Habanero Gold!

We finally visited the Gifford Farmhouse (GiffordFarmhouse) with its crabapple tree in full bloom out front. As you know we can see it from our campsite but had not yet ventured inside. It’s part museum and part country store, and we were a little afraid to go over because they sell homemade pies, breads, scones, jams, and more! The pies and breads are made by the chefs at Café Diablo (http://www.cafediablo.net/) in nearby Torrey (you may remember we’ve raved about their food in the past), and the scones are made by a local Scottish man. All are delivered fresh daily, and we had tasted the blackberry pie when our neighbor, Nancy, shared some with us a couple of weeks ago. These pies are generally considered individual-sized ($5 each) and you’ll see many people with fork in hand eating directly from the little tin all by themselves, but they are definitely big enough for two. When we walked in, we introduced ourselves to Monica behind the counter, and she informed us that as campground hosts we could take our pick of a pie or a loaf of bread as a welcome gift! We chose an apple pie and bought a loaf of sourdough bread for $3.95. There were free samples of some yummy salsa, and we learned that they also sell little individualized cups of Café Diablo’s homemade ice cream….this could definitely be a dangerous place!

The original home was built in 1908 by Calvin Pendleton, who lived there with his family for 8 years. It was then occupied by the Jorgen Jorgenson family from 1916-1928 and was sold to son-in-law Dewey Gifford in 1928. The Gifford family lived in the home for the next 41 years until he sold it and the land to the National Park Service in 1969. The former kitchen was converted into the store run by the Capitol Reef National History Association. Besides all the yummy food items, there are also handmade items by local artisans and craftsmen for sale. The rest of the house displays many of the items that would have been in the home when lived in as well as serving as a backdrop for the sale of some of the craft items. It also serves as a demonstration site for interpretative programs of the early Mormon settlers. Following the link above will give you even more information on the history and everyday life of the Gifford homestead.

Each year a group from the Sierra Club (http://www.sierraclub.org/) spends a week volunteering their time to help with projects around Capitol Reef NP and stay in the group campsite area of the campground. This year projects included but were not limited to building fences in the backcountry, digging ditches for a sprinkler system at the Gifford Farmhouse, and picking up trash along the highway. During this week the Capitol Reef Employee Association holds a silent auction in which the Sierra Club members enjoy participating. On that Fri. a special goodbye reception/ice cream social was held for the 15 members where they received certificates from the Park Superintendent. We had arrived half an hour early to check out the auction items though we didn’t really need anything (and have nowhere to put much of anything!) Most of the items were handmade, and we put bids on two items…a jar of peach butter and an origami turkey. Now I know we didn’t need an origami turkey, but these items made by Ranger Ray (pictured below right) are fascinating and incredibly intricate plus we wanted to do our part to help out the Association. We won both items for a total of $6…woohoo!

Another set of volunteers arrived May 1 and are parked in the site next to us for the month of May. Martin and Barbara Burkhead have been spending a month at Capitol Reef for the past 13 years sharing their expertise and knowledge. Martin is Emeritus Professor of Astronomy from Indiana University and presents night sky programs at the amphitheater several times a week (weather permitting). On other nights Barbara shares Native American stories at their campsite. These stories, such as why the turtle’s back appears cracked, are enjoyed by young and old alike. In fact each night there have been more adults in attendance than kids!

One of the nice things about having a resident astronomer living next door is that he can key you in on happening events. A few nights ago he told us that he would be pointing out the International Space Station flying over during his constellation talk. We didn’t attend that night, but while walking the dogs we saw what we believed to be the Space Station as it moved across the night sky. Martin confirmed it the next day, and we learned that it would be flying over again about 20 min. earlier that night. It was at a lower elevation, but we did see it and I was able to get a photo of it! If you enlarge the photo at left (double click to do so) and look closely, you’ll see a white dot…that’s the International Space Station! Yes, you’ll just have to take our word for it plus there are plenty of other witnesses who can vouch that it is.

The weather has been unseasonably cold and windy since we arrived with only a couple of really nice days but that is expected to change soon. However, it could be worse; we could be at Bryce Canyon National Park. While we got some pea-sized hail here the other day (as seen in the photo) and it snowed a little in nearby Torrey, Bryce has been getting a lot of snow. In fact the other day we had campers arrive who had just come from there and woke to 4 inches of snow! Bryce had been our first choice for campground hosting, but thank goodness Capitol Reef contacted us first. While pretty to look at, we’d hate to be out working in it!

We’ve met so many great people on our travels, as you well know, and being campground hosts has made that even easier. Another such couple are Jinx and Jim from the Benson, AZ area. Though not her given name, she’s been called Jinx since the day she was born even by her parents as she was born on Friday the 13th. Neat lady who can’t stand to be idle, and though she still works fulltime, finds plenty of time to knit, make jewelry, can veggies, and make some incredibly delicious jam! She not only makes the usual varieties but also creates many of her own. She gave us a jar of something she calls Habanero Gold…apricot jam with pieces of habanero pepper mixed in…spicy and oh so yummy!! She says it is great on grilled chicken, cream cheese on a bagel, or even just by itself on a piece of toast…and boy was she right! She had brought several different varieties with her for a friend, but the friend had to cancel at the last minute, and Jinx shared a couple jars with us plus I offered to buy a couple more including another Habanero Gold since that’s something you can’t buy just anywhere. Oh, and Jim's a fun guy, too!

The blooms are nearly gone from the fruit trees, but I was able to get one last shot of the pear trees in the orchard near Loop B. Absolutely beautiful!

Rangers to the Rescue

Yesterday there was some major excitement at Capitol Reef National Park. Around noon a report came over the radio that an emergency signal had been received from a GPS locator device. (Though it had nothing to do with us, we were able to monitor the day’s events with each transmission.) Rangers were dispatched to locate the hiker who had sent it, and he was eventually found in a crevice at Upper Spring Canyon. He had separated from his fellow hikers (who had actually sent the signal), and in trying to climb straight up a little bit higher, his foot slipped on some rocks and he fell about 20 feet in the crevice. His fellow hikers didn’t see him fall but heard the rock slide. To get to his exact location, the rangers had to hike 4 miles from where their car was parked and then climb down to him. Though unconscious when they initially reached him, he became alert and responsive. Once they determined his injuries, they needed to stabilize him and figure how to best get him out. Since there are no major medical facilities in the area, a search and rescue helicopter was considered necessary. The nearest available one was at the Grand Canyon and would take at least 2 hours to get to their location. The rangers needed that time anyway to not only stabilize him onto a litter, but also to move him about 100 yards over rough terrain to a better location for the helicopter to hover while they dropped a cable. Once the helicopter arrived, he was carried to a waiting ambulance near the Chimney Rock trailhead and transported to the hospital in Richfield (about 75 miles away). It was too late for the helicopter to return to the Grand Canyon, so it was parked near the campground on the other side of the horse pasture till the next morning. You should have seen the deer scatter as they landed! The entire operation lasted about 9 hours and took the efforts of about 13 rangers. Later we learned that the man had several skull fractures, a broken nose, a dislocated hip, and 10 broken ribs. We find it amazing he survived. All the rangers involved deserve major kudos for a job well done!

On a less dramatic note the day before, the golf cart died on the other side of the middle loop while we were making our rounds. Russ managed to push it off the road, and we walked back to our campsite to radio the ranger on duty who came to our rescue and towed it back over here. See, rangers make rescues of all kinds!

A Scenic Drive...Eggs-actly!

The next morning we loaded the dogs in the car and ventured out on the 16-mile round-trip scenic drive that starts just outside the campground. There is some road construction currently in progress on the drive but the delays were very minimal. The brilliantly colored cliffs with their many layers of sedimentary rock towered around us. We drove to the end of the road where the pavement ends, and we could have continued down the unpaved Capitol Gorge spur road but decided to save that for another day. On the way back, however, we did take the Grand Wash spur road which continues about a mile. Beyond this is a foot trail, but since dogs are not allowed on the trails, we’ll save this for another day, too, and will give a more in depth report on both later.






















The day before Easter was Capitol Reef’s annual Easter Egg Hunt held in conjunction with the National History Association. The day was overcast and rather chilly but that didn’t stop the fun! Hundreds of plastic eggs had been hidden at one of the picnic areas just down the road, many in plain sight (especially for the youngest ones) but a few were tucked here and there under benches, in the trees, and everywhere. The hunt was to begin at 9am, and though we were working, I walked down to snap some photos. People brought their kids not only from the campground but from nearby towns, and the parking lot filled quickly. In fact the rangers had to divert traffic to a lot down the road. There were three age groups, and inside each egg was either candy or a slip of paper for a yummy treat from the Gifford House. I left before it was over, but everyone seemed to have a blast!

An Oasis in the Desert

[This entry covers April 7-17]
We spent the next day in orientation with our supervisor, Ranger Brenda, till about 2pm, received our uniforms, and then it was time to begin our work as campground hosts. Six days earlier we left 80 degree weather in Florida and arrived at Capitol Reef with temperatures in the 40s! However, part of our uniform is a really nice Cabela’s hooded jacket that keeps us super warm.

As you may recall, there is no cell phone service here, and we knew that any internet service would have to be dial-up through the local phone company. The park service provides a landline for local phone calls, but we got a wonderful surprise when we arrived…they had installed WiFi for the campground hosts! This is such a boon for us as all of our bill pay and banking is done online (not to mention being able to keep in better touch with everyone).

Our first couple days of work were interesting because of the possibility of the pending government shutdown. This would have closed the park including the campground, and several campers had questions wondering what would happen. We were told that they would be given 48 hours to find other accommodations, and no one else would be allowed to come in. We would, however, be able to stay at our site for the duration (unless it dragged on for months). As you know, the shutdown was averted, and all was well…at least for now.

We work 4 days on and 4 days off, and though the work days are long, we are enjoying it. We are basically on call 24 hours should any camper have an emergency in the middle of the night, but so far there have been no middle of the night knocks on the door. Of course there seems to be one camper every week that tries to be difficult and skirt the rules, but overall we’ve met some great people including a couple from our hometown of St. Louis (Carol and Hugh pictured above right) and Lorna and Les (pictured at left). We met Les one day while he was putting a solar filter on his telescope and asked if we wanted to look at the sun through it. You could actually see the solar flares…awesome!! Every night he had the telescope pointed at the moon or Saturn, and we made sure to make a stop on our rounds and even on our nights off. One day Lorna presented me with a loaf of freshly baked Amish Friendship Bread, some starter mix, and the recipe. It was so yummy, and fortunately I have nearly all the ingredients so will be able to bake my own when the 10 days are up. We hope to catch up with them again when we’re in Yellowstone in a few months.

This area is so beautiful with many of the fruit trees in the orchards in bloom. However, the blooms don’t last long so better get your pictures right away! Pictured at right are two pear trees near the Gifford House, but I missed getting pictures of the apricot and cherry trees in bloom. There are about 3,100 trees in the orchards that include cherry, apricot, peach, pear, apple, plum, mulberry, almond, and walnut. The orchards that lie within a mile or two of the visitor center date back to the original Mormon settlers who came in 1880. Once the fruit ripens, the orchards are open to the public, and you are welcome to eat as much as you want while in the orchard, but if you want to take any out, there is a fee. Self-pay stations with scales, bags, and signs listing the fruit prices are at each orchard, and we’ve heard that the cherries go for $1.00/lb.! But we’ve also heard that you better plan to pick fruit on the first day, or you might not get any…that’s how busy the orchards get. We will be here during the cherry and apricot harvest so we’re looking forward to hopefully getting our share.

The last 4 days we’ve worked the campground filled every night with a lot of families enjoying spring break. We’ve heard that the place stays fairly busy with many local families from around the state. They are generally quiet with no rowdy parties, and we will say that it has been extremely quiet in the evenings. The weather has been pretty chilly and windy since we’ve arrived, but we’ve avoided the really nasty stuff. The campground is often referred to as “an oasis in the desert”, surrounded by some high peaks that seem to protect it, keeping the snow and rain on the other side. In fact it has been snowing just 12 miles away in Torrey, but only an occasional flurry here. The Fruita Campground has 71 sites and is open year-round but only has hosts mid-March through Oct. It’s on a first-come, first-serve basis, has no hookups, and is situated along the Fremont River, which is less than 100 yards from our site. A couple dozen mule deer wander through the campground early in the morning and evening, and Mikey enjoys watching them and the horses as he lays outside all day.

We share hosting duties with John and Nancy along with their dogs, Oogie and Lacy. They are from Mississippi and have been campground hosting for 13 years but still have a home back there. They are lots of fun, and we’ve had a great time getting to know each other. Abby and Oogie have become best buds, matching energy levels (though not size), and managing to find a way to play with each other even while on their leashes. (I'll have to try to get a picture of them when they're playing.)

Over the next few months (and once it warms up) we plan to take some of the fabulous hikes that are available in the park, and tomorrow we plan to take the scenic drive so stay tuned.

Interesting Road Trip

[This entry covers April 2-7]

We left Valdosta bright and early the next morning, traveling nearly 600 miles to spend the night at the Sam’s Club parking lot in Paducah, KY, that night (after about an hour construction delay in Atlanta). Our goal the next morning was another 200 miles to Earth City, MO, a suburb of St. Louis. We were planning to spend the night in the Harrah’s Casino parking lot and had invited a couple of friends to stop by for a visit (plus Steve and Patty were loaning us a landline phone to use while we’re in Utah.)

The trip so far had been going smoothly, but I guess all good things must come to an end. We were traveling along I-64 in IL, and the winds were awful with occasional high gusts. About 45 miles from the MO state line a huge gust caught the topper that goes over the full wall slide causing it to billow out as we’re driving 55 mph down the highway! (For those who don’t know, this topper is about 30 ft. long, and when the slide is brought in, the topper rolls up along an aluminum rod and is pretty well anchored by a center bracket and stabilizers on the ends.) It rolled back in but then rolled out again, almost acting like a sail, and the center bracket evidently broke. Russ had managed to pull over but we ended up in a ditch leaning precariously to the passenger’s side. He went outside to check on things while I stayed inside, kneeling on the floor, and hanging on with all my might to a terrified Abby who wanted nothing more than to get outside! That aluminum rod with the topper still attached was banging repeatedly on the top of the roof with every wind gust, and with every gust I was feeling as though the entire RV would tip over any minute! We contacted a tow truck driver who arrived fairly quickly and was able to get us out of that ditch (by this time we had tied the dogs up to a fence outside). Gary’s shop (Gary’s Tire Center) was at the next exit, but we knew there was no way we could continue driving down the road with the topper sailing out. So Russ went up on the roof to cut it off, and bless his heart, Gary followed him up. The wind was blowing so hard they couldn’t even stand up, and when they let go of the rod after cutting it off, the whole thing flew about 30 – 40 ft. landing near the fence. The state trooper, who was keeping the traffic from the lane next to us, said to just leave it there. That’s good because I don’t know where we would have put it! Gary has 3 shops so if you ever find yourself near Okawville, Nashville, or New Baden in Illinois and are need of service, give Gary a call.

We made it the rest of the way to St. Louis with no more problems, arriving about 1pm, and our friends showed up about 1:30. We got to relax a little with a couple of drinks, some Imo’s pizza, Cardinals baseball on TV, and good friends. We presented Steve and Patty with a little gift…a framed poster of Busch Stadium II that has been in our storage unit and used to hang in our home. The guys helped Russ remove the remaining 12" of the topper, and we simply enjoyed a nice ending to a very long and miserable day.

The winds were still whipping the next day, and we only made it as far as Hays, KS, where we stayed in a Wal-Mart parking lot. We went in to finish our stock up shopping (mainly cold stuff), but when checking out, our credit card was declined. We swiped it again...declined. Say what?! There is no way that should have happened! Turns out the credit card company was simply doing a security check to make sure the charge wasn't fraudulent since the card had been used in several different states over the previous couple of days. It took about half an hour to get this resolved, and the people at Wal-Mart were very nice, but it was now 8pm, our cold food was getting warm, the warm food we bought for dinner was cold, and we were tired and hungry.

Tues. shortly after leaving Hays, we spotted a sign saying that part of I-70 in CO (a 28 mile section) was closed from 9-5 that day for emergency rock blasting and removal of some boulders that were perched above the highway (didn't find this article at right till later that night). As we got closer we kept calling 511 for updates, and the suggested detours were each 100 miles. (Good grief…what next?!!) We reached the start of the closure about 3pm and decided to pull off at the next exit and wait for the 5pm re-opening instead going so far out of the way. Then while "going around the block" in this little town we had to unhook the car so Russ wouldn't scrape the side of the car on the telephone pole at the corner! The highway actually re-opened at 4:30 and we were finally on our way…again. Russ wanted to get up over the pass before nightfall as the temperatures were dropping, and we were afraid of more snow up there.

About 60 miles west of Denver, we passed through the Eisenhower Tunnel section of the Eisenhower-Edwin C. Johnson Memorial Tunnel that takes I-70 under the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains. Completed in 1973, it is the longest mountain tunnel and highest point on the highway system, that took us to a new elevation of 11,158 ft. We passed lots of snow, drove past the town of Vail (wasn’t as impressive as I had imagined), and saw waterfalls that seemed to have frozen in mid-stream.

We stayed the night in a really nice little rest area in Eagle, CO, and finally made it to Capitol Reef NP Wed. afternoon about 2pm (a little later than we had planned but the ranger was ok with it). We settled into our site, met our neighbors and co-hosts, and were ready to begin training the next day.