Time Event Range Remaining 9:24 am Departed Vernal 238 10:19 am Arrived Red Canyon Lodge 179 Range/Distance ratio: 1.44 Conditions: 77°F

Flaming Gorge is a 200,000-acre National Recreation Area carved by the Green River through northeastern Utah. We stopped at the Red Canyon Visitors Center to take in the views of Flaming Gorge and shoot a few pictures on a hike along its ledge.

Our drive north takes us on the Flaming Gorge Scenic Byway. Time Event Range Remaining 11:20 am Departed Red Canyon Visitors Center 176 11:40 am Arrived Flaming Gorge Dam 172 Range/Distance ratio: 0.333 Conditions: Downhill, curvy

The byway brought us over the Cart Creek Bridge and by the Flaming Gorge Dam. At this point my son said, "They're just trying to copy Hoover Dam", which we visited five days ago, "but this isn't nearly as good. It's so small!" Well, yes, it's not as big as Hoover Dam.

So we continue north on the byway. The scenery is fascinating with long rolling hills with lots of room for grazing by livestock. The road is enjoyably curvy in spots, with no guardrails to prevent your car from driving off into the grassy plain to graze with the cattle, making it exciting.

Time Event Range Remaining 2:22 pm Departed Rock Springs 238 3:47 pm Arrived Fossil Butte 127 Range/Distance ratio: 1.15 Conditions: Fast We arrived at Fossil Butte National Monument, another site of fascinating fossil discoveries dating from 52 million years ago found in lake sediments that became the rocks known as the Green River Formation. These fossils are amount the world's most perfectly preserved remains of ancient plant and animal life. The broad spectrum of species found here made possible the millions of specimens, with details like teeth, scales, and skin, found since the middle of the 19th century. Like yesterday the children started work on their Junior Ranger activities. The Visitors Center here was full of fascinating exhibits featuring all the kinds of fossils discovered in the region. A ranger demonstrated how real fossils are revealed by washing away the extraneous sand. We needed to leave Fossil Butte to make a rendezvous at Logan, so we finished up the childrens' Junior Ranger badges with a swearing in, then we drove west on highway 30 out of Wyoming.

Time Event Range Remaining 5:17 pm Departed Fossil Butte 122 5:55 pm Arrived Bear Lake 88 Range/Distance ratio: 1.06 Conditions: Fast After crossing into northern Utah, we quickly descended towards Bear Lake. The kids we impressed with how large Bear Lake was, not being able to see the other side at all. Thus far we were debating what a "lake" really was because the Interstate Bingo shows a lake, and the kids wanted to count every stationary body of water bigger than a house as a lake. I kept telling them no. Well now, with Bear Lake, the kids have seen a real lake.

After a short picture stop at Bear Lake, we continued west into the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest.

Time Event Range Remaining 6:52 pm Arrived Logan, Utah 51 Range/Distance ratio: 0.77 Conditions: Downhill, traffic, curvy roads These roads made for some great driving, but I couldn't go too fast otherwise the kids would get carsick. This highway followed a river, in some places surrounded by steep cliffs covered in greenery small and large. I thought it was great driving.

The transition out of the forest and until Logan was fast. The first site was the Utah State University. Soon we drove through downtown Logan and checked into the Springhill Suites there. This Springhill is on the Tesla Destination Network, so it was a simple matter to charge while we settled in for the night.

Cost to Charge: $0