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!