Well, That's Just Swell!

    Although I-70 is a major east-west interstate, in this part of the country it's relatively lightly travelled. I've never really thought about it much, perhaps because it's been a while since we've driven this stretch of road, but the majority of cross-country freight movement, I would imagine, occurs along I-80 and I-40. I-70 is sort of a road to nowhere once you leave Denver heading west - terminating at I-15 halfway between Cedar City, to the south and Provo, to the north. I shouldn't say nowhere - it's just that Interstates 80 & 40 terminate in much more densely populated regions of the country.  

   At any rate, it was a very pleasant drive along a smoothly paved, lightly travelled motorway. 

  The sky was bright and clear, the fuel tank was about 3/4 full and the Cummins 450 (on cruise control for most of the day) purred like a kitten. 

    I-70 crosses a massive geologic formation called the San Rafael Swell. Mother Nature created some pretty amazing stuff here. Take a few minutes to read Wikipedia's description of this 75 by 40 mile phenomenon. 

   Here's an interesting snippet about the San Rafael Swell section of I-70...

Prior to the construction of I-70, the swell was inaccessible via paved roads and relatively undiscovered. Once this 108 mi (174 km) section was opened to traffic in 1970, it became the longest stretch of interstate highway with no services and the first highway in the U.S. built over a completely new route since the Alaska Highway.^[5] It also became the longest piece of interstate highway to be opened at one time.^[6] Although opened in 1970, this section was not formally complete until 1990, when a second steel arch bridge spanning Eagle Canyon was opened to traffic.

******

 

    A panorama shot I took from the Ghost Rock Lookout...

Click it. Go ahead... click  it!

******

   There were several climbs and descents culminating at Salina Summit (7,923 ft). Salina is where we left I-70 taking US50 north west to Scipio where it takes a southwestern turn, merging with I-15 for about 10 miles to Holden... and THAT'S where the lonely part of "America's Loneliest Highway" begins. 

Our 229 mile day from Moab to Delta

    We're at the lovely little Antelope Valley RV Park located on the western edge of Delta, Utah where we will spend the night before fueling up at the Sinclair station across the street tomorrow morning and heading off into one of the most desolate stretches of road in the continental United States. I think we'll overnight Wednesday in Ely, Nevada (153 mi.) followed by a 320 mile push to Reno Thursday. I've read that cell service can be spotty so, family and friends, if you don't hear from us for a couple days, don't worry. Rest assured we will emerge from the dark side of the moon and re-establish communication as soon as possible.