3 states: Colorado, Utah and Wyoming

 We started off our day in Grand Junction, Colorado, riding west on CO 340 into Fruita along the Colorado National Monument's towering red rocks.

Once in Fruita we headed west on US 50 for just a few miles until turning north on CO 139 toward Rangely. This 134 mile stretch of road from Fruita to Dinosaur is the Dinosaur Diamond scenic byway, home to several dinosaur and fossil museums. We started riding through irrigated green farmland toward the Book Cliffs. We were at about 5500' in the north desert shrub zone, and as we steadily climbed we rode through stands of aspens and firs as we crested Douglas Pass at 8205'.

It was a gorgeous day for a motorcycle ride as we zoomed along straight sections of the 2-lane highway, then wound around long sweepers, and twisted our way up and down the pass. 

15 miles of CO 139 goes through the Canyon Pintado National Historic District, named by Spanish Fathers Dominguez and Escalante as they traveled through this area in 1776. People have lived in this area for over 11,000 years, and there are numerous places to stop and learn more, plus view pictographs. We stopped at the White Birds Interpretive site and hiked up the steep, short trail to view pictographs of birds and corn.

Back on the road we turned onto CO 64 in Rangely to Dinosaur (originally it was named Artesia and changed its name when Dinosaur National Monument came into existence). In Dinosaur we turned west onto US 40 and soon crossed into Utah.

Heading north on US 191 we enjoyed more twisting roads that climbed up and down, through large stands of aspens, and with views of snowy mountains. We also surprised a few deer who bounded across the road in front of us.

Turning west onto UT 44 we rode through some of the most stunning scenery of the day along the Green River and the Flaming Gorge. John Wesley Powell and his intrepid crew started their exploration of the Green and Colorado rivers here in 1869. They named the area Flaming Gorge when they saw the sun setting on the red rocks of the canyon.

There was almost no traffic, so we were able to pull over and stop at the side of the road a few times to take in more of the amazing scenery.

We stopped in Manila, UT at Browning's for lunch with thick and delicious chocolate marshmallow malts along with our sandwiches. 

Heading west on CO 43, which became WY 414, the landscape changed again to a high plateau with distant views of mountains - and also several dark and threatening storm clouds.

Our luck held out and made it to Kemmerer, WY without getting soaked. We had 298 miles of motorcycle fun through three western states as we continue to head toward Montana.