It’s my last full day, and I am just tumble weeding along. I have a plan for the day but no place to stay so hopefully it all works out. My drive is long and out of the way but I really, really wanted to visit Dinosaur National Monument.
The drive was mainly back roads with one part being extremely tight hairpin turns which was super slow going especially when following a caravan of trailers. And then I realized I would be doing the same drive back to my stop for the night. Great! Anyway, Earl Douglass discovered bones on August 17, 1909. I was amazed at how beautiful this site was for a national monument.
The visitor's center was nice with great displays. In order to see the bones, you had to take a tram (free) or hike. I decided to take the tram to the bones and hike back since it was downhill. The quarry exhibit hall is where you could see fossils and the work being done.
Then a hike back down the Fossil Discovery Trail was easy with educational signs.
Before I left, I did the auto driving tour to see the rest of the viewpoints which I could have skipped. It was back on the road towards Colorado. I did a quick stop at Colorado National Monument . . .
. . . because I was not sure if I had been here before, but as soon as I started the Rim Rock Drive, I realized I had been there so I just drove the entire road from west to east with a few quick stops. The best view point in Monument Canyon . . .
I got a bit mad at myself because I thought I had been to the Black Gunnison National Park and realized I had not and it was so close but time was not on my side. I mixed up Colorado NM and Black Gunnison NP which annoyed me . . . I should have planned better so guess I will be making a trip back to the area. When I got back to the land of internet, I made a hotel reservation for a hotel near the airport. My flight was late and was going to try and fly earlier since I was ready to go home.
Driving Map Day 5
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