The Dyes Go to Capitol Reef

We've been planning since April to take the kids to Capitol Reef since they didn't get to go to Alaska and we had a great time and we'll get to that. But first Erica drew this picture for me. Every day is mother's day when you have an Erica.

My friends and I took our girls to the Folk Fest in Springville on August 1. I remember going to this a few times as a kid with my mom to see folk dancers from all over the world. Sarah loved everything about the performances and Erica liked to sit on my lap and make sure I was watching the dancers and not talking to my friends.

Henry and I played Ticket to Ride, just the two of us one afternoon. He got his highest score ever so then we tried to figure out what the highest score possible would be. We picked what we thought was the best route and then pulled the destination cards that it fulfilled and adjusted our route slightly.

We took the southern route because of all the long trains and filled all these destination cards. I don't remember what our score was, like 260? Then we googled to see if we were right. We were not. A Midwest route with lots of stops in Chicago will give you a score in the 290s or something.

One afternoon there was a fire in our neighborhood (again).  This time it was the siding of a house and vinyl fencing instead of a shed.

No one was hurt and some teen boys learned some very good lessons. Our street was full of firetrucks and ambulances and police cars. It was every kids' dream. "This is the best day ever!" said all the little kids.

My aunt is moving (more on that in a future post) and she asked if I wanted this buffet. Heck yes! This buffet was my grandfather's and he always really liked it. My mom remembers it in their house growing up so it's at least 60 years old. My grandpa got it out of a house he bought as a rental so it could be even older than that. I really liked it growing up but I don't remember what they used it for. When we move to bigger house I'm hoping we have a big dining room so I can put tablecloths and napkins and silver inside it and then serve breakfast on it, Downton Abbey style. Until then, it's covered in a sheet in my mom's shed.

Alrighty, that and our fridge dying and getting a new fridge all happened the first week of August. Then on the 9th we took a trip to Capitol Reef. This was our big(ish) trip of the summer with the kids. Justin's parents and his brother joined us for the trip. We wanted to use Sarah's 4th grade National Park pass one more time (the one other time being Zion in February).

We stayed at this super nice and fun RV park in Torrey, Utah, the town nearest Capitol Reef. This is the view to the north of the RV park. Not too shabby. To the south was green farmland. We had a pool, showers, playground, general store, and restaurant to use as well.

We pulled my parents' trailer with our Sequioa and Justin's parents brought their truck and trailer as well. All our kids wanted to sleep in their trailer but we made them take turns at first. But then Sarah got sick the first day so she slept in the small trailer with us so that was nice for her to get the space and rest that she needed.

Friday evening we drove to place south of Torrey called Fishcreek Cove. The mountains there were unlike anything I've ever seen.

We were in a horseshoe shaped cove of these hills which were much whiter than they look here. Contrasted with the green of the sagebrush---beautiful. There were several cabins in this cove and we wondered if they ever tire of seeing such crazy pretty scenery.

"I think about this place everyday," said Justin as he watched me write this post.

We parked at a trailhead and walked to some petroglyphs.

The kids found really soft sand and after looking at the petroglyphs for a minute they announced they were going back to the sand pile.

Here is Henry's favorite.

And Erica's favorite. The whole wall was badly vandalized and covered in writing and etchings of modern hooligans. Made me sad.

Saturday morning we went into Capitol Reef. This is Chimney Rock. We did not do this hike as it was a long hike. But we were there.

We did do this hike. This is the Hickman Bridge trail. It starts out with a great set of stairs.

Here's my 90s kid.

And my.....I don't know what he's doing but he's pumped for this hike.

The hike is 1 mile long and it isn't a hard hike by any means but it tired us out. I thought I know desert since I live only 3 hours north of here but it is much drier and there is no shade. We were so thirsty the entire time. It wasn't even really that hot out, maybe 80 degrees. It would have been pleasant on an overcast day. This day made us sweaty.

There it is!

The trial goes right under and through the bridge which is a pretty good payoff for the hour or so we spent on the sunny trail.

How is a bridge different from an arch? Well we wondered too so I googled it. A bridge is a type of arch. To be a bridge it must span water or have spanned water before, be created by flowing water, and look like a manmade bridge, ie., have a bridge-like shape.

This is one of the capitol dome-like rock formations that give Capitol Reef it's name. See, aren't you learning so much reading my blog?

This hike is great for kids because there are a lot of things to grab onto, swing from, and climb along the way. And I wasn't afraid of them falling off a cliff.

This kid James is a Rockstar hiker. Justin wore the backpack but James never rode in it. He was all about hiking and never slowed down. That's a pretty amazing feat when you consider his 2-year-old legs have to take 3 times as many steps and each rock and boulder is much higher to him than the rest of us.

I can't even capture it. You'll just have to go and see for yourself.

Sunday morning we went back to the park and explored the Fruita area, including the Gifford house. If you asked me why I wanted to go to Capitol Reef (it was my choice, btw) I would have said to get a cinnamon roll at the Gifford house.

Justin chose pie.

Strawberry rhubarb pie.

This is my cinnamon roll. It didn't have a lot of cinnamon flavor and the frosting wasn't anything to write home about but the bread was so soft and tender and good.

We thought we would be able to pick and eat peaches and pears among the orchards of this area but the fruit was ripening later than usual so nope. There was an apricot tree behind the Gifford house that they said we could pick so we did that and it fulfilled our desire to pick from an orchard. Almost.

Sarah was our designated shoulder standing apricot picker.

This gal heard the ruckus we were making and emerged from her thicket to see who was eating her apricots.

She was not shy or skittish at all! We could tell she was used to living in a national park and all the people that entails.

We spotted her with her young fawns as we walked back to the car.

Some of the group went on a hike but Sarah wasn't feeling well so some of us did leisurely things like check out some for petroglyphs.

These are carved into the rock. So cool!

We were all reunited at a picnic area for lunch and then as we were driving away, we saw these two bucks in an orchard.

Now I really really wanted to go to Yellowstone because seeing wildlife this close is super cool.

Erica took this picture of her Princess Leia pez. Corey had a box of Star Wars Pez he passed out to the kids. My kids don't know what Star Wars is so they were asking tons of questions like "What's this guys name?" "Is he a bad guy?" "What's his name again?" Yoda. "Oh yeah. Yoda.....What's his name again?" (That was James.)

All Henry wanted to do was build a fire and roast marshmallows.  A couple of the nights it was too windy but we were able to oblige the two other nights.

Ack he's so cute!

This, my friends, is a perfectly roasted mallow. It was too good for a smore so I devoured it on it's own.

Monday we drove south on Scenic Byway Highway 12 and then took a scenic route from that scenic route called Hell's Backbone. That was a long drive but worth it because look at this:

What the cause of my heart attacks look like.

And there was this view.

If you ever think, I'd like to see pines, aspens, boulders, red rock, white rock, sage brush, rolling hills, cliffs, streams, and desert landscape all in one short drive, Highway 12 and/or Hell's Backbone is for you.

Takeaways from our trip:
1. I don't want to own a trailer. Much better than tent camping by far but I don't want another mini house to maintain and take care of. Thank you Mom and Dad for letting us borrow it.
2. James can't be trusted to sleep outside of a crib. He uses his freedom at inconvenient times, like 3 am.
3. Utah is big and diverse and there is so much to see. If I was in charge of marketing at the Utah tourism department, my new slogan would be "Get off I-15 and see."
4. Although Utah's 5 national parks are close in proximity to one another, Capitol Reef is pretty unique. It looks nothing like the narrow steep red rock cliffs of Zion nor the vast barren landscapes of Arches and Canyonlands. (I haven't been to Bryce Canyon yet). There seems to be a lot more variety at Capitol Reef but of course I've really only seen small parts of all these parks, if you think about it. Just an initial observation.
5. I hate lengthy, rough dirt roads.
6. Five days of camping was good for me. Five days is not enough for the rest of my family.
7. I have a newfound love for chapstick and insulated waterbottles.
8. Curry Pizza in Bicknell is worth the drive.