Driving through the Rockies - awesome

The mechanic finished with our car about noon on Friday, so we said goodbye to Colorado and headed for Beaver, Utah.  I can't tell you how beautiful the drive was!!  We haven't been below 7000 ft. in several days, and today was definitely going to push the envelope even more!  

Going through the mountains required us to go through several tunnels.  I was surprised by this, I just never thought about how the highway was constructed.  For the most part, the north and south traffic were on two different roads, one the high road and the other the low road.  Because of the sheer mountain walls in spots, it was easier to go throughout the mountain, than to build on it.  Some of the grades were pretty intense.  By the time we got to the summit, we were at 10,000 ft.!  We were really lucky to see so much snow because it was a little late in the season.  Our drive took us through Vail, CO. one of the premier ski resorts in Colorado.  It reminded me very much of British Columbia.  There were several lodges and condos nestled up the slopes, with several ski lifts crossing overhead.  There was major construction going on.  I think, by the looks of all they are doing, that Vail will be at least twice as big by next season!  We were very excited to see a small group of Doll sheep right down on the road!  

As we exited the Rockies, we began to notice that the landscape was getting really flat again, but still about 7000 ft.  As we came into Grand Junction, CO., we remembered what our mechanic told us.  Be sure to fill up, and not much out there once you leave CO.  He was absolutely right.  We drove forever with no change in scenery for hundreds of miles.  It didn't help that we were by now traveling in the dark.  We finally crossed into Utah, and were more than ready to find our KOA.  We decided to stop in Beaver, Utah.  Wouldn't you know, we were tired and had been driving a long time, we just wanted to get there, and Bob (you remember, our on board navigator) decided to run amok again!  Not funny, we were in the middle of no where again!  Luck would have it, we stumbled onto the proper road and settled in for the night.