosaurs and other critters. They call it the quarry - the highlight of any visit to Dinosaur NM is to see the quarry. We didn't get to see it - it is closed indefinitely becaus
e the building is falling down. Falling down? We saw pictures of the quarry and of the falling building but we didn't see any fossils. Oh well, it was 98 degrees and we got to do the driving tour and see some petroglyphs. 
Jensen, UT. It is known as one of the richest deposits of dinosaur fossils in the world. The visitor center is world-renowned because it actually encloses a huge section of rock face that has exposed fossilized bones of literally hundreds of dinosaurs and other critters. They call it the quarry - the highlight of any visit to Dinosaur NM is to see the quarry. We didn't get to see it - it is closed indefinitely becaus
e the building is falling down. Falling down? We saw pictures of the quarry and of the falling building but we didn't see any fossils. Oh well, it was 98 degrees and we got to do the driving tour and see some petroglyphs. 
We then had to race our way across western CO because we needed to be at the timeshare condo (that's right we are getting out of the trailer for a few days) by 5:00 so we could check in and find a place to park the trailer. We made it with plenty of time to spare - about 8 minutes. Good thing they didn't decide to go home early. Our biggest dilemma in Steamboat was going to be where we could park the trailer for the days we were going to stay there. We worked it out with the resort to park it on the edge of the parking lot thankfully. More on Steamboat in the next entry.
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