Bill and Eileen's Travels: Tuesday, June 03, 2014

On Friday 5/30 we left Moab and moved on to Capital Reef NP for two nights. This park is less visited because it sits more in the middle of the Southern part of the state and the road is narrower and less friendly than the main roads into Moab, Bryce, and Zion. We confirmed the narrow road part and had to stop a couple of time to let the blood back into our knuckles. Highway 24 goes right through the park so we got a preview of the uniqueness and beauty even before we got to Wonderland RV in Torrey Utah.

Wonderland is a small but very well cared for park that has a horse farm kind of feel. I would highly recommend it if your heading that way. We visited a county information center that evening and the volunteer suggested we visit Sunset Point which wasn't far from the campground. We drove up there just as a thunderstorm rolled through. It wasn't that bad until the big bolt of lightening hit the mesa right behind us and sent us all scrambling for the car. We decided that a revisit the next day was in order. It was worth it. The small hike up to the top led us to a view down into a narrow canyon below. A very beautiful place.

This area was settled by Mormon's in the early 1900's and the Town of Fruita still has active orchards and farming where the original settlers lived. We visited the Indian Petroglyphs that have been discovered along the cliffs and had a fine lunch of Cinnamon Rolls and Root Beer for lunch. We then went on a scenic drive that took us into a narrow canyon with gorgeous formations and colors and more wildflowers.
Capital Reef NP is yet another display of geologic wonders. The erosion and chemistry must be different than the other parks because their are a number of different formations and colors. This park is 100 miles long and we only viewed a small cross section. The ride down Utah 24 is well worth it. I would highly recommend
a visit.

Saturday night we went to mass at Saint Anthony's Catholic Church in Torrey, along with 16 other people. The service was performed by a Deacon who travels to a number of the rural churches in this part of Utah. This was a very nice experience, the people were very nice and the homily was inspiring.

That night we followed the recommendations for dinner that we got in the local general store manager and went for great food at Red Cliffs Restaurant. Good food with a great view. Great night.

Capital Reef NP!!

Friday Night Thunderstorm!!

Diverse colors and layers of strata!!

This is the Viewpoint we didn't make Friday night due to the storm!

It's about 400 feet straight down from here!!

Blooming cactus near the Visitors Center!!

The Visitors Center!!

Nice looking people here!!

Petroglyphs in the town of Fruita!

Looks like a Indian necklace!

More blooming cactus!

Navajo Dome!

A young local resident. Had no fear of me!

Nice ears huh?

Merlin Smiths Shed!!

Couldn't explain it better!

One farmer, two wives, thirteen children,

one house, two bedrooms. Wonder how all the kids got here with so little privacy!

Cactus blooming in the canyon!

Canyon Walls!

Picture can't capture the beauty!

Interesting!

Does it look like a Temple?

Before the service on Saturday Night!

View from the Pew!!

5/27 - 5/29

On Tuesday we moved on to Moab Utah. The ride across Colorado was very interesting. I25 basically goes through the Rockies near the very popular ski resorts. (Aspen, Vail, Etc.)The elevation changes on the highway were significant and the ups and downs through the mountains were hard on the buses brakes. Very beautiful country. Our first night in Moab we went to La Hacienda Restaurant to help address our Mexican food cravings. Very good food and a decent Margarita.

From Moab we visited Arches NP and Canyonlands NP. Both parks are very close to town. The parks are within 30 miles of each other and they are totally different. Arches has many rock formations and obviously the most significant of these are it's magnificent Arches. The park has something like 700 arches and we were told that their are about 2000 arches in the area. The beauty if astounding.

Kathie took us to the Double Arch which is where here family used to camp when she was growing up. They don't allow the camping anymore. Kathie's name for this formation is The Elephants. If you stand back and look at them in looks like two elephants with their trunks together. We rode around the park, and took a short hike to Landscape Arch. (One we had visited the first time we were here). We also drove to the far away viewing point for "Delicate Arch" which is the Arch that is on the Utah license plates. My zoom lens picked it up pretty well. It was a beautiful day, with beautiful people, in a beautiful place.

That night we took a cruise in a jet boat eighteen miles down the Colorado River. It was a beautiful ride. When we returned we had a cowboy type dinner. Met some nice people from Oregon. We ran into them a number of time the next day as we toured Canyonlands.

Canyonlands is very different than Arches. You basically view these massive canyons from the Colorado Plateau. The canyons were carved by the Green and Colorado Rivers that come together in the middle of the park. Canyonlands is divided into three distinct sections (Island in the Sky, The Maze, and The Needles). The Island in the Sky area is the closest to Moab and really the only area that is accessible to the general tourist. The other two are more remote and not for us older and wiser folks. The viewpoints are fantastic and the topography is amazing. We drove to a number of the most popular lookouts and hiked to a one of the arches that sits about 500 feet straight up form one of the canyon floors, totally cool.

You are a lot closer to Heaven in these places and others in the state of Utah. The pictures below can't begin to capture the real beauty. Enjoy!!