Disclaimer: This blog entry wasn’t written until 17 years after the trip. It should be noted that it was a huge mistake to have not written it way back when. Sometimes, after writing so much about other days, it happens that at the time directly after the trip (or even during), I convince myself that the details are not that important. Years later, these details are that important, and pulling them out of foggy memories is difficult. The photos help and often leave clues, and then Caroline’s memories are usually far clearer than mine. With that said, here goes.

Woke up in Green River, Wyoming, and before getting on the road south, we stopped in for breakfast at Buckaroos Family Restaurant because what sounds more old west than that? Wyoming State Road 530 is a small road, which suits us fine; it was on that when we crossed this arm of the Green River on its way to Flaming Gorge down in Utah.

Utah State Route 44 is an amazing drive, not only for the incredible beauty it traverses, but there are interpretive signs all over the area telling what kind of deposits were laid down here, during which era in the historic record they came to be, and what you might find int hem such as alligators, dinosaurs, petrified sand dunes, or in the case of the Park City Formation from the Permian, phosphate for fertilizer.

Funny that across the border in Colorado is the town of Dinosaur, but here in Jensen, Utah, the Dinosaur National Monument is found.

This skull pokes out of the petrified mud on the upturned river bed along with hundreds of other fossils frozen where they fell millions of years ago or within the past 6,000 years, depending upon your particular belief system.

So there they were, God and a bunch of his (her?) assistants (?). It was the third day of creation, and dry land and plants had just been created. Already, I’ve got serious issues here as those plants need a sun for photosynthesis, but that arrives only the next day, and what about the water? Water shows up on day 5. But let’s go back to day 3. This is devious because with the dry land already in place, God knew that in the future, day 6 for him specifically, he was going to create land animals and people, which means in the making of all this rock, he planted hints in the shape of giant extinct lifeforms, knowing we’d be baffled by the mystery. I suppose I can go with the idea that he knew that the people he was creating were not going to be as dumb as a river bed of rocks, but come on, look around you. We are that box of rocks.

Come on now, those of deep faith, just go ahead and admit that the spine that was destined for you got lost in the mud of creation, turned to stone, and now your ability to consider reality is as petrified as these old dinosaurs right here.

Well, that was probably enough of me blaspheming his holiness’ mythologies and so we should just get on down the road and into Colorado, the colorful (and windy) place.

Ah, here’s something else I can stir the pot about. Remember Native Americans? Yeah, not many do because our ancestors were close to being fully effective in making relics like those found encased in stone, such as the dinosaurs. Do you know why that is? Because we are white gods cleansing the world of pesky things we don’t need, such as clean air, water, food security, a roof over poor people’s heads, and compassion. I’m not saying all of us whites are bad, just the bad ones, and you all know who you are. Sweet Jesus, our Lord in Heaven, says the atheist to nobody reading this; what’s the big axe yer grinding here? Oh, you think vacation is all about double cheeseburgers and sunshine? Luckily, we can still pass reminders of the people who lived on these lands for THOUSANDS of years before George, Helmut, and Lorenzo dropped in to kill everything that moved.

Pictographs at Canyon Pintado are the only other reminders left in all of Colorful Colorado that Native Americans once lived in the area. Take notice of the red outline of the arms and hands, somebody (defaced) painted it all white in an effort to erase the reference to the Indian that first made it.

Oh, it seems I was mistaken, and the evil oppressors missed something; no worries, I destroyed it right after I took this photo. Seriously, this is wall tongue-in-cheek, but I do have a real beef in that I don’t think America has begun to reconcile its sordid past of hate-based politics of exclusion. As for the God stuff above my incendiary Native American blatherings, that nonsense is just beyond the pale and needs to be retired.

Grand Mesa Byway is a terrific byway as far as byways go. The road travels to places that, if you’ve never been on this byway, will be unseen by you until you travel out this way. And when you get to the destinations the Grand Mesa Byway will bring you to, you’ll know that you’ve been there because that’s what byways do.

Uh, we did not; I repeat, we specifically did NOT order snow for this trip. A frozen lake in June? Give me a break; it’s summer, right?

Sure, I know there’s snow out there, but that’s just decorative, so I can attempt to take dramatic photos.

Ouray back when it was just a small mountain town still unclaimed by the wealthy horde that was about to take it over.

The Million Dollar Highway was cut out of Billion Dollar Views.

Why there is Twenty Dollar Weather hanging out over perfection is an unknown, kind of like how God creates light on the first day, but the sun doesn’t show up until day 4. I’m living in some kind of Catholic Parallel Universe trying to make sense of what’s inspiring me to write so much nonsense when I’m obviously not writing a bible.

Brown Bear Cafe in Silverton was our temporary heaven as they had hot food. There were no angels, but they did have dessert.

We are quickly running out of light, and me out of ideas about what else I can write here to finish fleshing out this blog post that would probably have been a whole lot better had I written it 17 years ago as the events of the day were unfolding. Well, at least the photos are now here.