Today was a truckin' and travelin' day that got off to a late start.  We had hoped to have Magellan I serviced at the local RV dealership first thing this morning; however, since they were closed all weekend we had to wait until 8 this morning to find out that they were booked solid until August 11th.  NO THANKS...so we thought we were ready to roll.  We always check everything over before pulling out...including the tow dolly lights...and that's when we discovered that one of the plugs to the lamp had come out and was ruined by rubbing the tire.  That meant going to the RV service center to purchase the replacement wires for the lamp.  About 12:00 noon we were FINALLY on the road to today's destinations...Flaming Gorge Recreation Area and Vernal, Utah...our next basecamp.  Since we were starving to death by 2:00 PM we stopped at the next exit to eat....at "Little America." Sounded great...besides they had billboards every 100 yards telling you how it was a great place to eat, fill up the car, or spend the night!   What a disaster that turned out to be!  It took 1/2 hour to recieve our FAST FOOD, in a hot, uncomfortable dining room...with LOTS of angry customer waiting for their meals.  Needless to say, once our food arrived we headed back out to the RV for a cool place to eat.  We were cruising along on I-80 east and then made our exit to Utah 191.  That's when we discovered that the front tires of Magellan needed to be aired up.  After trying to get the truck stop's 50 cent air compressor to get up to only 90 psi (the tire needed 110 psi)....we spotted a Kenworthy truck repair shop across the highway.  So we treked over there...found a young man who very nicely used his compressor to pump both tires up...and we were on are way.  Needless to say, when we pulled into Vernal, Utah at 7:20 PM we were ready to drop. 

Even though we had a "rough" day...the scenery was magificent.  Jim had been to Flaming Gorge in 1969 and was looking forward to its beautiful setting...blue lake against Utah's red rocks.  It was almost just as he remembered it...however the lake was down 16 feet.  The ranger said that two years ago it was down 40 feet, so this was actually a good water level for all the recreational activities there.  The scenery along the drive to Vernal, Utah was equally magificent. This must the be the fossil capital of the world because every where we looked there were signs telling us what fossils were to be found in that area. In fact our campground is called, "Fossil Valley" campground!

Railroad tunnels in Lost Creek Canyon

Devil's Slide

Ordinary rocks along I-80

A flock of sheep along I-80

Cars and trucks have replaced the Covered Wagons along this section
of the OLD Morman Wagon Train Trail

Snowfence between u and the striated rock

We saw many trains today...choo...choo!

Flaming Gorge Reservoir with remains of a forest fire in the foreground

Flaming Gorge Reservoir in the rain

Beautiful scenery at Flaming Gorge Reservoir

Flaming Gorge Dam

Sun streaming across Flaming Gorge Reservoir (raindrops on the window)

The red rock that gives Flaming Gorge Recreational Area its name

Green River Canyon

Red, White & Gray striation in exposed sedimentary rock