Heat, rain, winds and now....

SNOW!!

There’s a little glitch in my latest plan. First I was concerned about the heat, then I was concerned about the rain, then the high winds, and now I’m holed up in Price for an extra day or 5 because of snow on the Indian Canyon part of HWY 191 which will eventually take me from Price, UT to Vernal, UT. I knew cooler temps were coming and I was hoping to get to Vernal because it’s supposed to be a few degrees warmer there.

I started out around 8AM Wednesday and stopped and filled my tank with 8.57 gallons of diesel at $4.55/gal for a total of $39.09. The 15.7 MPG I got driving to Price made that fill-up a little less painful. I made it as far as the base of the Indian Canyon Pass on HWY 191 and was met by a large flashing sign saying TIRE CHAINS REQUIRED IN INDIAN CANYON. I had to pull over and check the map to see if my intended route would take me through Indian Canyon. It did. So I turned around, found a nice spot to park and consulted the internet for a phone number or internet site for updated Indian Canyon info. After much difficulty I was told by an annoying recorded message that there were NO restrictions on HWY 191. From where I was sitting I could see snow up ahead and that was nowhere near the 9,000’ elevation of the Indian Canyon Summit I was headed toward. So, I wasn’t sure I should believe the annoying lady. But then the rain stopped, and the sky lightened a little and I decided to go for it. There was lots of road construction going on where I had parked for this short time which caused me to head back south first to find a place to turn around to head back north again. After about 1/4 mile I decided this was an omen telling me I should NOT be heading north up the Indian Canyon Pass just yet. I decided to head back to the Price Wal-Mart for a day or 5, until the rain stops, but found a more scenic spot along the freeway instead. So, here I sit right now, just outside Price thinking it’s not worth risking the 4,000’ elevation climb, possibly in the snow, just to be a few degrees warmer in Vernal.

My first two days in Price, sitting in the Wal-Mart parking lot, afforded me the opportunity to finish reading a book I started last summer - “Eleven on Top” by Janet Evonivitch. It’s the eleventh book in the saga of Bail Bond Enforcement Agent Stephanie Plum. But in this book Stephanie ends up working for RangeMan Security Company, which adds a new dimension of craziness to her already crazy life.

I have half a dozen other books that have been waiting to be read since last summer, too.