Friday August 4th 2017

It was a changeable weather day. Starting early last night this area has been subject to thunderstorms. There were three or four overnight into this morning and they resumed around 5:30 this evening. In between it cleared off and the sun came out to heat things up. These thunderstorms haven’t dropped a lot of rain, but have had strong winds with thunder and lightning. The sound of rain on the roof only lasted a couple of minutes and wasn’t very hard. Areas to the southwest of here have been in a flash flood watch so I suspect there are storms producing more rain.

View to the Southeast toward Arches National Park from the rest area on Interstate 70 near the route 191 interchange.

During the calm between the storms, I drove around the area in an area familiarization tour. This town has under one thousand residents and not many resources to support them. There are several motels and restaurants along with truck and car repair facilities all designed for the travelers on Interstate 70. Green River Ut has the only significant amount of services in the over 200 miles between Grand Junction CO and Richfield UT.

One strange feature of the town is an Amtrak station. The California Zephyr train from Chicago IL to the Sacramento CA area stops here. I assume it is because of the national parks south of here, but the station has no services. As near as I can tell it’s a piece of concrete beside the tracks.

In addition to the convenience stores at the truck stops in town, there is a grocery store. It’s not on the main road through town. I haven’t found it yet. The staff here at the campground said most of the locals drive 60 miles or so north to Price UT or east 100 miles to Grand Junction CO when they need supplies. Since I only need bread right now, I’ll probably be visiting one of the convenience stores. They certainly are more convenient.

Visitor to my campsite.

They didn’t stay long.

The current monsoon based weather pattern is forecast to continue for the next couple of days. It is also the weekend. I have learned that touring National Parks on the weekend is a little more crowded than during the week. Wet weather and crowds may influence my touring plans for tomorrow. If I don’t head south to the National Parks, there are other things I can do in town or to the north.