B & B Travel Blog

We left Fossil Valley RV Park in Vernal, UT at 10:00 AM MDT and headed South on US-191. Once again, after some heavy analysis on Google Earth we chose to take the US-191 route through Utah instead of CO-139 through Colorado. The two routes are roughly the same distance (224 miles vs 232 miles), but the Colorado route appears to have a lot more switchbacks. The Utah route has an 8% grade mountain pass which is greater than the 7% grade on the Colorado route, but the grade is much shorter. We reached the summit at 9,114′ and the final two miles were definitely 8% or more. We got down to 30MPH and crawled over the top. The trip down required a lot of braking, including two spots on the 8% grade that required complete stops for single lane construction zones. We waited at least 10 minutes in the first zone. After traversing the mountains we stopped for fuel and made lunch at a Maverik in Price, UT and continued South from there. For the first time on this trip we traveled East a bit (20 miles) where US-191 joins I-70.

We arrived at Moab RV & Glamping Resort at 3:00 PM MDT. Both Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park are nearby.

Device	Download Mbps	Upload Mbps
Campground Wi-Fi	n/a	n/a
Starlink	310	26
AT&T Hotspot	n/a	n/a
US Mobile – Brian (AT&T)	6	1
US Mobile – Beth (Verizon)	257	7

TV	Quality
Antenna	7
Campground Cable	n/a
DISH Satellite	n/a

The morning started with Beth telling me that she was boiling our eggs because she was worried that they were going to spoil and asked me if I wanted a hot boiled egg for breakfast. I said, “Of course, I’m having mine Grandpa McCally style”. God bless Grandpa McCally! He could only cook one thing and that was a boiled egg and Mom, Deb, and I can tell you that the very few times that Grandpa was left in charge of our meals, we were blessed with his boiled eggs, HOT, diced into pieces, and smothered in butter, salt, and pepper. They were so simple and yet so delicious. That’s how my day started in Cheyenne, WY.

I spent a large part of last evening on Google Earth (where I can measure road grades) trying to decide which route to take from Cheyenne to Vernal, UT. Taking I-80 West to US-191 was the longer route by a good 40 miles, but only cost 5 minutes. Heading South out of Laramie down to US-40 was the shorter route, but there are more switchbacks (which neither of my passengers enjoy). We discussed it over boiled eggs in the morning and my passengers agreed to the I-80 to US-191 route.

We left WYO Campground & RV Park in Cheyenne, WY at 9:20 AM MDT and continued West I-80. Just the I-80 portion of the trip was a good decision. The views were incredible. We stopped for fuel at a Maverik in Laramie, WY and continued West from there. We stopped for lunch at a Parking Area (no facilities) and ate some more bologna (what a glorious day). We stopped again for fuel at a Maverik in Rock Springs, WY.

The drive on US-191 from I-80 down to Vernal, UT is a heavily debated test for RV’s in the RV forums. They don’t post signs indicating the uphill grades, but you can see from the attached photos that the downhill grades reach 7% and 9% (including 8% for 7 miles). Based on my analysis using Google Earth the uphill grades are similar. Based on that, I thought we might have to stop at one of the scenic overlooks on the uphill grades and detach the Equinox and traverse the grades separately. However, the Sprinter chassis (with it’s non-massive 2.0 Liter diesel engine) climbed right over the grades with the Equinox in tow. Braking on the downhill grades was more of a concern. We learned on a couple of the I-80 downhill grades (significant as well) that we need to start significant downhill grades at a very low speed in a very low gear. The tiny engine doesn’t do that much to keep the speeds down, but we just kept braking for short periods in attempt to keep the speeds from climbing and survived it. During the 7 mile 8% downhill grade we pulled over at a couple of the scenic overlooks and “looked” (i.e., made sure to let the brakes cool),

We arrived at Fossil Valley RV Park in Vernal, UT at 5:15PM MDT. Dinosaur National Monument is close by.

Our second day in Vernal was a complete washout. It rained all day and evening. We elected to hang out in the camper and get caught up on laundry. Once the laundry was done, Donna took us out to a late lunch at Swain Brothers where we had a delicious meal.

Our third day was beautiful. Mostly sunny with a high near 60 degrees. We started the day by taking the extremely filthy Equinox to a local drive-thru car wash. It was so dirty that it was hard to see out the windows. When we left the car was all shiny and new and we headed straight to the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum here in town.

Following the Natural History Museum we went back to the camper for lunch and then headed out to the Dinosaur National Monument. It was about a 20 mile drive and very scenic. When we arrived at the entrance gate, I used my Senior Lifetime Pass to get in, but while we were there Donna purchased her Senior Lifetime Pass and Beth’s sister Terry had pointed out to Beth that the National Parks consider Type 1 Diabetes a permanent disability which allowed her to acquire the National Parks Access Pass (for free). She showed the ranger her Driver’s License which indicates that she is insulin dependent and he gave her a FREE lifetime Access Pass. We were pleased.

We parked at the Quarry Vistor Center, purchased trinkets, etc., and then rode the free tram to the Quarry Exhibit Hall.

Device	Download Mbps	Upload Mbps
Campground Wi-Fi	n/a	n/a
Starlink	176	32
AT&T Hotspot	n/a	n/a
US Mobile – Brian (AT&T)	259	40
US Mobile – Beth (Verizon)	TBD	TBD

TV	Quality
Antenna	7
Campground Cable	n/a
DISH Satellite	n/a