Days 56 & 57

As usual, when I start home I get there fast.
Ended up driving the rest of the way in two days of driving about 450 miles each.
Got home Wednesday late afternoon after driving through Chicago and Northern Indiana in heavy rain and high winds.  Started out Wednesday morning planing on just getting close to Chicago and then stopping for the storm to pass - getting home early Thursday.  But once on the road, BlueBoy was determined to get "to the barn" storm or no storm.  It was a little "rough" but we made it.

Day 55

What a difference a day makes!!

It did rain most of the night last night and was very windy, but we had such a good day yesterday (Sunday), that last night's and today's weather was not expected.

Left Rock Springs, Wyoming this morning at 9:00am - good early start and the rain had stopped - but it was 42 degrees and up to 45 mph wind gusts.  Things changed in a short time for the worse as we drove through the rest of Wyoming.

Drove 430 miles to Ogallala, Nebraska. Not an exciting destination but a place to get off of the interstate and in for the night. Having white chicken chili for dinner; seems like the right thing to do.
Our drive is best described by the following pictures all taken from the RV on I-80 as it was too cold and wet to get out!

Snow fences are all over on this stretch of I-80

Day 54

We did drive the 200 mile loop thru Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area from Rock Springs.

Traveled South from Rock Springs on Hwy 191 to the Gorge Dam, then up Hwy 530 to Green River and back to Rock Springs.  About a 6 hour trip - almost all of it in the NRA.

Most of the trip was scenic, but the Gorge area near the dam was really special.  Glad we took the extra day on our way home to see it.

Pictures -----

Salt Flats on I-80 west of Salt Lake City

These Salt Flats pictures were taken from the RV - no place to pull over, but still interesting if you have ever wondered what they looked like

Unfortunately, the drive through Salt Lake City on I-80 was a little "fast" with no turnouts to take pictures of the city.
Here we are past the city and heading East.  Fall colors are at their peak here and it was really pretty.  Wish we had the time to stay somewhere and see more.

Also outside the city

And one more

This picture and all the rest are from our drive today.  I won't comment on each one, but will if something stood out in our opinion to share.  We took a lot of shots knowing we would be out of the mountains soon.

Here we are still in Wyoming but heading to the dam that is actually in Utah.   The snow covered mountains in the distance are in Utah and include the highest peak in the state.

We are about 7,800 feet in elevation and not all the snow melts where it collects on the East side of the canyons where it does not receive direct sunlight which prevents it from all melting during the summer.  Or, at least this summer.  They have had some record snowfalls the last few winters.

Our first view of the lake built up behind the dam - Flaming Gorge Lake

This is the lake view from the dam.  Very beautiful, but not as big as we imagined.

This is why it's called "Flaming".  The vibrant red in the exposed rock layer.

Big Horn Sheep we saw at a viewpoint.

Isabelle had dish duty tonight.  I can say she really cleaned up!

Day 53

Left the "dump" early this morning and drove 400 miles to Rock Springs, Wyoming.  Obviously the horse is heading for the barn.

But, here in Rock Springs we are right at the top of Flaming Gorge National Recration Area????
Should we stay and explore, or head home?

We are at a KOA for the night because it was intended to be a "one night stand".  Easy off - easy back on I-80. However, we might take the RV on a Flaming Gorge "Loop" drive and if we find a suitable campground spend a night or two.  Right now, we can't get a phone call answered to find out if any campgrounds are still open. Will need to try again in the morning. It was after 5:00 when we called, so no suprise with the "no answer". It is late in the year around with a current "warm spell".  Being here it seems everything should be open, but, in reality winter is just around the corner.

In any event, we will at least stay here at the KOA, if not in the Gorge, and drive the loop in the car so we can see why the Gorge is a national treasure.  That means ------ MORE PICTURES!  But not until tomorrow or the next.

That's it for today!

Day 52

Drove from Susanville (after the RV oil change) to Elko, NV.
Spending the night at a "dumpy" rv park next to I-80.

Northern Nevada is really beautiful, but there simply is nothing out here.  Very mountainous, but no parks or places to explore by RV.

Again, no pictures.  Next stop is uncertain, but are certainly heading in the direction of home.  Still have Utah, Wyoming, Colorado to consider and not sure at this time how much of a "draw" they will have as we drive through.

Day 51

More for our info than anything of interest to you all - we drove from the California coast to Susanville, CA today.  Scheduled routine RV maintenance tomorrow morning.  Susanville is near the Nevada border.  We did have views of Mt. Lassen from the north side, but we had already posted enough pictures of the mountain.

Sorry, no pictures.

Days 49 & 50

Tuesday and Wednesday were full days in and around Trinidad, CA - our home while visiting Redwood National Park.

Pictures will tell the story.

Tomorrow, Thursday, we leave the coast and head east towards home.
See everyone soon.

Pictures may seem repetitive, but the coast is filled with these "rocks" - many of which have seals on them, but too small for our cameras to capture

Into the Redwoods

Not all the beauty is in the big trees.  The ground around them is full of ferns and "lush" growth

Picture of Big Tree follows

Ellen on a trail through the park - really shows how big the trees are

Whale viewing point on the northern edge of the park.  We did not see any here but 30 minutes before we got there they were spotted swimming up close to this very spot.

We keep showing the ocean views - this is looking away from the coast

Missed out on the whales so we went to a meadow where Elk frequent.  Got lucky this time.

Wednesday we went back into the park to see another grove of trees

Yes, another picture of the coast

Later in the day we drove to a viewpoint near the campground to watch the sunset - for the day and our coastal travels