Today was a travel day so we gathered up our stuff, disconnected from the utilities at Fossil Valley RV Park and headed north on US-191 toward Wyoming. 191 is a tough road that starts with a big climb up switchbacks from about 5000′ elevation to 8400′ at the pass. They do not show a pass on the maps but, believe me, it is there. After the big climb, where Charlotte again performed admirably, the road takes a couple long 9% downgrades all the way to Flaming Gorge. We left 191 and turned west on Utah 44 to a town called Manila despite there not being any Filipinos there. At Manila we turned west on Utah 43 for about two miles which transforms into WY-414 after crossing the border into Wyoming.
The drive on 414 is pretty lumpy and there are some ups and downs between 6000 and 7000 feet elevation along the way. The countryside along the road is very nice rolling pasture. There are also some badlands that you drive through before emerging into pretty flat pasture land that goes all the way to Urie, WY. We turned west at Urie for a few miles before driving into Fort Bridger, a town of some 300 souls in the middle of nowhere. It is the location of Fort Bridger State Historical Site which we drove past.
Fort Bridger RV Park is a nice, grass-covered field with some shade trees spotted around the site. They have wi-fi of sufficient capabilities to allow us to stream Netflix. That hardly happens in any other parks we have been to and it is glorious. The individual RV spots have full hookups and cable TV that boasts 12 channels, 9 of which work. They have a small laundry facility and big clean restrooms. Check-in is pretty informal; you pull into an open spot and they come around to collect the money later.
Despite the short 137 mile distance covered during today’s drive, the roads were quite challenging for those pulling large trailers through 20 mph corners, steep upward climbs followed by harrowing downgrades and pretty beat up road surfaces with hidden potholes the size of badgers. We set up our trailer and climbed inside to take advantage of the delightful air conditioning. We arrived early so Peggy and I rewarded ourselves with some tasty booze followed by nice naps. It was luxurious.
Peggy got a few pictures of the gorgeous terrain along the way in you can see ’em if you click here