May 21, 2013 Bryce Canyon National Park - Day 1

Please keep all those affected by the tornado in Oklahoma in your prayer - such a tragedy.

We were up early and on the road by 8:15 AM. 

As we were coming down the road, we encountered:

A few miles later:

When we were here yesterday, we wrote down what sites we like and then rated them 1, 2, etc.  At the registration area, we unhooked the Tracker and off I went with my list.  The first one was unavailable but the second one was OPEN - YAHOO!

Here it is:

So much room, surrounded by pine trees - BEAUTIFUL!  We signed up for four days and will be extending as long as we can.  There are no hookups but the bathroom is right behind us so that should help our tanks.

After we set up and had lunch, we walked to the visitor center and saw their movie about Bryce.  Then we went into the museum where we saw these creatures:

It is a small museum but they have a great relief map of southern Utah and northern Arizona.

Our next journey was to the general store to see what they carried.  On our way back, we decided to do a little of the rim trail back to the campground.  This was our first sighting of the Canyon:

Incredible, isn’t it.  Tomorrow we are driving the rim so stay tuned for lots of pictures.

We started a fire later afternoon, cooked supper over the fire, and enjoyed more of the campfire until it got too cold for us - .

We are over 8000’ feet and the weather is beautiful - 60-70’s in the day and 30’s at night.  LOVE IT!

Enjoy today.

Stats for today

Miles Traveled: 26 miles (Long day - LOL)

Routes Traveled:

Utah: US-89; SR-12; SR-63

May 20, 2013 Short Road Trip

After doing a few housekeeping chores this morning, we took off to check out campgrounds in Bryce and the Red Canyon Campground in the Dixie National Forest.  All three are first come, first served and we wanted to see how full/empty they were and what the sites were like.  In Bryce, we talked with the campground hosts and they expect quite a few people to leave tomorrow and that we should be there by 9 AM.  (Early rising day tomorrow ).  So hopefully we will get a good site.  We expect to be there at least 8 days so hopefully we will get a good site.

I did not take many pictures, sorry.  I will save the space for when we are in the park.  This is on the way out of Bryce.

We stopped in the little town of Panguitch for lunch. What a quaint place.  We found out that most of the main downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places.  Since that is only place that has a grocery store, we will be checking it out later.

Back home, we took a walk around the campground.  We have a new neighbor right next to us - really right next to us.  I can hear their conversations and TV and I am sure they could here ours.  With all the open spaces in this park, I do not understand.  So glad we are leaving tomorrow.

We are the second MH from the left.  But the scenery here is just beautiful.

This is the Sevier River.  In this valley, it snakes back and forth and irrigates many of the farms. It surrounds the back part of the campground and is runny strong.

Dandelions - - haven’t seen them in a while.

So that was our day.  Tomorrow we are headed to Bryce so stay tuned and enjoy today.

May 19, 2013 Travel to Hatch Utah

When we woke this morning, it was 31 degrees - BRRRRR!!!  We packed up and off we went!

Heading north - coming down from the high plateau:

No more trees:

Interesting rock formations near Fredonia:

Into:

Where there are beautiful red rocks:

Almost looks like it was painted:

In the Virgin River valley:

Trees and Teepees ?

Llamas in green grass:

Farms:

Oh, Oh!

We arrived in Hatch at the Riverside Resort and RV Park (an Escapees Discount Park). We will be here for two nights.  Once we set up, I headed to the laundry here (nice). 

After the initial clouds and rain, this evening the sun came out - but we still have the winds.

We hope to do a road trip tomorrow so stay tuned and enjoy today.

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 116 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Arizona: SR-67; US89A

Utah: US-89A; US-89