Colorado & Rocky Mountain High

We had four lovely days in Fort Collins, Colorado with our friends -- former members of Christ Church -- Ron and Ruth Chappel. We left our trailer in Utah, and drove over the Continental Divide in the Rockies in the pickup. There were snow flurries and snow on the trees at the summit -- it was beautiful, and felt like Winter! But the best part was arriving at the Chappels beautiful home. We had our own downstairs private bedroom and bath -- a spacious luxury when we're used to such small quarters. Ruth was a former preschool teacher (at Christ Church's Nursery School), and has their house well set up for the two grandsons that come to visit often.

I'm sure we gained back whatever weight we may have lost from the earlier hiking -- they fed us way too well! They were also our personal taxi/guides as we explored the area and went up to Rocky National Park and Estes Park on a gorgeous day. We met their good friends one evening for dinner, their two sons and families for another super dinner, and enjoyed several meals out in the downtown Ft. Collins area. We also went to the church they belong to, and saw Teacher Ruth in action in the Sunday School. All in all, a terrific visit.

The drive back to the trailer was on a sunny, beautiful day. It was 95 F when we hooked up with our trailer again, so we're enjoying the air conditioner now -- one of the few times we've used it on the whole trip. Tomorrow we drive to Las Vegas, then fly to Petoskey, MI. John's grandson (John Davenport) will be graduating from high school. We're looking forward to more family time.

Arches & Canyonlands National Park, Utah

The national parks in Utah are something else! Each one is different, but all have wonderful red, massive rock foundations, multi-layers of different colors of rock and sediment, hoo-doos (self-standing formations), arches, buttes, domes, canyons. We are constantly amazed around every corner. We have enjoyed drives, hikes, (probably 2-3 mile moderate or easy trail hikes every day), picnics, and more photos than I know what to do with! The vivid color does't get picked up by these photos -- they range from a chocolate red to blood red, burnt orange, yellow, green-blue, grey, beige, white -- layered sediment or rock everywhere. Walking in the fine red sand is a treat, until the wind picks up, that is. Then it stings as it blows in our faces, and "tastes" crunchy, which was one afternoon's experience. Mostly the weather has been pleasant and sunny during the days, with some light winds in afternoon.

The wildflowers and natural "landscaping" have been so appealing--I'd love to create a backyard with red rock, weathered wood, yellow and purple wildflowers. Unforutunately, can't take the weathered wood pieces home with me, so I keep photograhing them! And the red rock--not too abundant in Santa Rosa area!

Moab, where we are staying (between Arches and Canyonlands) is an outdoor sports paradise. From here, people rent 4-wheel jeeps to get into the back country or go backpacking on foot, bicycling, white water rafting (Colorado and Green Rivers converge near here), canyoneering, horseback riding, sky diving. The highest mountains in Utah, which still have snow on them, are visible from Moab, and our RV park.

So much more to see -- we just don't have the time to get to more now. We could spend many more weeks exploring these wonderful national parks; we love all these natural wonders. But we will be leaving Utah now for a visit with friends in Colorado.

Capitol Reef National Park

Another wonderful national park is Capital Reef! We can't believe the amazing geological formations in Utah. We camped in the National Park, which was located in Fruita, surrounded by orchards where Mormons had settled in the early 1900's. We could even have picked fruit, if it had been in season--unfortunately, we were a little early. But the view from our campsite was of amazing rock formations. We were constantly amazed with the rocks -- truly remarkable, with their millions of years of formation. We hiked in several canyons, seeing unbelievable geological wonders.

Bryce Canyon National Park

One of my favorite places in the world is Bryce Canyon. My family came to Bryce several times when my dad had a ranch in Utah. I used to think I would like to work at the Bryce Lodge. The college-age young adults used to wait tables, then sing to the tour buses as they would arrive or leave. They looked like they had so much fun. I never did get to work there because I needed to make more money for college by the time I was old enough. But I did get information now about how to apply to work or volunteer there. Not sure John was as interested as I was! We also looked into camp hosting. But it is still rather chilly. It snowed lightly one night so we were glad we had extra blankets.

We took several hikes along the rim, but didn't go down into the canyon this time like we did several years ago. It was threatening rain, and when the lightning and thunder came along, we were glad we were back in our trailer by then. Camping in National Parks is the way to go -- we get into the National Parks free with our Golden Age Pass, and camp for half-price. ($7.50 a night!) No hook-ups, but the natural setting is wonderful.

One of the surprises was meeting up with my cousin, Jack and Wilma Pickrell, at one of the scenic viewpoints. I had just commented that we hadn't seen anyone we knew unexpectedly on this trip, and there they were! What a surprise! We had a nice short visit!

We enjoyed the ranger talk on geology -- amazing stories about how the earth has been shaped in this part of the world. An evening program had beautiful photographs of various Utah landscapes -- the photographer went into out-of-the-way places, and yet still hasn't seen it all. Neither have we! We wish we could spend several months here visiting all of the national parks, staying much longer than we have been able to do! So much to see -- so little time!

Cedar City, Utah

We spent several days in the Cedar City area of Utah. About 35 miles from here, in a community (Newcastle) so small there are no stores, my dad had a ranch, the Bar V Ranch. He drilled wells for water and turned a fair amount of desert acreage into farm land with cattle, alfalfa, and eventually a pellet mill. We spent several summers here during my high school years. I was able to find it, especially when we saw a road sign that said "Bar V Rd" and the old pellet mill, now abandoned. We talked with an older couple still on the property who remembered stories about my dad, saying he was known as a progressive farmer with some of the things he did. Since my dad died last year, it was good for me to get stories about him.

Even though I never enjoyed the Newcastle area much, I did love going camping and fishing in the mountains nearby. John and I found out we really do like Cedar City. It is high desert, with red rock and views of hills with snow still on them.

We drove about 45 minutes up into the mountains to a lake to go fishing -- a wonderful way to spend a Sunday. It was a beautiful drive, with snow everywhere at the 9000 ft summit. We felt like we finally had winter! The lake was lower, with just a little snow. There are so many outdoor sports people do here -- year round.

The best part -- we caught about 12 rainbow trout between us. The worst part -- we had to throw all but 3 of them back because they were over 15". And even worse than that? We didn't know exactly how to measure them correctly, and when the Fish and Game Warden came by, and measured our fish, one of them was 16". So now I have a criminal record in Utah! I have to call the court to figure out what my fine will be! And on top of that -- he took the 16" fish away and gave it to someone else! But we did enjoy two fresh-caught trout for dinner, even though it turned out to be an expensive dinner!

Zion National Park

Zion National Park is the only national park we've been to before that we've now returned to. It is one of our favorite places.

It is said to be one of the most beautiful places in America and is a masterpiece of towering cliffs, deep red canyons, swirling rock, and massive monoliths.

We stayed at a campground in the park with a fantastic view of the majestic rocks, and the Virgin River just below us. Because we are Golden Eagle pass holders, we camp at half price -- $8 p/night. We took hikes every day. We loved seeing all the wildflowers, red rocks, water falls, water drops seeping through the rocks that were 120,000 years old.

Zion is high desert and cool at night, but was very comfortable during the day, except one afternoon/evening when the winds were ferocious. Gusts up to 65 mph; branches and sticks blowing everywhere, along with dust. We rescued one of the tents that was blowing across the campground, and we were more than happy to be enclosed in a camper! A couple of the evenings we did enjoy eating outside, though, with a great campfire. The stars were very bright.

The geology of Zion is very interesting -- about 2 billion years in the making. At times it was covered by the sea; at other times broad rivers traversed its surface; at still other times it was swept by desert winds with huge sand dunes. Rocks were consolidated into conglomerates, sandstones, shales, and limestones. Later, underground forces uplifted rocks more than 10,000 feet. The Virgin River worked its magic with erosion. Many of the cliff peaks were named by a Methodist minister, with religious references. The name Zion was coined by Mormons, a biblical reference of the "everlasting home." It felt like home to us.

The first photo was from our camp site. The photo with John in it is on top of a mesa we climbed with an overlook -- a "moderate" hike. The unbelievable site was rock climbers up steep vertical cliffs. We took the shuttle up the same path twice to see them. We counted 6 -- (not visible, but they're on the last photo--different sides of the cliff.) We can't wonder what motivates rock climbers for those life-threatening thrills!