Fall Weather

Well fall is finally here and the temperatures are a bit cool but nice. I'm still trying to get everything organized. We went to a play produced by the local community college. Attending the production of "The Nerd" was a good way to relax. The students did a good job.

We may go to Mena to see Byron and Frances on Thursday. They have now moved from Irving to Mena and are about settled in their new (to them)home. I'm don't know what their plans are for the place at Rich Mountain.

Resting at Home

This was a week of resting. We enjoyed our trip out west, but it is good to be home for a while and just take it easy. Of course there are things to do around the house and especially around the yard/garden.

I have tulip bulbs that need a bed prepared for them. The rain last week should make the preparation a little easier. And the small tiller should help out if it keeps running. But most likely the biggest help will come from C.L.

I am still trying to edit the photos that I took on our trip. Have a bunch more to do before I start adding them to a web site.

Heading Back Toward Home

We had a great visit with David and Jeannie. We got to their place in South Fork slightly after 1:00 p.m. and left this morning a little after 9:00 a.m. On Saturday, Sunday and Monday they took us on some of the back roads of the area. David drove their four-wheel drive vehicle. We saw golden aspen like we have never seen before. D & J have developed a liking for rock hunting and they took us to some of the places where they look for specimens.


While riding through the back roads we didn't see much in the way of wild animals other than deer and birds. Lynda and I did see a black bear run across the highway (160) this morning as we were approaching Fort Garland. It was too fast for me to grab my camera. We also saw a herd of antelope between Raton and Capulin (New Mexico).

We had a picnic lunch at the rest stop/visitor center near Trinadad, CO.

We are spending the night in a Quality Inn in Amarillo, TX.

Over the Pass

Today we set out from Pegosa Springs and go over Wolf Creek pass to South Fork, CO. We will visit with D & J for three days before setting out for Texas. The next three days will be without internet access but I'm hoping to have a good connection when we get to Amarillo.

This is the view from the Wolf Creek Pass overlook. The wind was blowing and it was a bit cold.

On to Colorado

We stayed at the Four Corners Inn at Blanding, UT last night and got off to a fairly early start this morning after fixing a breakfast in our room. I did not get the wireless internet access to work with my laptop, so I was a bit put out.

We made a quick swing through Blanding before heading out north on HWY 191. Our only scheduled stop for the day was Newspaper Rock. It is a panel on the side of a sandstone butte that has petroglyphs that were left by native Americans throughout the ages.

We drove through some wonderful country as we proceeded from Utah into western Colorado.

We ate lunch in Ridgeway, Colorado at the True Grits Cafe. Lynda had read about the cafe in Country Discovery, a magazine that is no longer being published.

We are staying the night at the Econo Lodge in Pagosa Springs, CO. The wireless internet access is working great, so I am in a better mode.

The Bridges Natural Bridges

We are going to hike part of a trail (Grand Wash Trail) today as we leave the Capitol Reef area.
We are going to Blanding, UT today. We will go by some more canyons and natural bridges on the way.

A Day at Capitol Reef

We are up and getting ready to set off for our adventure here at Capitol reef National Park. We are staying in the Capitol Reef Inn at Torrey, Utah. I plan to add to this post later this evening after we get back from the park.

Sensory Overload

We got up a little after five this morning so we could get to the Bryce National Park to see the canyon in early light. The temperature was 32 degrees and it took a few minutes for me to get the windshield cleared of frost.

The views were spectacular as expected. We drove back to the motel and fixed some breakfast and loaded the van. We were back to the park by 8:30.

We revisited some of the viewpoints that we saw yesterday. The difference in the lighting affects the viewing.





After leaving the park we continued along Utah highway 12 heading for Capitol Reef National Park. UT 12 is a scenic drive and it is hard to come up with words to describe awesome views.

We stopped at the visitor's center for the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument

On to Another Canyon

We are getting ready to go to breakfast, then we will drive to Bryce National Park area. There will be some stops along the way then we will spend the night at Foster's Moteln in Bryce, UT.

We ate breakfast at Oscar's Cafe in Springdale then went back to the lodge and loaded the van. We retraced a part of the route we had taken to Zion and it took us back up the switch back road and through the mile long tunnel that was completed in 1930. Wehad to wait a few minutes for a bus to come through the tunnel on the way to Zion. We got a video of the trip up to the tunnel.

Our route to Bryce Canyon National Park took us through Red Canyon. It is a part of Dixie National Forrest and offers some spectacular viewing.





We stopped at Foster's on our way and found that we could check in early. We drove back to Bryce Canyon Pines Cafe and had lunch.

We spent the afternoon in the national park visiting the different viewpoints. We didn't walk a lot as we viewed the awesome statues created by erosion. Around five o'clock we were in a rain shower that also produced a bit of small hail. We waited in the van before getting our last glimpses of the canyon for the day.






We had planned to dine at Bryce Canyon Lodge, but since we didn't have a reservation we would have to wait two hours. We came back to Foster's Motel and fixed our supper in the room.

We plan to get up before sunrise so we can be in the national park to view Bryce Amphitheater as the sun comes up.