PART 1: The Utah Border
Moments after Ron and Nilla and I crossed the border from Colorado into Utah, we saw a rest area at exit 221. (This is the Thompson Springs exit, in case you want to check it out on your travels.) This was another “hey let’s see what’s here” pitstop that turned out to be a delightful decision.
We got out of the truck and immediately saw this long, curvy sidewalk up to a lookout point. I waited for Ron to use the pit toilet and then we walked together up the steep path.
It was a good jaunt to raise the heart rate for a minute or so!
At the top, we had a view of an entire canyon, a few hundred feet below.
I love the Utah Juniper trees!
Here are two growing close together that form a wide array.
This was an interesting formation with the split rock and the larger juniper above and smaller one below.
We had to move on because Nilla was still in the truck and I am very conscientious about her not getting overheated. But we had a good mini-adventure!
Part 2: The Road to Beaver
We continued traveling along the I-15 South toward our destination, the KOA in Beaver. I snapped photos through the truck windshield and my passenger side window, mostly of rock formations and sky.
This one was very cool: A pyramid-shaped rock formation centered under the two places where rain was emitting from the cloud. I had to take 7 photos as we were passing by at 70 mph to get this particular shot!
These next two photos were total flukes. I was interested in the broader scene but when I looked at my photos to cull similar shots, I realized that it looks like this rock formation has cloud hair!
In this second one, the cloud looks like exhaust coming out of the rock!
The next one, I call Cloud Phoenix. Very ominous looking.
And this one just looks cool. It appears to be a combination of fallstreak clouds that haven’t punched through yet, and actually rain. I do know it’s rain, because it fell on us moments later!
The rain came on fast and hard, but stopped after only a few minutes. The droplets were huge!
Part 3: The Campground
The KOA is located in Beaver, which is a small town north of Cedar. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we like KOAs because they typically have large, mature native trees; this KOA did not disappoint.
Here is a photo of Ron at our campsite.
There is a big field adjacent to the campground. In the distance are mountains that still have some snow on their caps (June 9th).
Ron took this photo of Nilla curled up in his ukulele case! She is so cute!
That night, since we had such nice weather, I asked Ron to light the grill for making dinner. I caramelized onions and (thanks to Karla Kay for the fresh basil) I even made a quick pesto. These formed two of the layers in grilled sammies. (Sorry, no pics of the end product, we were too hungry for me to get my phone and take a photo! Suffice to say, they were both delicious and picture-perfect, since Ron made Bon-Appétit-magazine-worthy cross-hatch grill marks on the toast!)
The next morning, we got up early and started the journey to our final overnight location, another KOA, this time in Barstow, California. I’ll share a bit about that in my next post.
As always, I wish you excellent health and well-being, plus lots of love and laughter and life-affirming creativity!💖
Beautiful photos of Utah with its trees, rock formations, and clouds!! Adorable picture of Nilla! Barstow was where we began our Route 66 travels last year! ❤️❤️
We have such a huge, beautiful country... I can't wait til we TAKE IT BACK. ;)