841. Vernal, Uintah County (UT01)

Oh, Utah!

A couple of years ago, I helped someone complete a Multi-cache that ended in Texas and started in Utah.  As a result, I have had the Utah souvenir for quite some time without ever setting foot in the state itself.  I had hoped to rectify that when I went to Las Vegas, but the Debacle of Arizona killed that possibility.  I hadn’t planned on starting with crazy eastern Utah.  Frankly, I had been sweating how I would do those more remote portions of the state, but I was there, so that’s how it happened. 

I wasn’t sure I was at the courthouse (I’m still not entirely), but I was also not surprised that Utah might have a less common system of county government.  It wouldn’t be the first time an administration center would function for my purposes as a county courthouse.  Later research came up with an old county courthouse, which was part of a county building a little closer to the center of town, as determined from a street-naming perspective.  It had monuments, and at least one county officer worked out of there.  Then again, several other officers worked out of a different nearby county building that was definitely not the courthouse.  Ultimately, I had to make a choice, and this is the one I made.  If it turns out to be wrong, I’ll fix it if I ever find myself in Vernal again.  But I feel I gave it a true good faith attempt, so I stand by my decision.  Which is a little disappointing because … well, look at it!  It’s functional and not abhorrent looking, but I certainly wouldn’t call it nice.  But, then again, we know I am a snob about such things.

I got the cache, an ammo can off the side of the highway, on the way into town. It was hiding in some pokey desert shrub.  I took a few minutes to read about its inspiration, the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition, an attempt to find a route from Santa Fe to Monterey, before offering my water to the sands and the state.  I continued down the highway to Vernal, then drove deeper into the Land of Golden Plates and Gridded Streets, eventually arriving in…