Days 9 and 10: Halfway

I'd planned a long post full of photos of the past two days since we're staying at Bryce Park Lodge and they have wifi. Turns out the wifi at the campground in Moab was significantly faster; you may be reading this after we get to Salt Lake City. We watched the moon rise, came inside to defrost, and then went out again to look at starts. Between the full moon and the clouds, we didn't see a whole lot of stars. Still worth it. Now defrosting again before bed. Today we had the highest temps we've seen so far (mid-80s when we stopped for lunch in Green River, UT) and we're headed for the lowest tonight (mid-30s here in Bryce).

This is Day 10 - halfway through the trip. Total miles driven so far: ~2700. Total hours in the car: ~52. National Parks visited: 5 (Mesa Verde, Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef, and Bryce). Highest elevation: 9200 feet as we crossed a mountain pass this afternoon (sorry, we didn't stop to get pictures of the remaining patches of snow). Train rides: 1. Meals cooked on our camp stove: 3 (two breakfasts, one dinner). We've listened to part of the first season of Jill Lepore's podcast "The Last Archive" and a few episodes of history podcasts about Bleeding Kansas and John Brown as well as a whole lot of Spotify. We've eaten some very good food (Desert Bistro in Moab, I'm looking at you) and drunk some excellent wine (along with a few nice cocktails here and there, of course). 

This is a very different trip from any we've done before. It's not just that we have the luxury of more time and enough money, so we're camping when and where we want to and not staying in a KOA near the highway just to keep costs down. We've learned a lot about ourselves and each other in the 31 years since we last drove across the US. David is more willing to stop at random historical markers and I'm less likely to roll my eyes at the inevitable geology explanations. (I still can't tell a syncline from an anticline. He tries.) Turns out after more than 40 years together we enjoy each other's company even more than we used to.

On to the travelogue:

When I posted something on Facebook about this trip months ago, someone suggested we go to Canyonlands. I don't remember who it was and I really wish I could thank her? him? them? because WOW. Canyonlands National Park includes the confluence of the Green River and Colorado River. There are canyons (duh). 

This arch apparently didn't realize it was in the wrong park.

I think I'll do a photo dump post when we have beefier Internet. The photos don't do the place justice. Consider these coming attractions.

From Canyonlands we wandered to Dead Horse Point State Park. Someone was very happy.

It amuses me that Utah has designated scenic roads. As if the whole damned state wasn't scenic. It is also dusty, and we were hiking in the highest temps we've seen so far. All that adds up to a desperate need for a shower and since the campground was equally dusty and not particularly scenic (which is why I haven't posted any pictures of our campsite) we decided to head into town for dinner. If you're ever in Moab, eat at the Desert Bistro. It would be best if you made a reservation. They seated us anyway (helps to arrive at 5:30) and served us these gorgeous cocktails. 

Paper Plane for me, Violet Blues for him.

Also bison for him and tuna for me. So so so good. 

We broke camp the next morning and headed toward Bryce. It took all day to get here because we didn't exactly go directly. We stopped to look at petroglyphs 

And to climb up a very scary (to me, anyway) steep slope to a dinosaur trackway. Worth it.

David's hand for scale

More dinosaur trackways down the road a bit. This was all within 20 miles of Moab - before we got to the interstate.

By the time we got to I-70 it was nearly lunchtime so we stopped in Green River for a bite to eat. Then we headed off down the road and decided to follow the signs to Bryce instead of the route WAZE mapped for us. The state of Utah promised us a scenic route and I'd say they delivered.

Random spot to pull off and gape.

Next stop: Capitol Reef National Park. David had heard of it, of course. I had not. I find it amazing that everywhere we go looks so different. There's always sandstone and there are always remnants of Mormon pioneers who I guess went unquestioningly where they were sent. "Go to this place in the desert and try to grow things. Oh, and when the Indians try to kill you, kill them first, because you were sent by Gd." In Capital Reef they succeeded in growing fruit trees. We'd like to come back because it's a big place and we had very little time. If we do, we'll aim for fruit season because visitors can pick and eat the fruit. What we saw was, of course, gorgeous. Oh, and more petroglyphs.

We then continued on Scenic Highway 12, which is not misnamed.

Despite the heaviest rain we've run into so far, we made it to Bryce about 5:30, checked in, ate dinner, and walked out to the amphitheater just in time to see the moon rise.

I've been waiting to come to Bryce since I wrote a report on Utah in fifth grade. For those keeping track, that's more than 50 years. This place exceeds any expectation I could ever have had.

Coming up on Day 11: hiking among the hoodoos!