Utah's Unique Geology - and a Waystation at Cove Fort

We left Grand Junction about 9 this morning after visiting with some fellow RVers. They had lived in GJ until 2 years ago when they became full time travelers. It was interesting to hear how they could work about 16-20 hours a week in exchange for their campsite (for a set period of time). They were on their way to Oregon to do an assignment like that for about 3 months while they got to see the area around Portland. Something to think about.

As you can tell, we crossed over the Utah border (though this truck chose a bad spot to park - could not see the sign very well). We ran across these two cowboys with their small herd of cattle and wondered where the ranch was located!

I love to see all the rock formations and geology of the area. There are so many different landscapes that I could take pictures all day! Actually, I think I took about 50 pictures or more so you are lucky I am only putting in a few of them. This rock formation below is called a reef. There is an entire region called Capitol Reef with loads of these. They are formed when the ground is pushed up from below - most often when plates collide and one part goes above the other. I think that's what I remember from one of my classes .... I wish I knew more.

We got closer and closer to the formations and also enjoyed the new pavement to drive on!

There was a "View Area" at the base of this reef and I took a picture of one of the signs describing this formation. Apparently it is about 30 miles long and was a deterrent to travelers of any kind for a long time.

After eating our leftover pizza at the rest area we took off to drive thru the reef. It is always amazing at the engineering it takes to plan our national roadways.

Like I said earlier, I could have included dozens of pictures of the unique landscapes and this "pyramid" shape was one I chose to show off. You can see the different layers of soils and rocks by looking at the various colors. Geologists could tell you the time period from each layer - I can just marvel at them!

When we finally reached Richfield, UT to fill up with fuel we saw this filly and mare in the field across from us. They did not cooperate and stay close to one another so to see them better you will need to click on the picture to enlarge it.

This next part is for Carole and Jonny.

At the end of I-70, just a mile before reaching I-15 South, there is an exit toward Cove Fort. It is actually a road about 3 or 4 miles long that will connect with I-15 North. We took the offramp to take some pictures of the area.

As you can see by the picture above, there is just a small settlement of a few buildings at Cove Fort.

There is a nice parking area and a sign inviting all who come by to take a free tour. I wish we would have stopped, but our sights were on heading toward Las Vegas, so we just traveled by this time. The building below is the actual historic (old) building that has been a waystation and stop for many travelers. I guess it has about 12 rooms restored and has period furniture.

I would say that the closest town of any kind is about 20+ miles away so there are probably not too many people who make this stop.

Tonight we are staying near Beaver, UT. There is a truck stop at mile marker 112 so we are set in place among the trucks and will spend the night here. Only about 200 miles to Las Vegas, so we will be there by early tomorrow afternoon. Heather has the day off and there are no extra kids to babysit - we'll go see them after checking into our campsite at the Oasis RV Resort. The weather is expected to be about 100+ so we will need to have a place to plug in for our AC to work full blast! What a change from the weather we have had for the past several weeks!

Our trip is coming to an end : (
Lots of things have happened the past 6 weeks ...
Having this blog has made it great to keep track of our travels and share them with everyone. I hope I can continue to add news about our family when we are not traveling.