We're trying to figure out the optimum travel rate. Seems we were moving a little too much the first two weeks of September, two or three nights each location. The optimum may be 5 nights in the boonies then two night in or near town to re-stock (long showers, food, laundry, dog food, etc.)

We've also been finding camp Thursday or Friday and staying put though the weekend. We started to think this may not be required after school starts. But coming into Moab on Saturday blew this out the window, we do need to sit through weekends. It's hard to find a camp site, at least in some locations, on the weekend. Travel and learn.

Leaving Medicine Bow NF we headed for Fort Collins. We needed some supplies not available in small towns. We traveled around the southern end of the Snowy Range on Hwy 230 to Laramie. Very nice drive with good scenery. Looked like a lot of camping along here, but high elevation. Then Hwy 287 to Fort Collins. We spent three nights outside Fort Collins at Horsetooth Reservoir SP. That gave us two days for shopping in town. Enough to track down the stuff we needed to buy, but not enough time for laundry and hair cuts.

After Fort Collins we headed west on Hwy 14. Beautiful scenery just north of Rocky Mountain NP.

We stopped for two nights just east of Steamboat Springs at Meadows CG. Spent the day cooking dog food for Ruby (special diet for her failing kidneys) and a short hike. Looked like a good number of mountain bikers in the area, different than Wyoming. The pic at the top is at Meadows CG.

Then on to Green River CG in Dinosaur NM. But on the way, trying to find propane, Hugh got turned a little too tight backing out of a driveway for U-turn. Dora's storage box hit Larry's bumper. Will need some fiberglass work, but the tools and supplies are in Oregon. The new, not so bent up, toggle latch is on order.

At Dinosaur NM we met up with Tim and Julie, friends from Washington. They were on their way to Monument Valley. Was good to catch up with them. The campground is right on the river, great swimming/cleaning for the dogs, and wading/cleaning for the people. Nice campground and not too busy this time of year.

Leaving Tim and Julie we headed north to Flaming Gorge, Red Canyon CG. First thing, since the dogs were clean from Dinosaur NM, was for Denise to trim them. You can see the white fur from Ruby on the table. There's a corresponding volume of black hair from Cooper already captured in a bag.

The Green River cuts through the mountains (I think the Unitas) north of Vernal. There's a dam at the north side of the mountains forming a large reservoir. Even with the reservoir it's quite a Gorge, very scenic.

Towards the north there are fewer mountains and it looks drier, last picture above. Getting a boat would be the way to see Flaming Gorge, but still scenic from the rim. Part of our drive along the reservoir included a loop through Sheep Creek canyon. It's a great tour for geologists, but since we're not we ignored most of the big names on signs. Great scenery though.

After three nights at Flaming Gorge we headed south towards Moab. One stop over at Starvation SP outside Duchesne. The picture below shows Starvation Reservoir and smoke from a fire further west (still in Utah). Nice park and the best showers we've had in over a month!

Then on to Moab. Parks have not been busy so we decided we could find a campsite there, if not then an RV Park. No such luck on a BLM campsite, they were all jammed full. Tried to call a few Parks but couldn't even get through on the phone. We decided to drive up into the Manti-La Sal NF to find a boondocking site not too far in. Most boondocking sites we saw were occupied. Took one rough road in awhile but no luck. We went further into the NF looking for a campground. Followed signs to the Warner Lake CG which was 5 miles up a dirt road. Very rough with washboards. Further than we wanted to go but the campground had spaces and was very nice. But, the rough roads took a toll. Our stove, which we've had no end of trouble with, exploded with parts all over the floor. Luckily all the parts were recovered and put back together. A little JB Weld to hold those pesky screws in place, we'll see. Then clean up of all the containers that decided to take a flying leap. Broke the handle off one "moose" cup. Bummer since it's one of a set of four. Glued it back together but will likely accelerate the search for a spare cup.

The campground is at 9400'. Turns out this is bothering Denise, not just hiking but being at altitude. A new condition. We'll stay here two nights and move to lower elevations, maybe near Moab as it's no longer a weekend. Here's a pic of our camp.

Hugh took Cooper on a hike. It is very scenic out there and the aspens are changing.

A lot of pictures here but it sure was pretty. It would be a great view to the west, looking towards Canyonlands NP, but there was quite a bit of haze/smoke.

Ruby wants to know when we're going to stop moving.

We hate to tell her the truth, so we just keep saying "soon".

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