We had a long, dark drive to our resting spot last night.  We were tired, hungry, and desperately in need of showers after the day of hiking.  We had no cellular service after leaving Moab, and could not check in with our people.

Just as we got to the “are we there yet?” part of the night drive, the Rodeway Inn sign was there.  It was a small motel but such a welcome site.  We were greeted by Sarah who checked us in quickly and provided us the wifi information.

For the smallest hotel/motel of the trip, they had the best wifi by far. 

Still, we were without cellular service.  The Rodeway Inn was gracious enough to provide free landline phone calls to anywhere in the United States.  

Go figure!

We chuckled a bit as Katie Q dialed her hubby’s number on the old, corded telephone in our room.

We were once again “connected” to the rest of the world.

We both slept well and woke up at our leisure.  We were not in a hurry this morning.  It felt good to linger a bit.  Once we were awake and repacked, we hit the road.

We had a short drive to our first destination:  Capitol Reef National Park.  Neither of us knew much of what to expect.  We did make a determination when planning this trip that we would stick to the Fruita region of the park.  

Capitol Reef was a surprise.  We learned Capitol Reef became a national monument in 1937 and a national park in 1971. It is a preservation for geological features, archeological evidence, and evidence of Mormon settlers who once lived in this area.  Fruita earned the name as Capitol Reef maintains one of the largest historic orchards in the National Park Service with over 3,000 trees.  We traveled past several of the orchards, one of which was being visited by a large flock of wild turkeys.

Our drive into the park allowed us to stop and view stone cliffs containing petroglyphs.  We were in awe of these ancient images, curious as to the story the native people were hoping to tell.

The geology of Capitol Reef is literally millions of years old… Over 200 million years.  We stood in places that started as desert as big as a the Sahara.  Millions of years later, swampy water and river covered the landscape, cutting into the sand, leaving the immense towers of hard rock to stand tall as they do today.  

That amount of time is impossible to grasp.  We appreciated the ability to be present there and hoped it would be there for others to appreciate for many years.

We left Capitol Reef well before noon to drive through the Utah landscape to find Bryce Canyon National Park.

Our drive was yet another adventure.  It was a two hour drive.   That was not bad given our recent travels.  It was 112 miles.  It was 112 miles of nothing.  We were on two-lane roads through the back country of Utah.  

There were ranches.  Cows, horses, and sheep.  There were fences.  Miles and miles of fences.  We saw three or four other vehicles on the road.  One of them was a truck full of cowboys pulling an open trailer with three saddled horses and three herding dogs.  We saw one cowboy riding his horse on the open range… hat, chaps, spurs.  

This is serious American west.

There were a few stop signs.  A few mule deer.  No gas stations.  No stores.  

I love the homestead back in Pennsylvania.  It is rural and spacious.  It is not rural and spacious compared to what we saw today.  The homestead would be a tiny postage stamp on one of these ranches.  I admire the people who live that life.  It is not for me.

We arrived at Bryce Canyon for a late lunch.  There is a gorgeous lodge in the park and they have a dining area with a nice menu.  We sat down to a proper meal and enjoyed each bite.  Katie Q had a veggie wrap and I had a lovely salad that contained chicken and feta cheese.  My selection was not vegan.

With our bellies full, we drove through the park and stopped at scenic overlooks along the way.  We really did not know what to expect until we made our first stop.  That is when we discovered “hoodoos”.  

The park brochure we received explained that Bryce Canyon is less a canyon, and more a series of amphitheaters.  The amphitheater resembles a huge red stone bowl.  The bowl contains columns, spires, arches, and other rocky monuments.  The long spires are called hoodoos.  It is absolutely amazing to see these giant columns standing side by side, some in clusters, and some solo, filling acres and acres of land. 

We were able to drive along the road, pull off, and wander the trails along the rim of the many amphitheaters.  Our plan was to see the sights along main drive in the park, then drive back to the main amphitheater for sunset.  

The other parks in Utah we wandered had rocks.  Big rocks. Red rocks and tan rocks.  This park had rocks too.  It also had pine trees.  Huge stands of pines.  As we walked through a stand of pines on a trail we inhaled the clean air and the scent of pine. The trees also added evergreen color to the landscape for a sharp contrast against the red rocks. We saw areas were fire had moved through acres of the pine trees, contained only by the rock walls that surrounded them.  

Bryce Canyon was a bit different than the other parks we have visited.  First of all, it is more expensive to get in.  We purchased an “American The Beautiful” pass through the park service prior to the trip, granting us access to all national parks for a year.  The price at Bryce was almost half of what we paid for the pass. 

Bryce is also a much more accessible.  There are more side walks, bathrooms, water stations, and there is wifi at the lodge.  This is not what we have experienced at the other parks.  Needless to say, with increased accessibility, there were more people.  As we visited the overlooks to take photos, we heard many languages other than our own.  There were people of all ages, and families.  

We got to the main amphitheater with an hour to spare before sunset.  We hiked a steep incline up to Inspiration Point  and marveled at the view.  We went to Sunset Point and found there was a trail called Navajo Trail that wound down inside the amphitheater!  We took a short walk down, down, down along the red rock walls.  We both decided this trail would be must-do on a return trip. 

We found our vantage point for sunset.  This sunset would be a bit different than last night as we were facing east.  As the sun sank in the sky, the amphitheater, plateaus, and mountains in the distance were coated with light.  First bright and yellow… then orange and red.  The sky turned from blue to violet.  It was another miracle of nature.

We are leaving Bryce Canyon headed for our next stop.  Katie Q is driving and has just informed me she saw a UFO.  She believes. That is okay with me.

It has been another long yet wonderful day.  The weather has been perfect.  I am tired and my body is weary. I look forward to some food and a bed.  

As we move though Utah, with another week ahead of us, I know with more certainty that life is good.