The Best Laid Plans - Longmont to Dinosaur National Monument

They say, if you want to make God laugh, make plans.  S/He is howling!  We should have predicted the unpredictability of April in Colorado!  High winds all over the state, snow and ice over Loveland and Vail passes have all tricked us into remaining in Longmont until Mother Nature is good and ready to let us go!  A month of fastidious planning is fast becoming a lesson in patience and the need to be flexible-probably a very good lesson before we take off for 4 months of living in an RV.  What was originally scheduled as a leisurely drive through Steamboat Springs to Dinosaur National Monument has now evolved into a faster longer drive to Dinosaur directly-through Meeker and Rangely.  Steamboat is still way too cold and snowy.

After waiting 3 long days, the sun came out and the winds
stopped.  Clear sailing through the passes!

We snagged a great campsite right on the Green River!  

Our great view

I'm finally relaxed!

Jimbo unwinding on the Green

And, this one is especially happy to be on the road again.

This part of the Colorado Plateau has been lifted up and eroded into beautiful country:  the Green and Yampa Rivers roll along at about 5 mph and, over millions of years, have created dramatic scenery.

This is Split Mountain, split in half by the great Green River.

Meandering through lush farmlands and
desert sage, the Green irrigates the landscape.

Placer Point where they once hoped to find
gold on the river bottom.  The gold
particles proved too fine to extract profitably.

The hogback tilted ridges characteristic of the Split
Mountain Range.

We took a beautiful drive to see some pictographs and petroglyphs in the area, the art work of the native Fremont peoples who lived here a thousand years ago.

If you look closely at the round dark area in the middle
of this picture, you can see a beautiful lizard on the
bottom right.  

Such a sweet sight-he misses us when we leave him alone in
Maxine (not Minnie-it's a Maxie!).  Boo is not allowed on
trails in national parks, poor baby!

There was a beautiful 2 mile trail along the river.  

You probably thought you'd see some dinosaur bones or fossils here, but we visited the quarry the last time we were here and decided to spend our time just being out in our surroundings.