Utah Day 1

Took Southwest Air to Baltimore, thence to Salt Lake, no problem. Checked out a car and started driving 175 miles east towards Vernal.
Once out of SLC, the land becomes barren--rocky and uninhabited. There are trailers, mobile homes, shacks; they look desolate, like they've been placed on a patch of land purely to claim residence, not because anyone lives there. I drive by an intersection and there's no clump of houses, no store, no gas station, just a road leading off to the north. Driving on Route 40, I pass by a lake--must have been Strawberry Reservoir--and there are boats on it but no development there, no lakefront property, just raw dirt leading to the water. Apparently there aren't enough people here to need to claim every square foot, or to manicure it.
Duchesne City isn't a city, it's a small town clinging to a highway. I'm through it before I quite realize it.After that, it's up over a mountain pass, over 8000 feet.
I check into a hotel in Vernal, then go a few more blocks to The Quarry restaurant. They have 5 ounce samplers of beers for $1.50, so I try Baba Black Lager and Cutthroat Pale Ale, plus an undistinguished French dip sandwich. I conclude the desk clerk recommended this place because he drinks here.