Day 5 - Capitol Reef National Park

Elmer had me up and going about 7:45AM.  It was about 65 degrees this morning! That did not last too long however.

Still a few miles to go before getting to the Park.

The visual end of the road in the above shot is something like 7 or 8 miles in the distance.  I measured a few of these long straight stretches from the time I crested a hill until I hit the next hill and they ranged from 5 to 10 miles...well you gotta do something until you get to the Park entrance.

One of the first things we came to was this exhibit which discusses the abandoned uranium mines that were in the area.  The greyish line of rock contained traces of uranium.  Its hard to see in the picture but there are two mine openings that were visible but had iron gated doors on them, the yellow arrows show where they are.  

We got to the Visitor Center and there were only a few people so I paid my fee and got a Senior Annual pass that will get me in to any other National Parks for a year for $20, what a deal!  I took the Fruita Scenic Drive and a few of the off shoots along it.  These two first shots are along the Grand Wash road.

You become overwhelmed by the different formations of rock, how they crumbled in some places and not in others.  You can see the layers of sediment and soil that made up the structures over millions of years.

After about 10 miles or so we hit the end of the Park maintained dirt road where there was an old homestead.  Imagine trying to live here!

Elmer wanted to know ... "IS THIS THE HOTEL???"

Back to some shade in the camping area near the Visitors Center for a light lunch and then off toward Moab UT

As you leave the Park on Utah 24 East the countryside continues to open up more and more...

Somewhere along the drive to Moab the cellular service kicked back in and a notice came up on the phone (its my navigation system) that said both Susan and Steven had called.  I pulled over at this structure which had a fence topped with barbed wire but no signs or information about it.  It as "middle of nowhere" as anyplace I've been but it had 2 bars of cell service!

After the phone calls there were still a couple hours of driving....you've seen it before...:)

...but then...it got more exciting.  I was driving across some wide open plains areas and it was very windy.  I could feel it buffeting the Jeep.  In the distance it seemed to be hazy brown.  

..hmmm...

...OK this isn't fun anymore...

...so I had my lights on high beams, my fog lights on and my blinkers on...

..but "the Sun will come up tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow"...

I arrived safely in Moab UT around 3PM.  What is it with these towns that decide to tear up the middle of the streets???  It was 65 degrees this moring in Richfield UT and when I went to get dinner it was 105 degrees in Moab!  Dinner was take out Pad Thai from Arches Thai.  I could have eaten outside on their patio, but thought the wiser course was to take it back to the hotel. 

By the way, if you were wondering how I get the dashcam photos while it says I'm doing 65 MPH, there is a voice command I say to take the picture.  If the camera is not the dash cam, I have pulled over to the side of the road or into a turnout.  Tomorrow will be exploring Arches National Park and/or Canyonlands National Park.  I'll decide tonight but will be staying in Moab again tomorrow night.  See you in the next blog.