June 4, 2010

Friday, June 04, 2010

I love the smell of campfire in my hair! Last night, we sat around the campfire till quite late. I was wearing this wool tweed-like shirt that is supposed be mosquito proof. I bought it at least 25 years ago, if not more. It doesn’t quite fit like it used to… Funny, Spouse said the same thing about his! I guess I might get his as a hand-me-down!

When Spouse walks in Hannah, I am sure he is an elephant. We have to figure out how to stabilize her a little better so I don’t think there is an earthquake all the time.

Even though we were up past midnight, we woke around 6am. Spouse got up and made enough commotion so that I would not be able to go back to sleep, no matter how much I tried. He turned lights on, took a shower, complained that his shampoo had fallen over and spilled all over the place. Then he took Bart for a walk. I then got up, cleaned up his shampoo mess so I didn’t have to hear about it, got my act together just as he was returning from his walk. He told me he walked in the pasture behind the RV park and that Bart fell through a cattle crossing grate. He ultimately had to carry him across, but fortunately, he wasn’t injured. He can’t see like he used to. Oh, I can so relate… Spouse said it was pretty so off I headed.

My IPOD working like a champ, I walked passed deer and antelope on a trail that meandered through the pines and meadows. It is a cross country ski course in the winter, but a nice walking trail for me. When I got back, we readied Hannah for the next adventure.

By the way, some things I have learned about Hannah: make sure the caps are on your bottles (Spouse’s shampoo). Do NOT open a new tonic water right after traveling. When you gain elevation, things puff, like yogurt. They may not explode, but something to be careful about. After traveling, be careful opening cabinets and the refrigerator. And don’t turn into some place if you don’t know that you can get out without backing up!

Ok, that aside. We left the beauty of Bryce Canyon, turning north on Hwy 12. It is a two lane highway passing through meadows, riparian corridors, horse country, agriculture, and always having pine studded buttes and mountains hovering in the background. We gained quite a bit of elevation, one summit was 7600 feet. We came to the town of Escalante, where we fueled up. Spouse thought about getting Red Diesel since it was $.55 cheaper, but didn’t and was glad he didn’t. It is for commercial use only, and there are all sorts of ways to get caught.

We left Escalante marveling at the scenery. The buttes towered above us in glorious reds and ochers. The Escalante River, with its willows and cottonwood trees carved a path below the buttes. As we climbed, then started our descent, we were in a world of rock. Not ‘rocks’, but ROCK, as far as the eye could see. Rock hills windswept through time, with pines and desert scrub clinging for dear life guided our path. The hills rose to plateaus then to cliffs. At one point for about a mile, the small road was on top of the world as the canyons formed sheer drops on both sides. We stopped at a turnout and I made lunch and cleaned up, giving Spouse a much needed break. We watched the turkey vultures soaring below.

Continuing on, more climbing on mountains covered in pines and newly blooming aspens. Spouse was stopping at every turnout, and we didn’t have a working camera. After summiting at 9500 feet, we got to hwy 24 and headed east. Although our ultimate goal was Cortez, Colorado, we figured we would not make it, so we were thinking we would stay at Hite at Lake Powell. At least, that was the plan…

Hwy 24 takes you through Capitol Reef national park and its stunning red cliffs. We stopped to look at petroglyphs. Many years ago when we came this way, we went into one of the many orchards and picked cherries. The orchards are still there, but there was no fruit. The campground was full so we didn’t stay long and continued through the stunning scenery and beyond. It eventually turned into what looked like sand dunes, but it was a hard surface, gray in color with yellow wildflowers scattered about. At Hanksville, we turned onto Hwy 95 towards Hite. At this point, it is high desert with low growing scrub, but all along the way have been beautiful wildflowers. Lots of oranges, reds, yellows, whites, reds, pinks and purples popped up all over. After about 20 miles, the desert started turning red, then the next thing you knew, the stunning red cliffs were escorting us. We stopped and I picked some of the wildflowers then we pulled into a turnout to view Lake Powell.

The water level is terribly low, with lots of plant life popping up through the water. We could see over to Hite, didn’t look like much. There used to be a marina there… we didn’t see it. We headed over there anyway. Not much there. We may have been able to park near the water and hang for the night, but we didn’t like the looks of the clouds and the temperature was in the 90’s, so we just didn’t think we would be comfortable. It was about 5pm by now – my cocktail hour – and the next town is about 80 miles away. And who knows if there is an RV park.
I know the scenery continued to be breathtaking, but I was hungry and no longer felt like enjoying magnificent scenery! My senses had all that they could take. We finally got to the town of Blanding around 6:30 and there was a beautiful RV spot waiting for us. Spouse prepared another stunning meal and I had my vodka tonic. I rarely drink at home but there is something about being on the road…

We were amazed at how little traffic there was today, and how few towns there were. I guess that is all part of Utah’s charm. And lucky for me, no new trash finds for Spouse!