Torrey, Utah
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Torrey,
Utah,
United States
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Happy Father's Day!
Sunday has been our day of rest. We did tour Capitol Reef National today. We left at about 9:00 a.m. and it was already 90 degrees in the park. There are, again, many walking trails, but neither of us were up to them in the heat. Capitol Reef has an excellent scenic drive which we took. Ten miles out and ten miles back. There are signs everywhere telling you not to go into this area if rain is threatening. After seeing many washes, we can see why. The washes (gullies) are huge and you can see where flash floods have torn away at the edges of the bed and roadways. Also, they said even a 1/4 inch of rain in this area can produce flash flooding.
It's been interesting traveling to different parks and seeing the same people. We all are on the same schedule by a day or two. We've taken pictures of people together as a favor...two days later we see them at another park and they've taken our picture together.
Capitol Reef has an exquisite set of petroglyphs. Some were destroyed in 1952 in a rock slide, but those that remain are fantastic. Vandals have ruined some of them. I think there will be a special place in Hell for those individuals who dare destroy history like that.
This area of Utah had some of the first settlers. They liked this area because it was nestled between the mountains, had the Fremont River flowing through it and was a very hospitable climate for growing fruit. Fruit trees still are maintained in this area, as are the original dwellings, blacksmith shop, etc. of those early settlers.We saw some trees that were hundreds of years old. Joe paced off the base of one and came up with about 30 feet around at the base. The bark was a gnarled bark. There weren't any signs (or rangers) to tell us what kind of tree it was.
After walking the petroglyph trail, my face was beat red and we retreated to the car, the a/c and back to our hotel. A quick bite of lunch in our room and the rest of the afternoon we were at the pool, hot tub, reading and resting. It was much needed.
Supper tonight was out at a hamburger joint...supposedly the best around. I didn't agree with that evaluation, but it was food and tasted okay.There's only about five restaurants in town, two very, very expensive and three cafes. We've been eating b-fast and lunch in and going out for dinners. We're trying to save some of Andy's inheritance $$ for him by eating in! NOT!
Tomorrow is a huge driving day. From Torrey to Moab, we figure it will be well over 200 miles. The good news is after a short drive (in Utah miles that's about 50), we are on two main highways which look relatively straight. We should be able to drive the speed limit which is 75!
The most expensive gas we've seen was $4.29; however, Joe's friend from G.R. that he ran into in Torrey said he paid over $4.50 in Moab, $5 in Page, AZ. We'll see when we get there. Tomorrow is driving and then Arches National Park. Stay tuned for more...
