Capital Fun!

Our View 

The town of Torrey is at the junction of Highway 12 and 24.  It is a cute little town with a few motels and restaurants that thrive on the tourism of nearby Capital Reef NP.   We stayed at Thousand Lakes RV and watched the sunrise and sunset on the nearby cliffs.  What a view!  Nice place and they do a few extras that make it even more enjoyable.  You can order fresh baked muffins for the next morning or go to one of the nightly cookouts reasonably priced. 

I was impressed with the view at the RV park but was even more impressed with Capital Reef!   There are some very beautiful and unique rock formations and a peaceful idyllic river valley with fruit trees. They encourage you pick the fruit when in season.  Jack and I drove through the park one of the days and hiked around the next.    Just spectacular!  And do have a picnic in the valley and get some pie for desert at the in  pioneer house across the street.  Yummy!  There is also a campground in the NP that is large enough for RVs but we noticed it was full both days we were in the park.  

Well as much as we enjoyed this area it was time to go.  We are headed to the Excel RV club Fall Rally in Bayfield, CO.   We started heading east down Highway 24\95 on Wednesday.  We gave ourselves two days to take it slow.  Glad we did.   It was slow going although not as steep of a drive as it was from Bryce to Torrey. 

Capitol Reef Dome

Hog Springs 

 Soon after leaving Capital Reef the landscape changes to a very dry and barren moon-like environment.   Very eerie in some regards and desolate but if you keep driving it once again becomes very colorful and dramatic.   The cliffs turn dark red as opposed to the more orange red of the Bryce area.   And then it changes again to the more familiar pinyon pine and cedar lined landscape of southern Colorado\ northern New Mexico but with more dramatic vistas that go on and on and on.  You also cross over the mighty Colorado River and the northern edge of Lake Powell. This truly is one of the most impressive scenic drives in the lower 48.  But be warned it is a lonely landscape and very few places to pull over with an RV.   No restaurants or much of anything.  So be prepared to eat a picnic lunch at the only rest stop Hog Springs.  It is not a long drive mile wise but by the time we got to Blanding we were ready to stop and spend the night.  I told Jack I had scenic overload and needed to see something more mundane like the inside of the Biff II!

Bryce Just as Nice Twice

This is our second time around Bryce Canyon.  And have to say just as magnificent!  There are plenty of new areas to explore and some wonderful ones to revisit. The drive from the North Rim down is beautiful as well.  Once again we drove through the town of Kanab and thought I would like to spend time here someday exploring the area and once again we kept driving.  Oh Well – someday.

We stayed at a smaller RV park right on the very scenic Highway 12 between the Red Canyon State Park and the turn off for Bryce.  I liked it because I could ride my bike along the excellent bike path that runs parallel to Highway 12.  Very nice and I didn’t have to worry about being killed by passing autos.  Sweet! And across the street is a restaurant noted for its homemade pies.   Do stop at the Bryce Canyon Pines for the pie if in this area.  My jeans are tighter already.

Once in your life you have to see this place.  Bryce is very breathtaking with red red RED hoodoos and other rock  formations.  So colorful!  Take the drive around the park and if you have time, hike in the valley and canyon itself.    We did that hike last time and it is worth doing, this time we just did the ride around the rim. 

Equally beautiful (with fewer crowds) is the Red Canyon State Park sometimes referred to as mini Bryce.   Just as colorful but not on the grandiose scale of Bryce.   Jack and I took a great hike there and other than one lone mountain bicyclist and one small group of ATVs we had the place to ourselves the whole hike.  My kind of crowds.

We had planned on trying to visit some of the slot canyons in the nearby Escalante National Monument or Kodachrome Basin State Park.   Stopped at the visitor center just before Kodachrome and the ranger said most of the roads in Kodachrome were not passable due to recent rains.  She suggested going to the Hole in Rock Road and gave some suggestions for slot canyons to visit.   She said it was not too bad if on the washboard side.  Hmmm, well, my teeth are still chattering from the drive and we had decided about 5 miles or so into it that it was not worth it to subject the big black truck to this kind of abuse.  Only later did we realize we lost a hub cap along the way.  A $229 dollar hubcap, Jack was not too happy.  So unless you rent a jeep or have an old vehicle you may want to pass on this one. 

Our hike in Red  Rock Canyon

We left Bryce on Sunday and headed down highway 12.   Jack and I drove this road before as far as the town of Boulder.  Absolutely beautiful, do take the time to get coffee at Kiva Coffee House if for nothing else but the view.  Also stop at Calf Creek and the little museum in Boulder.   This time we were with the BiFF II and did not stop,  might be too tight for a big rig.    Jack was focusing on the road and although I enjoyed the drive it is a bit of white knuckle-ish pulling  a 7 ton 5^th wheel.    We drove the whole length of Highway 12 this time till it junctions with Highway 24 in the town of Torrey and our destination of Capital Reef National Park.  One incredibly beautiful drive!  Now some rest and relaxation for Jack!

Shores of Hell to the Rim of Heaven

We left Lake Powell on Monday morning back tracking a bit on Highway 89 South and then taking 89A to the North Rim.   It was a scenic drive and reminded me of northern NM overlooking the Rio Grande Gorge as we came down.  The pink cliffs of the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument were in the distance most of the drive.  We stopped along the way and ate lunch at one of the pullouts - what a view! 

The trees became larger as we climbed back up to the KaibabPlateau.  There are two campgrounds in Jacob Lake at junction for the North Rim.  One is private and has full hookups.  All of the National campgrounds in this area are dry camping. We decided to chance it and see if we could get into the North Rim campground.  It is a beautiful drive from Jacob Lake to the North Rim but I imagine it would be quite long if you planned on making Jacob Lake your home base.  I suggest only doing this in high season since your chances of getting into the two closer campgrounds would be slim.  Even this time of year the North Rim campground was full.  We did get into DeMotte which is about 4 miles outside the entrance.  It is quite pretty and nestled in the aspen trees.  They do have some pull thrus and back- ins large enough for big rigs.  Unfortunately our first choice was not one.  They decided to put a very large rock and ditch that impeded Jack’s ability to turn wide enough to back in.  Flashes of the Austin Power movie where he is caught in a tunnel trying to turn his golf cart around came to my mind.  We did end up deciding to try another site but not after smashing over the culvert a bit.

We spent the next few days enjoying and exploring the area.  There was evidence of forest fires and new aspen growth everywhere.  Some of the aspens were turning and the weather was perfect.  Warm in the day time but quite chilly at night.  Perfect campfire weather!   And of course the Grand Canyon! No other words are needed.  One night we went back near sunset and had dinner at the lodge.  It was quite the event with the decks filled with sightseers watching the sun color the cliffs.

All in all, the pace at the North Rim is slower and easier then the often over crowded South Rim.   Some say the views are not as spectacular as the South Rim but just as awe inspiring none the less.

On the Road Again!

It’s good to be back!  Hard to believe it has been almost a year.  This year is different, we decided to spend the summer at home doing some much needed home maintenance and enjoying the homestead.   We did take a few weekend trips around the beautiful state of New Mexico.  Oh, and we did get a new 5^th Wheel.  So here continues the adventures of Jack and Janet and the Biff II. 

We started our trip heading west on I40 with the Grand Canyon North Rim in mind.  Many times have I seen the sign for the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest off I40 and for whatever reason did not have the time to stop.   Just a few hours out of Albuquerque and we made this our first stop.    Be warned they have “Ranger Ravens” everywhere so you better do what the sign says.    Definitely worth stopping if you have the time although bear in mind it will be hot in the summertime! We spent the night in nearby Holbrook.

We continued on towards Flagstaff and turned onto Highway 89 north.  We saw a sign for the Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monuments.   It turned out to be an unexpected surprise.  A very scenic drive that meanders north and loops back to US 89.  And if you are in the Flagstaff area it might worth spending a day hiking around some of the areas.  There is Bonito campground right in the area which looked big enough for the Biff but it is dry camping.  It did add about 30 miles onto the drive but we stopped and had picnic lunch along the way.   A group of Europeans on a motorcycle tour of the Southwest got the biggest kick out of the Biff II.   We even gave them a tour.

We decided to detour a bit and spend a few days at Lake Powell.  For my Midwestern and Eastern friends this is a man made desert lake with stark landscapes surrounded by high canyons.  In the summertime some have likened it to the shores of hell.   It is famed for renting houseboats and drifting along it's many shores and canyons.   It can be especially beautiful at sunset and at night the stars are wonderful.  Jack and I sat outside at night and watched the lake and stars.  One night we were treated to a fireworks show in the distance.  Just magical!

I suspect in the summer months the crowds would be large and even in middle September we just got the last RV site with hook-ups.   And it was pricey!  But if you are going to visit Lake Powell it is the only way to go.  Something else they do not mention when registering at the campground is the fact that you can have access to the hotel amenities including their two pools and gym.   I found out by chance at the hotel front desk when asking about Wifi access in the hotel.  So do stop and get an access card. 

We looked into renting a speed boat for the day but opted out, again very pricey.   We did take a three hour boat tour that took us through the famed Antelope Canyon (water side) and Navaho Canyon.   The Antelope slot canyon tour is on land and a separate tour.   We were going to do it as well but the crowds looked too much for us.  All this in three days! We left Monday and now we are truly off to the North Rim.