24 September 2017, Sunday
Last night we learned some Shoshone tales of stars and the sun. It was cloudy and there were still flurries – no stars visible. By 3 am the stars were shining. We spent the night in Vincent and managed to stay warm with the addition of a fleece blanket to our sleeping system. This morning the thermometer barely reads 0 degrees Celsius. We drive down to Baker from our campsite and are very appreciative of the coffee booth that is open early. O buys a large mocha and I order a large coffee. We drive to the visitor center and park in the sun where we eat our pastries from Bishop. After breakfast we browse through the visitor center and then begin our drive to Moab.
We continue to run into cloudy and cold weather at higher elevations. We stop at the lookout over San Rafael Reef. Early settlers called these high rock barriers reefs because they were reminded of coral reefs that kept sailors from approaching harbors. When the interstate was under construction the opening through which the highway passes was a slot canyon. The engineers who were lowered into the canyon to survey it could touch both walls of the canyon at once before it was widened for the highway.
As we approach Moab the weather clears. We drive past Green River along I 70 prior to reaching our destination. O realizes as he researches Green River on line that this town was Fievel the Mouse’s destination in the movie Fievel Goes West. We arrive at our commercial campsite in time to cook our dinner and go to sleep.
