Capitol Reef NP

We decided to stay in Torrey another day and "do" Capitol Reef today.  Good decision!  We made the scenic drive almost all the way to capitol dome.
The scenery was gorgeous!

One of the things we really like about this park is its accessibility.  Like Kodachrome and unlike Brice Canyon, one can get up close and personal with the scenery.

The colors are just amazing...

and the variety of rocks impressive.
We had a great day, complete with picnic lunch under giant cottonwood trees.    Life is good!

Across Utah

From Cedar City, after two more wonderful plays, we made our next stop Pink Coral Dunes SP.
We really enjoyed this park.

Our site was lovely and the weather was fine!

We took a walk through the dunes....

which really suited our little "king of the mountain"!

Hobbes enjoyed running in the dunes, digging, and yes, eating sand!

Fortunately, faces do wash!

Our next stop was one of our all time favorite parks, Kodachrome Basin.

Another great campsite in a beautiful setting.

After two days of hiking and enjoying the great setting, 

we moved on.  Jim decided we should take Route 12, a scenic highway across the Escalante Staircase.

Our next two nights were spent at Escalante Petrified Forest State Park.

We lucked into another great site.

We did the petrified forest trail, even the extra loop, labeled strenuous.  It was beautiful and we were amazed at the size, number, and colors of the "once upon a time" trees.

Today we made the breathtaking drive over to Torrey, Utah.  We were above canyons,

deep into the canyons, then up, up, up into aspen groves at 9800 feet.

We made it over to beautiful Capitol Reef Nat'l Park only to have our luck run out--there was no room at the campground.  The landscape was lovely

and we managed a quite adequate commercial camp in Torrey.  After a nice dinner, we are content to sit and think about all the fabulous scenery we have viewed today.

St. George and Cedar City, Utah

Leaving Kanosh, we headed down the road, only to have the truck brakes commence to squeal loudly.  We went back to the Stroud's place and Jim took the truck into Fillmore.  Turns out, a rock had gotten thrown into the brake mechanism.  At least, this time the repair was quick.  We were back on the road before noon.
We drove to Snow Canyon State Park for our St. George stay.  The canyon is a beautiful mix of red rock, white rock, and striped rock!

In St. George, we checked out Temple Square,

and toured Brigham Young's winter home.

We did some shopping and purchased some "costume" treasures!  (You'll have to ask me about those!)

We managed a little hiking, but there were only two trails on which Hobbes was allowed.  The wildlife in this country is really getting wimpy.  If they can't survive the smell of a dog walking through, I can't imagine how they survive in the wild.  Haven't park rangers ever heard that "nature is red in tooth and claw?"

The campsite was lovely, if a bit tight, and we did enjoy our four nights in amongst the rocks.

One surprise in St. George was the Johnson Farm Dinosaur Site.  From the brochures, I anticipated one cast type track and maybe a couple of smaller ones.  Instead, there was a very instructive museum and lots and lots of dinosaur tracks.  These were discovered right there in that vicinity and the museum developed around them.  It was fascinating!

We were very impressed with St. George.  It looks like a fine city  We certainly enjoyed our visit.

Now we have moved on to Cedar City and the Utah Shakespeare Festival.  On Wednesday night we saw, "Stones in His Pocket".  This play, with two actors and 15 characters, was impressive.  Tonight we are scheduled for "Les Miserables", and tomorrow night, Hamlet.  

Today we went out to visit the Allens in Cedar Canyon.  Jim did blacksmithing with him in Fillmore.  We had a lovely but brief visit as they are leaving this afternoon for a vacation to Boston.  We hope to see them again on our next trip to Utah.

Our declaration is that Utah is a beautiful state with many, many interesting sights to behold and many friendly individuals to meet.  

On to Kanosh

We left Fillmore to drive a few miles down the road to visit with Cal and Anita Stroud.  

We set up camp on their lovely spot in Kanosh.

Their view is interesting and the sunsets dramatic.

Hobbes especially enjoyed the horse company.

The afterglow of the sunset was wonderful.

While in Kanosh, we acquired bacon as well as lots of fresh vegetables, thanks to the generosity of the postmistress, Linda.  
We also managed to get in a rockhounding expedition to Yankee Meadows.  We were successful in finding beautiful agate.

Note that even Jim Bailey has a rock in hand!

The scenery was lovely,

and the company fine!

While in Kanosh, we managed side trips to Fremont Indian State Park

site of wonderful petroglyphs.

It was fun to revisit this park and to add another, the mining camp at Maryville, to our list of places visited.

This was a very interesting site, very well presented by the Forest Service.

We also enjoyed this statue in Maryville.

One good thing from our visit in Kanosh, a reunion of  "Calvin and Hobbes".

While in Kanosh, we went over to visit Scott, another vendor at the art's festival, and his alpacas.  

They are strange looking animals,

but cute too.  

Especially the bebe.

Thanks Cal and Anita for your hospitality!

Tahoe to Fillmore, Utah

Last things at Tahoe included one last blue boy run.  While not the most pleasant thing about our stay, being on site was a reasonable compensation for the trouble.

Soon we were on the road to Fillmore, Utah.

The scenery was dramatic.

One of the many murals in Ely, Nevada seemed a tribute to our recent experience.

We found Ely to be an interesting town.

After a good lunch, we were set to drive to Fillmore.

Driving into Fillmore felt like coming home!  Our old spot was waiting for us and the desert willow we planted last year had grown beautifully.

We helped prepare for the Old Capitol Arts Festival then set out to enjoy it.  Jim almost immediately found himself another gig as blacksmith with wheelwright Dennis Allen.

Meanwhile, I prepared to play my harp and flutes.

This was an enjoyable experience.

We loved greeting old friends,

Nora Healey

Carl Camp

Shauna Johnson

and meeting new ones.....

Dennis Allen

The vendors were awesome, 

Wildfire Creations

Navajo Jewelry

rock jewelry

silk scarves

and welded art.

And then, there was the living history!

Birds of Prey

pioneer couples,

and craftsmen--the broommaker

and cooper

There was so much to be learned!

This is a wonderful festival!  I hope to come back another year!

While still in Fillmore, there were friends to visit....

Nora and Paul Healey are so dear.

Nora was justifiably proud of the blue ribbon she won in the art show!  We loved our delicious dinner and great visit with these wonderful folks.

We managed to squeeze in a picnic up the canyon before it was time to leave Fillmore.

It feels like a little part of our hearts will always belong to Fillmore, Utah.