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| (c) Google |
Pictured: Things. What are these things? Snow drift catchers? They are everywhere in cow country and aren’t fences as they have multiple gaps and overlaps.
We drove briskly into Rawlins, where we’d been before, of course, and parked by the Walmart. It was quickly obvious that we were almost at the City Market where we’d previously spent the night. Rawlins is a small, unprepossessing town, but is remarkable friendly and welcoming. We had breakfast at Penny’s Diner, which looks exactly like a diner but appears to be part of a hotel and was a little bit chain-dinery. We filled up, as we’d learned to do at every possible juncture, but I decided that we need to move on to the Sinclair gas station nearby, because Sinclair gas stations have a plastic brontosaurus figurine outside and sell stuffed replicas inside. (I’ve always wondered why Americans believe that petroleum is made from dead dinosaurs and this made me think Sinclair Oil might be the answer.)
STB used the time to call his mum – it had been her birthday yesterday. The tail end of the eclipse had been visible in the UK but not, in turns out, in Wales, where it was cloudy.
We drove briskly into Rawlins, where we’d been before, of course, and parked by the Walmart. It was quickly obvious that we were almost at the City Market where we’d previously spent the night. Rawlins is a small, unprepossessing town, but is remarkable friendly and welcoming. We had breakfast at Penny’s Diner, which looks exactly like a diner but appears to be part of a hotel and was a little bit chain-dinery. We filled up, as we’d learned to do at every possible juncture, but I decided that we need to move on to the Sinclair gas station nearby, because Sinclair gas stations have a plastic brontosaurus figurine outside and sell stuffed replicas inside. (I’ve always wondered why Americans believe that petroleum is made from dead dinosaurs and this made me think Sinclair Oil might be the answer.)
STB used the time to call his mum – it had been her birthday yesterday. The tail end of the eclipse had been visible in the UK but not, in turns out, in Wales, where it was cloudy.
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| Rawlins |
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| Downtown Rawlins |
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| Wyoming |
Pic: Really a lot of Wyoming looks like this. Like *a lot*.
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| Continental Divide again |
Pic: Continental Divide again. How do they know?
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| Things in the distance |
Pic: Cylindrical things.
What are these things? They’re all over Wyoming. I’m guessing they are fracking stations?
Then down the 13/789, back towards Muddy Creek and the inescapable Continental Divide, towards Baggs, which is on the border of Wyoming and Colorado. On the Little Snake River. We filled up in Baggs at Rocky’s Quik stop while our driver (STB) had a kip in the back. Then down the 13/789 to Craig.
What are these things? They’re all over Wyoming. I’m guessing they are fracking stations?
Then down the 13/789, back towards Muddy Creek and the inescapable Continental Divide, towards Baggs, which is on the border of Wyoming and Colorado. On the Little Snake River. We filled up in Baggs at Rocky’s Quik stop while our driver (STB) had a kip in the back. Then down the 13/789 to Craig.
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| View over Rocky's roof |
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| Rawlins Daily Sentinel Front Page |
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| Entering Colorado from Wyoming. Could that be a hill? |
Near Craig are the Fortification Rocks, which are a volcanic outcrop that look like um…fortifications. The sign says they were used by Native Americans as fortifications, which makes some sense but if I were attacking whoever, I’d just ride around the end, which doesn’t have a ditch or punji sticks or anything, so I’m not sure the rocks are much use as a fort.
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| Fortification Rocks |
The pull-out for Fortification Rocks is at right-angles to the rocks, so it's not the rampartiest view. But that's where they put it!
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| Butterfly at Fortification Rocks |
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| Fortification Rocks peter out on the other side of the road |
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| Craig |
Downtown Craig. I couldn’t get a very Craigy shot of Craig, so this anodyne one will have to do.
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| Craig power station |
Craig Station is a gigantic coal-fired generating station, which I understand is slated to be decommissioned shortly. There seemed to be a certain amount of fossil-fuel defensiveness in Wyoming and Colorado. One great big industrial thing (who knows what it was) had a giant vinyl banner of the three-storey Comic-Con size that read (if I recall correctly and I probably don’t) “Fighting the regulations that prevent us providing jobs”, which I mentally translated as “Fighting the regulations that prevent us from poisoning and injuring our workers.” To be fair both Colorado and Wyoming are HUGE. A nodding donkey oil well surrounded by 25 square miles of nothing at all except sage, pronghorn and a couple of bullocks, or a coal-fired power station as big as Craig’s in the middle of rolling hills both seem very different from the same thing if it were in Orange County, CA, where the power station would be visible to (and polluting) two million people and the oil pump would be inconveniencing about ten different road builders.
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| Rain, seen looking towards Meeker |
Staying on the same road, we went through Axial to Meeker, where we stopped to fill ourselves up at the Watt’s Ranch Market.
Pic: Newspapers for sale at Watt’s Ranch Market. Rio Blanco Herald Times and the Daily Sentinel.
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| (c) Google |
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| Mesa near Rifle |
At Rifle we changed to the I-70, heading for Grand Junction. We passed through a Colorado River Gorge of medium magnificence.
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| Gorge at Palisade, Co. |
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| Gorge |
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| Gorge at Palisade |
We arrived in Grand Junction at about six thirty pm. It was spitting with rain when we parked up at the Walmart on North Avenue and sat in the RV while we tried to figure out a place to eat. We settled on a place called Namaste, and drove off. On the way, I realized I’d left the top vent of the RV open and the rain was getting heavier. I mentioned this two or three times, and STB muttered something about how we should not be driving with it open, and I was puzzled by that. Second time I mentioned it he said we were almost there, and the third time, he stopped and said, “Close it then.”
At that point I remembered that we hadn’t left the sleeping area back at the Walmart; it was part of the truck and came with us. I’d had such a powerful feeling that the two functions were separate that I’d forgotten that. I didn’t mention this to him; I just hopped out, closed the vent and got back in.
The Indian and Nepalese food at the Namaste was very tasty and the owners seemed like great people. Like many places that are unsure of Anglo tastes, they offered us a range of spiciness from 1-10. I had a 7. He had a 10. We were both happy but I think he could have done with something a bit spicier. The portion was so huge that I took some back with me and put it in the RV’s fridge, neatly avoiding the rain of Diet Coke cans as they tumbled out.
I fancied having more amenities than in a parking lot, so we drove on to Moondance RV on the lyrically named 23 Road. Along the way we found out why it was called Grand Junction – all the railroads arrive here to have a big meeting, and large numbers of sleeping locomotives lie around their yards like big cats in a zoo. It’s exactly as industrial as it sounds, but much quieter than you’d think. Not one of them moved. The RV park itself was less industrial, but given its surroundings I did kind of expect Steve Buscemi and Ray Winstone to hop out of a nearby Big Bouncing Bastard RV and set up a meth deal involving comedy Colombians and London thugs.
In fact nothing of the kind occurred – we emptied our grey water and black water, filled up our clean water, plugged into our 30 amp supply and slept the sleep of the very tired.
In the morning, we found a giant bullfrog enjoying the drip from the water supply. Seeing us it hopped, as beasts do, directly under our wheels so we spent a comical ten minutes trying to push a recalcitrant frog out from under the vehicle. We got it and set it free at least two yards from the nearest RV. Hope it enjoys it.
Day 11 Phoenix to OC
At that point I remembered that we hadn’t left the sleeping area back at the Walmart; it was part of the truck and came with us. I’d had such a powerful feeling that the two functions were separate that I’d forgotten that. I didn’t mention this to him; I just hopped out, closed the vent and got back in.
The Indian and Nepalese food at the Namaste was very tasty and the owners seemed like great people. Like many places that are unsure of Anglo tastes, they offered us a range of spiciness from 1-10. I had a 7. He had a 10. We were both happy but I think he could have done with something a bit spicier. The portion was so huge that I took some back with me and put it in the RV’s fridge, neatly avoiding the rain of Diet Coke cans as they tumbled out.
I fancied having more amenities than in a parking lot, so we drove on to Moondance RV on the lyrically named 23 Road. Along the way we found out why it was called Grand Junction – all the railroads arrive here to have a big meeting, and large numbers of sleeping locomotives lie around their yards like big cats in a zoo. It’s exactly as industrial as it sounds, but much quieter than you’d think. Not one of them moved. The RV park itself was less industrial, but given its surroundings I did kind of expect Steve Buscemi and Ray Winstone to hop out of a nearby Big Bouncing Bastard RV and set up a meth deal involving comedy Colombians and London thugs.
In fact nothing of the kind occurred – we emptied our grey water and black water, filled up our clean water, plugged into our 30 amp supply and slept the sleep of the very tired.
In the morning, we found a giant bullfrog enjoying the drip from the water supply. Seeing us it hopped, as beasts do, directly under our wheels so we spent a comical ten minutes trying to push a recalcitrant frog out from under the vehicle. We got it and set it free at least two yards from the nearest RV. Hope it enjoys it.
Day 11 Phoenix to OC
