We got on the road about 8 AM, and headed east on Utah Highway 12, a National Scenic Highway. It lived up to its reputation. The driving was slow, twisty, up and down, but often very beautiful. At one point we were going up a ridge, with a dropoff on each side, and we could not see very far in front of us; we both wondered where we were going. We ran into some light snow, especially on the 9200 ft pass, but the roads were good.
We had a lunch stop in Cedar Breaks National Park, near the orchards which are part of the park. That park deserves a future visit.
Much of the drive was plagued by wind. We spent perhaps an hour going 50 mph bucking a headwind and a crosswind, no fun.
We stopped about 5 PM, tired and glad to get off the road. We camped in Rabbit Valley, just south of I-70, just east of the Utah-Colo line. It is beautiful in its own more modest way, as the photo below attests.
When we got up in the morning, it was clear and 22 degrees. I called the road information line, and there was chain law at the Eisenhower Tunnel. We proceeded, expecting conditions to improve.
The Grand Junction valley area was very green and beautiful. The Colorado River was running big. We ran into some snow on Vail Pass and at the tunnel, but the roads were wet and good. We were surprised to find the Boulder/Denver area very dry and brown.
A good trip, we saw some new places that we would like to go back to.
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