Escape the Heat? Part 1

Thursday, 8/12
It was less than an hour drive to the Lucerne Marina on the west side of Flaming Gorge Reservoir. The lake is mostly in Wyoming but crosses into Utah. You cross state lines several times while driving to the marina. The poor maps app is constantly stating:
"Welcome to Utah!"
"Welcome to Wyoming!"
"Welcome to Utah!"
"Welcome to Wyoming!"
Salt Lake City is just over 100 miles to the west, so we are in a stark, desolate desert. Beautiful nonetheless. We chose to take the western side, shorter route to the marina.

“Flaming Gorge” was named for the bright red rock in many walls of the Green River canyon. But I secretly believe it is because we are back to flaming hot weather. So much for the “Sail the Rockies Adventure” to escape the heat. 🔥 😂

We DID learn a lesson in Glendo, however. At Flaming Gorge, as we begin to step the mast for launch, we followed a strict 15 min in the sun, and at least 15 out, resting and drinking water. It worked-we got the mast stepped and the boat launched. The goal was to get the boat into the slip and then take off the next day to drive across WY to Cheyenne and Pine Bluffs and that happened. But we were back to hot nights! 

Friday 8/13
We are traveling to Pine Bluffs, WY (right on the Nebraska border) for a graveside service on Saturday for my dad’s wife, Mary Della, whose homegoing was in May.

We started this drive by going the rest of the way around the lake. So we headed south and then east to cross the dam, then back up the east side. Truly beautiful in the way only the desert can be. When we got back to I-80 the rest of the drive was uneventful, except for the places we stopped for gas and they were out of certain grades. (Sid’s surprised face: 😲)

We did learn that the Rock Springs, WY, Walmart is exceptional; the Rawlins, WY, Walmart is not. We arrived in Cheyenne to do laundry and have dinner, because Pine Bluffs is a very small town with no laundromat and only one known-to-me restaurant. I wasn’t sure it would still be open after COVID or by the time we arrived. We stayed at a didn’t-know-it-was-there-until-this-trip motel and were pleasantly surprised. (Pine Bluffs is 20 miles from where I grew up, so I knew it pretty well back in the day, but in recent years was only there because it was where my dad and Mary had attended church prior to the need for assisted living and memory care. It had been over five years since they were able to attend, but were still known and well-loved there. My dad passed in 2016.) 

One more photo from the drive: