Road Trip 2025: Day 6

Today is Dad’s birthday. It’s his sixth since the pandemic. If COVID hadn’t killed him, he’d be 77. Dad always loved the National Parks and going on vacation. Whenever I visit a National Park, whether it’s my first time there or my second or third, I always think of Dad. He should have lived longer, he should have had more years to explore more of the parks with Mom. I know he’d be happy that I’ve taken G3 to see many of the parks throughout the United States. I still wish I could call him up and tell him where we are and what we are doing. He would have liked seeing pictures of G3 at Rocky Mountain. He’d have liked reading these posts.

We woke up at five this morning because we were told sometimes you can see moose at a particular location in the early morning. Kati desperately wants to see one so we woke up with the sun. Sadly, once again, the moose were elusive.

When we returned to our campsite, we broke camp, packed up the car and then had breakfast at the site. It was a simple breakfast. Instant hot cereal and hot chocolate. We lingered a little longer than necessary to take in the mountains a bit longer.

G3 wanted one last hike before we left. We were happy to join him, so we drove the short distance to the Lawn Lake trailhead. It’s the trail we were supposed to take had we gone camping in the back country. From the start, it was uphill, but not terribly steep. As we gained elevation, the view of the valley and peaks in the distance—gleaming under the early morning sunlight—were beautiful. When we reached a giant boulder G3 found a way to the top and we followed. It was a peaceful place to sit and it had a gorgeous view. We started at eight and hiked until G3 was ready to turn around. In all, we were on the trail for about an hour and a half. I have no way of knowing how far we went.

This afternoon was a long—nearly seven hour—drive to Dinosaur National Monument.  The park straddles the border of Colorado and Utah. About an hour and twenty minutes from the Utah entrance we saw a road sign that said “Point of Interest.” Out of curiosity, we stopped. According to another sign, the “Point of Interest,” was the site of the “I Do” wildfire that occurred July 16, 1988. The date stood out for two reasons: 1) Today is July 16, so it’s the anniversary of the fire, and 2) It’s Dad’s birthday. It was named the “I Do” fire because one of the Bureau of Land Management Firefighters was married that day. It is the largest wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history.

West of the Rockies, the landscape was desolate. Where it was green in Iowa and Nebraska, it was mostly brown here. We didn’t even see any cattle for long stretches. The land formations off in the distance were pretty. About a half hour before reaching the campground, we crossed the border into Utah. It is G3’s 44th state. Not bad for a fifteen year old. We have literally camped all across the country except for the west coast and the non-contiguous states.

Green River Campground, right at the Utah entrance to Dinosaur National Monument, had first come first serve sites. We love those because it means we don’t have to be locked into specific plans or reservations. Usually, one needs to get to campgrounds early to secure a first come first serve site. But when I looked at reservable site sites yesterday, there were many available. Therefore, we felt confident that Dinosaur National Monument wouldn’t be busy or crowded, and even a at a later hour, we’d find something. We were right.

The campground isn’t deserted but most of the first come first serve sites are empty. If this place was crowded, it would be miserable since the sites are tiny and so close to each other. But as it is now, it’s extremely peaceful. Dinosaur is actually much more scenic and pretty than I expected. As we entered the park, jagged landforms rose up to our left. I had Kati pull over so I could take pictures. The rock was white with subtle bands of red running through it. We selected a campsite at the far end of the last loop, far enough away from other people that we feel somewhat alone.

There was no place to eat within at least an hour and a half drive. It’s a good thing we had food for backpacking, otherwise we’d have gone hungry. We arrived at the park a little after six and immediately set up our tents. We then ate  dinner. Kati had tuna fish. G3 had peanut butter on a tortilla. And I ate one of the dehydrated meals we brought. It was one of the better meals I have eaten on the road—the yellow curry I liked in Philmont—so I didn’t mind at all.  After we ate, we played a few rounds of Uno. It was fun playing with the family.

While playing, we noticed the light of the setting sun coloring the mountains in the distance. We got up to search for a better viewpoint and discovered that our site is only about fifty meters from the Green River. The view from there—light glinting off the formations and setting the red hues on fire—was spectacular. While we admired the landscape, G3 skipped stones in the river.

It wasn’t cold enough to need a fire, but it wasn’t so hot that a fire would be uncomfortable. So as the sun dipped down to the horizon, I built a fire. Like yesterday, the kindling was super dry which made it easy to get a nice fire going. As darkness fell, the cicadas came out. Nothing beats the sound of cicadas in the summer. I find them so incredibly soothing and calming—relaxing. The louder, the better. Stars also filled the sky. Dinosaur has one of the darkest skies in the country, so the sky was brilliant. Stars, a fire, a nearby river, and cicadas—it’s almost like I stumbled into heaven.

If Dad is looking down, he’s smiling to see me happy. Today is not only his birthday. It’s two months until the release of my memoir, which as you know, is about Dad.