On the backside of our apartment in DINO runs the Fossil Discovery Trail. Since Melanie had not hiked the trail, we did so on. a nice Sunday afternoon. The trail starts at the Quarry Visitor Center to the Quarry Exhibit Hall, a distance of 1.2 miles.

It's a lovely Friday afternoon here in Dinosaur National Monument (DINO), dinner prep is done and I await my favorite Ranger's return home. Cocktails in the backyard watching the Prairie Dogs forage can't be too far away.

Not too much new here. We continue to acclimate, Melanie continues to train at her new position here at DINO. She worn her uniform today, but didn't want me to make a portrait because she'd left her Flat Hat at the Visitors' Center.  

I've continued to cycle Cub Creek Road most days. Today I took my time, stopping as I spotted trash along the road.  I filled one pannier. Seemed like the thing to do.

Have a great weekend. 

While Melanie was working on Friday, I once again cycled a portion of Cub Creek Road. She was on a Field Trip with other Rangers nearby and encountered Big Horn Sheep on a hike making me wish I'd gone the extra miles and maybe gotten a chance to see them too.

She was off work yesterday and after making our way into Vernal for errands and lunch, we hiked a portion of the River Trail that connects Split Mountain Camp and Green River Camp. Another splendid day in the neighborhood.

A new month and with it a spectacular Spring day.  The clouds were again part of the show on my bike ride. 

And I made it to the restored Josie Bassett Morris cabin. Here's more about her. 

I'll be out again today, fewer clouds and only slightly warmer to start off.

The meatloaf made it to the table last evening and was delicious (if I say so...). Melanie and I enjoyed a nice loop walk after dinner and saw Ranger Nick ouf for a walk. I met Ranger Emily yesterday too.

Yesterday I traveled into Vernal for miscellaneous errands and a few groceries. No cycling as it rained in the afternoon here in the Monument, something a bit unusual when it happens, high desert and all, but nice when it does. 

We're surrounding here in our block of apartments by White Tailed Prairie Dogs. They are cool neighbors and we've enjoyed sitting out back of our apartments watching them feed and the pups play.

The white-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys leucurus) is a burrowing rodent native to the western United States, primarily found in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Montana. They live in colonies called "towns" and prefer sagebrush-grassland habitats. These prairie dogs are herbivores, feeding on grasses, forbs, and shrubs. They hibernate in winter and are active above ground during warmer months. Unlike other prairie dog species, white-tailed prairie dogs are less social and more solitary. They play a key ecological role by aerating soil and serving as prey for various predators, including hawks, badgers, and coyotes.
After a gestation period of about 30 days, females give birth to a litter of typically 3 to 8 pups in an underground burrow. The pups are born blind, hairless, and completely dependent on their mother. They remain underground for several weeks before emerging. ChatGPT

I finished preparing our dinner for this evening earlier, a dinner I made on Tuesday a few days ago, but promptly dropped on the floor of the apartment as I was preparing to serve it. It was a real mess. We enjoyed the potatoes and salad that were to accompany the meatloaf. 

​Not sure I've ruined a dinner in that fashion before, but it took a few minutes for that one to get off me. Anyway, tonight we try again.

It's another beautiful Spring day here and I'm about to get out and cycle a bit. 

After making dinner for the evening's meal, I rode Cub Creek Road 16.58 miles round trip which included a ride down to the Green River Campground. I engaged Strava to give me the stats on my ride. Starting at 4,790 feet, the is ride summarized as follows:

I've been at a loss for words not a few times while we've been full time travelers by what's happening in the U.S. politically, specifically, policies happening because of the election and re-election of Donald Trump.

If our life on the road appears to be generally blissful and joyful, generally it is just what it appears.  We are not on vacation, but we are in a position to do vacation-like things as often as we want. There's mundane day-to-day living stuff too, but we are happy with the choice we made to travel without a home base.

So, with all the chaos being created by the current administration and their toady minions in Congress and the Supreme Court, we also feel a grave obligation to speak out, to let our voices be heard now.

We don't stream cable news shows. Ever. We, until recently, read two newspapers, the Washington Post and the New York Times. Now, only the Times. We have a subscription to The Atlantic.

We exchange ideas about the state of the U.S. and world daily with each other. What's happening today in our country reminds me of the growing up in the 60's when many of the policies being attacked now were settled, sometimes not so peacefully because of the intransigence of our government to the will of its citizens. 

I read various Substack contributors, including Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance, Slow Boring, Judd At Popular Information, Letters From An American, The Weekly Dish, The View From Rural America, Art Cullen's Notebook, and Chris Geidner at Law Dork, to name a few.  I also continue to follow Kyle Whitmire and John Archibald in Alabama.

And Melanie started following the 50501 Movement early on and, because of that, we've gotten out to be among like-minded citizens who also don't believe that the wholesale dismantling of government is normal, who don't want oligarchy, who don't want theocracy, who value our civil rights, the rule of law, and who are angry with politicians who are unresponsive.

Our own representative in Florida won't show up in person for Town Halls, instead choosing to communicate via telephone Town Halls.  Like many of President Trump's toadies, he's just another coward.

We've now attended four 50501 protests: two in Tucson, Arizona, one in Everett, Washington and the most recent one in Salt Lake City, Utah.  

Photos below are both mine and Melanie's from the Salt Lake City protest of April 19, 2025.

We've been in residence at DINO for just over a week and I'd not gotten Melanie's bike out storage on the back of the van. She was too busy being a Ranger-in-training.

Yesterday, she was off work and in the afternoon I retrieved her bike and we took our first ride in the Monument together. 

We rode as far as an overlook where the Green River Campground can be seen a few hundred feet down on the Green River, then we explored the Split Mountain Campground group camp area where a boat ramp is located.

Beautiful day and really nice first ride in our National Monument for Melanie.

After dinner, Melanie shared with me a video, River Reflections, I think you may enjoy. She tells me it's one of the reasons she choose to become a Seasonal Ranger here. 

Aside from the usual morning reading and social media check, I did a few domestic sorts of things yesterday morning, you know, washing dishes, laundry, remaking the bed, straightening things. Nesting behaviors.

Watching White Tailed Prairie Dogs forage from our windows.  The Dogs live in our front yard and in our back yard and they have young ones making their way out of the burrows into the world above ground, foraging, and engaging in a bit of rough and tumble as kids will do.

My phone tells me we are at 4,790 feet (1,415 meters) above sea level at the residences near the Quarry Visitor Center. High desert. Not far away from us is Split Mountain peaking out at 7,642 feet (2,329 meters).

I mentioned my cycling is a bit challenging here.  It's a world of up and down.  The scale of my surroundings is also challenging.  Cub Creek Road provides spectacular vistas with long sweeping curves and long downhill/uphill views of the Monument mountains. 

So far, everytime I'm out riding feels like I'm seeing the Monument for the first time.

Yesterday was one of those days. The clouds were high and light, just a bit fluffier than Cirus, not quite Cumulus Nimbus. They provided a very nice diffused light for photographs.

I've decided to stay close to home when cycling for the next little bit and use Cub Creek Road in DINO to get back into riding shape. I'm really not out of shape, but I can stand to cycle more consistently and get a bit stronger near term. Cub Creek Road from our residence to Josie Morris Cabin provides a beautiful and challenging terrain for Spring Training.

We haven't had any rain since our arrival on April 20. The humidity is low.  My nose and skin tell me so. Today the humidity is 25% under mostly sunny skies. The temperature is delightful at 73 degrees F. The windows and doors are opened wide to take in a gentle breeze.

I'm about to head out yet again for another bit of cycling. Probably fewer photographs today, enjoy those I made yesterday. DINO, your National Monument, is a magical place.