This 'N That In Utah

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: yellow-bellied marmot, mule deer, bison
*Birds we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: mountain bluebird, golden eagle, Indigo bunting, Lazuli bunting, Say’s Phoebe, yellow-rumped warbler, Western Tanager
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After our little incident, we were back on the road again making our way to Salt Lake City, spending the first night at a Wal-Mart in Springville, UT, getting new tires for the Saturn in Provo, and along the way passed some beautiful scenery as well as the Young Living Lavender Farms (http://www.youngliving.com/en_US/company/farms).










The next night was spent in the parking lot of Cabela’s (http://www.cabelas.com/) in Lehi, UT, and if you’ve never visited one of these stores, they’re definitely worth a sightseeing trip. Similar to Bass Pro, they each have their own theming from the moment you walk in the door and are geared towards hunting, fishing, and camping. There are huge displays like Big Game Country, a Gun Library (for buying and selling plus museum pieces), two large aquariums, lots of taxidermied wildlife, and an indoor mountain that seem to bring the outdoors inside.














We spent the next few nights in the Camping World parking lot in Draper just south of Salt Lake City trying to get an estimate on the body damage and an idea of how long the process would take. We had a lovely view of the mountains from our RV, and with several shopping centers nearby, this was a prime opportunity to catch up on some of that fast food we’d been without for the past 3-1/2 months, and not just your run-of-the-mill McDonald’s or Burger King that you can get just anywhere. We dined on In-‘N-Out Burger, Weinerschnitzel, and even tried Five Guys Burgers (similar to In-‘N-Out but pricier).

Since we were in Salt Lake, a visit to a Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsal was definitely in order. During the summer, rehearsals are held in the Conference Center at Temple Square, and across the street from our parking space was a magnificent looking building that we later learned was the historic McCune Mansion (http://www.mccunemansion.com/) built in 1901.

While waiting for the theater doors to open, we took a brief tour of the facility which included an impressive view of the Salt Lake City skyline from the roof as well as Salt Lake Temple.

As it turns out this evening’s rehearsal was actually a dress rehearsal for the next day’s Pioneer Day Commemoration Concert. Since we had attended a rehearsal a couple of years ago, we were pleased to learn that this would be something totally different. The theme of the program was extremely patriotic and featured guest artists Brian Stokes Mitchell and Linda Eder, both stars of Broadway and the small screen. What an incredibly memorable evening and performance.

Our last stop in Utah was about 35 miles back south to Springville for a scheduled front end RV alignment at Sid’s Alignment Service Center (http://www.sidsalignment.com/), which you may remember that we mentioned in a previous blog. We met Sid at Capitol Reef, and now having experienced his expertise, workmanship, and outstanding customer service, we would highly recommend his shop for your service needs should you be in the area. An added bonus to this stop is that he called his friend Kayleen who we had also met during that trip (and who I consider a newfound friend), and she and her grandson, Ty, came by for a short visit before it was time for us to hit the road again.

The parts for the RV body damage were going to take 3 – 4 weeks to arrive, and though Salt Lake City is a nice area, we decided we didn’t really want to spend a month just hanging out there. Instead we chose to go ahead with our original plans and head to Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone.

Movin' On

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: yellow-bellied marmot, mule deer

*Birds we’ve seen on our 2011 trip so far: mountain bluebird, golden eagle, Indigo bunting, Lazuli bunting, Say’s Phoebe, yellow-rumped warbler, Western Tanager

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Fruit was finally ripe for picking! The last of the tart cherry trees were open to the public, and we stopped by to pick a lb. as a gift for Dotty to thank her for all the meals and yummy baked goods she’d been sharing with us.

The apricot trees were also ready for picking before we left Capitol Reef, and we made sure to get some. We had picked some off the ground for free as they fell earlier in the week but then grabbed some more before we left since you can’t beat the price…$1/lb.! I planned to cut many in half to freeze and make puree with others for future use in baking…or maybe even apricot daiquiris! Of course, we needed some to just eat fresh!

Before leaving we attended a few ranger programs, stopped to check out the blacksmith shop (basically a shed with period farm equipment and an audio message), and visited the Ripple Rock Nature Center, a little two-room building that houses interactive displays and activities aimed primarily at kids teaching them about the history and geology of the area. Open afternoons, five days a week, kids can grind corn like the Fremont Indians, dress up in clothing as worn by the settlers, pretend to milk a cow, play some of the games kids back then would have played, and so much more. Russ tried his hand at flipping the ball into the little cup, which takes more coordination than you might think but he did it!

Directly across the street from the campground is the Cohab Canyon Trailhead, and early one morning I decided to hike part of it. The first 1/4 mile of switchbacks has an elevation change of 320 feet and is considered somewhat strenuous but then it pretty much levels out after that. The entire trail is 1-3/4 miles one way and can serve as a connector trail to two others, but I only walked a portion of it. Looking back down into the valley, the view is spectacular with the campground below and its many trees contrasted against the colorful surrounding hills. (That’s our little silver car in the center of the photo above left.) Now you know why it’s often referred to as an “oasis in the desert”. The views were magnificent, and I felt as if I was seeing an overview of the center of Capitol Reef. I was tempted to go further but thought better of it…perhaps next year. As I made my way back down, I spied Russ and Abby waiting for me, and I zoomed in for a photo as Russ waved. This had been a lovely, peaceful way to start the day.

Not far from the campground are the Fremont River Falls that are only about 15 ft. tall. It’s a big attraction for campers and locals who like to jump into them despite the huge sign in the parking lot prohibiting such activity. The water isn’t very deep and a majority of injury reports filed in the park are from the falls with many being for broken ankles, and it’s become a law enforcement nightmare for the rangers. We drove over one day and hiked down to the riverbank for a better look, and as you can see in the photo, the falls don’t stand much taller than Russ. We are still amazed that people would be so stupid as to actually jump into it!

Speaking of waterfalls, the monsoon season started a little early so we got to experience what happens when even a brief shower hits the canyon cliffs. What an amazing sight! From our RV we could see the beginning of a nice, clear waterfall and then suddenly the amount of water flow increased, and as the water hit the ledge below, it gushed forth into a spectacular vision of reddish color. We could even see large rocks being thrown down the canyon wall in the cascade of water. A couple of these pictures might seem a little hazy since they were taken during the rain, but none of them can do justice to the beauty of the moment. Once the rain cleared, the water continued to flow, and on one day we took a quick drive down the road to get a closer look…absolutely beautiful! In the photo below left you can even see two waterfalls coming down the canyon walls. The road in the campground became flooded in some areas as you can see in the photo but quickly receded.

Our time at Capitol Reef was winding down and Abby took one last “walk” during one of our rounds. She loved occasionally running alongside the golf cart, something Mikey isn’t able to enjoy any longer with his severe arthritis.

On our day of departure several employees and rangers made a special effort to stop by to bid us a fond farewell. We thoroughly enjoyed working with everyone at Capitol Reef and for making our last day special. Doug (pictured at right) is an assistant professor in upstate New York and had saved up his vacation so he could spend 3 weeks at Capitol Reef providing night sky and solar viewing programs for the visitors. It was great getting to know him and being able to share in these experiences. We didn’t get photos with everyone who stopped by but here are a few. Chad came by not only to say farewell but to pick up our uniforms, radios, etc., and Holly caught me with my wet hair. Dotty and Gary, the other hosts, were sad to see us leave as we had become good friends in the short time we had worked together. Steven and Tiffany made their way through the road construction jam just to say goodbye, and little did any of us know that we’d be seeing each other and several of the other rangers again in just a few minutes.

We were ready to depart and the road construction that had been ongoing since we arrived had recently begun just outside the campground. A few days earlier when they had dug up the existing asphalt, they had damaged a section of a historical sewer system put in by the Mormons so there was now a large area cut out with about a 3 foot dropoff. The crew had compacted some dirt on one side of the road so the pilot car could still lead people out, but things didn’t work out so well for us…we had a little accident. One of the basement doors had to be totally removed and there was damage to two others. We were fine, but this was going to make a slight change in our travel plans.

Food & Fun

Seems like this past week has involved a lot of food mixed with fun times!

PIZZA, PIZZA

Nancy had mentioned that she’d been craving pizza, and since we hadn’t eaten any in a couple of months either, it really sounded good to us, too. Previously we reported that Slackers in Torrey had better burgers than Chillz, but from what we were told Chillz had better pizzas than the Red Rock Inn. John and Nancy were going into Loa on one of their days off so we made plans for them to pick up pizza on the way home for dinner, and we split the cost. However before they left, our pizza party had grown as we had also invited Rangers Steven, Tiffany, and Kyle to come over after work. We purchased 3 large pizzas which we figured would provide us plenty of leftovers, and the troops brought some brewskies (none for us...we were on duty). We all agreed the pizzas were some of the best we’d had, but out of those 3 very large pizzas only 2 pieces were left! Someone (…ahem…Kyle) had been very hungry!

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES

A few weeks ago we had talked about one of the family reunions that had been held in the park where the kids made tie-dyed t-shirts. What we didn’t mention is that the coordinator of this reunion was a lieutenant with the Utah Highway Patrol, and he had promised to come back and see us before we left for the season. We knew he was a busy man and covered a large territory so didn’t really expect him to make a special trip just to see us. What a surprise when true his word he showed up one afternoon in full uniform! He wanted to thank us again for all our help during his family’s stay and for making it a memorable event. He also presented us with Utah Highway Patrol 75th Anniversary mugs…how incredibly sweet of him to take time out of his day, making a special effort to think of us.

IN APPRECIATION

As a thank you for our time as campground hosts, Ranger Brenda coordinated a potluck in honor of the four of us. Since John and Nancy were planning to leave on July 4th, it was scheduled for the Friday before. It wasn’t a large group, but the food was really good (especially Scott’s sloppy joes and Al’s incredibly delicious Million Calorie Pie that he made fresh that morning!!) In the photo at left Chief Ranger Scott stands between Russ and me, and Park Superintendent Al stands between me and John. In the photo at right, our supervisor, Ranger Brenda, stands with her husband, Ranger Mike. In addition to a Certificate of Appreciation we also received a $50 gift certificate to be used in the bookstore and/or the Gifford House! Hmmmm…10 homemade pies??? Nah, I’m sure we’ll be a little more diverse than that. Thanks to all who attended and made this a special day. It’s truly been a pleasure working with all of these great people, and this little get together was genuinely appreciated.

I LOVE A PARADE

Every 4th of July weekend Torrey holds its annual Torrey Apple Days, a small town celebration complete with games, food, 5K race, arts and crafts swap meet, an evening dance, and of course a parade! Since we were off duty, we drove into town Sat. morning in plenty of time to scope out a spot for watching the parade, which goes down one side of the main street, turns around, and comes back in the other lane. At one point the end of the parade was passing the beginning! A couple thousand people lined the streets of Torrey and most of the participants threw candy to the crowds. Now we understood why so many kids were carrying plastic bags before the parade started! Since we didn’t know about this tradition, we simply had to stuff our pockets…tee hee. Of course Café Diablo had a presence in the parade with the owner and some of his staff distributing mini-apple pies to everyone along the route...yum! And what parade would be complete without a queen...isn’t she adorable? Afterwards we watched as the kids had a blast swinging over the creek that runs alongside the road. What a great time in small town America!

HELLO/GOODBYE

The couple who would be taking John and Nancy’s place as hosts had arrived a couple weeks early as they had business in the area, and since this is Dotty and Gary’s 6th year hosting at Capitol Reef, they know lots of people to visit. Dotty loves to cook so she planned a goodbye dinner for John and Nancy the day before they were going to leave (Brenda and Mike joined us shortly after this photo was taken.) Lasagna, salad, and garlic bread were on the menu followed by scrumptious strawberry shortcake, and after dinner the guys worked on the golf cart as we’d all been having some serious problems with it for a few days. You know what happens when you get great minds together!

John and Nancy left very early the next morning, and though this photo was taken on their last day of work, Nancy said it’s kind of like them saying “Bye…we’re outta here!” LOL Later that day Dotty and Gary had us over for a 4th of July BBQ with burgers, hot dogs, salad, baked beans, corn on the cob, and watermelon. I brought potato salad but it really wasn’t needed as we had plenty of food. (Sorry, no pictures of this shindig.)

So our time here as campground hosts is also about up, and it seems like there’s still so much we want to do. Hope we can fit it all in before we leave on the 15th.