Mostly Monotony on a Monday 08-15-16

There is a problem with the Internet connection here and I have typed this post twice before.  Each time it gets a bit shorter and less spontaneous and then it disappears.  This time I am writing at 6:30am Mountain Time.   If this doesn't take I might have to find a Starbuck's along the way.

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Yes, this is the part of the trip which shows the wild and beautiful scenery of the West.  But five hundred miles of it has gotten a bit ho-hum this trip.   There are gorgeous cloud formations that create moving shadows on the land, unbelievable rock-scapes in almost all colors of the rainbow (heavy on beige and brown), and the hardy, sparse plant life of the desert.   Not much traffic and fewer trucks then I expect4ed,  Dozens of FedEx Ground trucks, many hauling three trailers - something that is not allowed in California.   There were  many times that I could not see another moving vehicle in all the vastness around me.  The speed limit was 80mph for many of the miles and my statistics showed I averaged 74mph for the day and the gas mileage clocked in at 25.9mpg.  I love the onboard computer that calculates all this for me.   I've spent the night in Silt, Colorado, because there is a Holiday Inn Express here and many of you know how much I hunger for their hot cinnamon rolls in the morning.   I expect to be somewhere in Kansas tonight.   Here are just 9 photos taken over the miles.

Clouds come and go, I even had a sprinkle or two.  Had to review the settings for my windshield wipers, it has been so long sine I used them.

 

Clouds getting darker - the guy on the right doesn't seem happy.

This was probably the core of something when this was hot rock ions ago.  In Bryce Canyon they call them hoo-doos.

Sometimes the highway goes through impossible slots between the canyons and I wonder how they could build such smooth, easy-to-drive roadways.

Many places that seem flat reveal the road cuts that were necessary to grade the road.

Yes, there was construction along the way.  This is near Yellow Cat, Utah (No Services).  But I took the picture to show the prows of the mountains overlapping on the left.

 Lots of these towering "sand piles" in this light color that looks like sand.

 



But it is solid rock with very thin streaks of sand. 

Here is an "arty" shot with the foreground in shadow and  the sun shining on the background.  Those dark spots in the upper middle are plants growing on a precarious slope.

 

I'm off for Kansas!

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