The Road Trip Day 9: Alien Landscape
Bryce Canyon + Capitol Reef National Parks, Utah
May 15, 2015
I awoke at 7 a.m. sharp, rain began falling at 7:02 a.m.
Packing up in a light sprinkle is rarely enjoyable, but it was something we had to do. At least we got clear skies for yesterday's hike.
Today's drive was one of the longer ones; we boogied to get camp broken down, car packed and refueled, and road snacks restocked.
We waved goodbye to Zion.
Click here to view this in Google Street View.
Light rain suddenly turned to flurries of snow. The storm we had narrowly been avoiding finally caught up to us.
Along the way we stopped at Bryce Canyon. The visitor's center was packed due to the crummy weather. We took a quick visit to the rim, but you couldn't see a single hoodoo; it was completely socked in. Carter got his sticker all the same.
A very limited and snowy view of Bryce Canyon from the Rim trail.
We pressed on.
A pretty common view along State Route 12.
Head of the Rocks Overlook, Utah.
Looks like we skirted the storm.
The scenery was sublime. State Route 12 might be my favorite road in the US—certainly top three.
We started to get ahead of the storm. Another pull-off caught our attention. “Head of the Rocks Overlook”, proclaimed a small sign. Massive, angry clouds traveled West.
We were headed East.
Caleb made a feline friend during brunch.
The Smith's family friend has a restaurant we were told could not be missed, so we skipped breakfast to save time and not spoil our appetites.
Hell's Backbone Grill had a charming rustic vibe. We looked over the menu and didn't take long. Caleb got French toast, Carter got a quesadilla, and I got shirred eggs with several cups of coffee.
It was pure heaven for our travel-addled bodies.
Quite the brunch spread at Hell's Backbone Grill.
We said our thank-yous and got back on the road once again. Capitol Reef was on our way to Moab; we couldn't resist a short stop at the visitor's center.
Carter's sticker-window is running out of real estate.
Chimney Rock and Mummy Cliff as seen from Utah State Route 24.
Tonight, we are staying at a cheap RV and campground spot in Moab. Hour after hour, our vehicular spaceship zoomed through the alien landscape.
We arrived at the River Oasis RV Park in Moab. Apparently, it has free WiFi, but I had trouble loading Google. Dinner was beef stroganoff with several additional cloves of garlic.
Tomorrow's plan is Arches.