Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Almost There...

My last day at Green River (Monday May 16th) the weather took a turn for the worse. I didn't feel bad at all about spending the entire day at the library! There were a few scattered showers along with strong winds and much cooler temperatures. I was quite happy being inside and got a lot accomplished.

When I left Green River the next morning (May 17th) it was cool and windy. There had been some heavy rain during the night. The drive on U.S. 6 over the mountains wasn't too bad. A few snow flurries but mostly drizzling rain.

However, once over the mountains, the Utah Valley was covered with gray clouds that were hugging the ground. And it was steadily raining. U.S. 6 linked up with I-15 near Provo and I turned north toward Salt Lake City. I didn't get far, perhaps 15-20 miles, which was not quite half way there. The temperature had dropped to 39 degrees. Driving conditions were terrible. Along with the rain and fog/clouds there was heavy road construction and the spray coming up from trucks and other vehicles reduced the visibility to nearly nothing.

In the rear view mirror I could see the clouds breaking up. There was some blue sky showing and even a little sunshine. I turned around and headed back to Provo and stayed at Utah Lake State Park. It actually warmed up to 45 degrees, which doesn't seem like much, but it does make a huge difference.

We had scattered showers the rest of the afternoon. When it wasn't pouring it was lightly misting. The gray clouds would move in for a while and then, briefly, the clouds would break up and the sun would make an appearance. Off to the east were the snow-capped mountains and once, for about 15 minutes, they could be seen in all their glory. It was one of those times that you just kind of shake your head in wonderment at what Mother Nature gives you in-between all the cruddy stuff! And then you grab your camera and shoot like crazy... Although, I was a little frustrated by the tall weeds that were growing along the little stream running on my side of the fence, it was still a beautiful sight.


The Mountains hovering over Provo during a brief lull in the rain on Monday, May 16th.

Then the clouds moved back in and blocked out the sun once again. It rained most of the night. The following morning was cloudy, foggy, dreary, and raining but I headed north once again. There didn't seem to be as much traffic as there was the day before and visibility was much better. It was still a little nerve-wracking with all of the construction going on and I was a happy camper when I arrived at the RV Park/campground that would be my home for the next two weeks.

Carol and her husband (and the Yorkies) arrived shortly after I did and with frazzled nerves too – I can't imagine having to pull a big rig through that construction zone and all that traffic and in lousy weather conditions. We managed to hook up and made plans for our first ever visit to the Family History Library. We were eager to get to The Library, but we both had “chores” that needed done first - Thursday was a catch-up day.

We made it to The Library on Friday (May 20th) and were a bit overwhelmed, to say the least! I'll be in Salt Lake City for about two weeks before I need to head back to Indiana. Plenty of time for research. Yeah, right! Is there ever enough time for research?

1 comment:

Carol said...

That is a great photo of the mountain and snow.