Capitol Reef National Park

Last night we debated on how we were going to fit everything in the next day that we had planned.  We were to go to Canyonlands National Park in the morning, then drive 2 ½ hours to Capitol Reef National Park.  After touring this park, we would drive another 2 ½ hours to Bryce Canyon National Park.  This was at 10:30 at night and we were exhausted.  We decided to skip Canyonlands.  It is hard to miss something when you are so close to it, but our crew is pretty tired after a busy week at camp.  We also spoke with someone at the park and he said he has traveled all of the US on motorcycle and the drive from Capitol Reef to Bryce is the best he has ever seen.  We figured by skipping Canyonlands, we could take this drive a little slower and enjoy.

We enjoyed another Hampton Inn breakfast and set out for Capitol Reef.  Yes, I realize I sound like a broken record, but oh my goodness, the beauty!  There are no words.

After getting to the park, the girls earned their Junior Ranger badges and we set out to explore a little.  This park is unique in that it has fruit orchards scattered throughout.  We stopped at one and enjoyed some apricots.   We then drove the scenic drive a little ways. 

Hard to see, but these walls had petroglyphs

James out in the field looking for fruit.

Ruthlessly eliminating hurry from her life!

As we are in the middle of nowhere, we planned to eat snacks in the car and then eat a meal once we got to Bryce.  That is until we passed a little store in the park that advertised fresh pies and cinnamon rolls.  Man, I love vacation!  We sat under a tree and ate strawberry rhubarb pie and cinnamon rolls for lunch.

 

Lily was dying to go to the Nature Center.  Mommy and Daddy were ready to get the show on the road and start towards Bryce.  I tried to dissuade her.  “Are you sure?  What if we eat cinnamon rolls for lunch?  Oh I don’t think you can take your lollipops in there.  Ew, look, it isn’t air conditioned.”  She was sure – she wanted to go! We figured it would be pretty irresponsible of us to deny the child a chance to learn something.  James (bless that man) took them while I sat in the car (and typed this post).

After leaving Capitol Reef, we took Scenic Hwy 12 across Boulder mountain (which included a section of highway that literally went along the ridge of the mountain) and along the western edge of the Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument.      

Using TripAdvisor, I found a hotel near the entrance of Bryce.  Or should I say hotel/gas station/convenience store/gift shop.  Yep all in one!  I cannot believe I didn't get a picture of this place.  I think the family was a little nervous but it turned out great (I can't remember the last time we stayed at a hotel where you get an actual key).  We parked right in front of our room, unloaded and settled in.

I had not investigated where to eat so we relied on Yelp.  There was only one restaurant with decent reviews.  When we walked in, it appeared to be a little nicer then we were dressed for.  The staff were awesome and insisted we looked just beautiful.  We sat out on the deck and enjoyed a delicious meal.  And guess where our waiter went to college:  the College of Charleston!