Spontaneous Trip to Flaming Gorge
Read part 1 of our trip HERE!
About an hour outside of Vernal, Utah lies a small park called Flaming Gorge. It’s well known for it’s Summer activities and almost a ghost town in the winter. On our second and last day in Vernal, we had planned to drive out there, explore what we could, and be home in time for dinner (home being 3 hours away). However, while sitting at lunch, an ad for some lodging caught our eye. Last minute, we found ourselves finding some local cabins and deciding to spend one more night, if they were open.
We pulled up to the Red Canyon Lodge and didn’t have much hope of finding anyone to help us book a cabin. However, we caught the employee (or owner), barefoot, with fishing gear slung over his shoulder, just before he head out the door. He booked us the cabin closest to the walking trails, helped us back in when I locked us out (whoops), and then was off for the night… Leaving us with the mountain to ourselves.
We walked out to the nearby overlook, and enjoyed the view, before heading back to “town” for some dinner, which we brought back to our cabin and ate next to the roaring fire in the pot belly stove. After dinner, we ate some leftover cake, which we had purchased as a spontaneous way to celebrate Steve’s half birthday, and watched a show. At that point I was exhausted. So after a steaming hot shower, I was ready for bed, while Steve went back out for some milky way photography.
The next morning, we woke up before sunrise to drive out to the overlook. It was insanely cold, but the sunrise was stunning and well worth the burning feeling the wind left on my face... Once we both got our fill of photos, we drove back to Vernal for some lunch and a visit to the dinosaur museum, before making that 3 hr drive home.
This trip took place less than a week before Steve proposed, and if the ring had been ready even an hour earlier, we would have gotten engaged here. (He received the email that the ring had arrived as he drove down to meet me, before we made our way to Vernal.) Nonetheless, this was such a memorable and special trip that we hope to repeat next year!
