Ramblin' in Utah, Part 3 - Capitol Reef, Goblin Valley SP, Starvation SP

Day 32 – April 24

Our ramblings through Capitol Reef brought us back to the Fruita Campground, site 53. We were quite entertained watching folks and their attempts to back or park their campers. We definitely saw some different hand signals!! We enjoyed an impromptu happy hour with three other couples.  We enjoyed visiting and reconnecting with Wayne Hanks who is over the orchards here in the park.  We met him in 2016 when we were camp hosts here.  It’s a small world.  Our volunteer time made us many acquaintances that we will always cherish! Ended the evening with a campfire and our new Lance camper friends.

Some of our other friends we met - the Robin

And the deer

Day 33 – April 25

It’s my birthday!  Ron went and got me a cinnamon roll from the Gifford House for breakfast. Yummy!  We did the campsite shuffle and I was wished happy birthday from our new friends.  So thoughtful of them.  

We drove up to Panorama Point as we can get cell service there. Then we headed down the Scenic Loop (which will be closing for road repair starting April 29 and will last until fall). It was a laid back kind of day. Ron grilled us some very tender T-bones for dinner. Wayne stopped by for another visit. He has such knowledge on these orchards. Had a little drizzle.

Fremont River

Really large cottonwood trees

Pretty orchards

Lilac, not only beautiful but very fragrant.

The colors!  The mountain and the lilac.

Wysteria

Big old cottonwood trees

Yep, birthday dinner!

Day 34 – April 26 – 27

Our last campsite move day. Back to Loop C, site 71. Not a bad spot.  By the way, we did put up our weBoost tower and I can’t say we had service, but we could do a little with the MIFI on and definitely weren’t in SOS mode. It’s cloudy and in the 50s with on and off again showers. We noticed there are baby apricots on the trees. And the few lilac trees here are just beautiful!

If you could only smell!

Baby apricots!

Sometimes when you look at these rocks and mountains here, it’s like there’s light from inside shining out. I envy the people who lived in the Fruita Valley and sustained a self reliant, agricultural lifestyle for decades. The park was established in 1937 and became a National Park in 1971.

Another lilac

Remnants of farming in the orchards

Apricot orchard

They do a lot of irrigating from the original irrigation put in by the Mormons.

Oh I think I see The Rambler through the orchard!

Saturday it started raining really early during the night. Was quite chilly – 34. Today is our last day here and we had planned to drive back to Torey to do laundry. When we got on the highway outside of the Visitor’s Center, while we had rain, others had snow!  And it was just beautiful to see!  Made for some special memories.

A little snow on The Castle

Driving to Torey

It wasn't freezing, so maybe all these blooms will be ok.

Just never experienced this place with a snow dusting!

Inside Gifford House, where you find cinnamon rolls and pies.

Kelly and Leslie - our Lance Camper friends. Will be in touch next summer to go riding in Colorado on the 4x4.

For lunch we had to go back to Capitol Burger food truck and try their macaroni and cheese hamburger with green chilies and a little bacon. We split one and it was OMG good!  Ron is making gumbo for dinner since it’s on the chilly side here.

We will be re-creating this!

We’ve had a good week here at Capitol Reef. But it’s time to move on!

Day 36 - April 28

We left Capitol Reef today for Goblin Valley State Park. We're hoping for dark, clear skies tonight but we're seeing a lot of clouds. We were here before in 2016 and camped in a tent.  The Milky Way was so bright you couldn't sleep. That was a great memory! We unloaded the bikes and rode to Valley 1 of the Goblins.  The stone gnomes inhabit the valley. It's a fun place.  Kids everywhere.  I just wonder where they get their schooling.  The hoodoos here were formed from sandstone erosion.  It's a cool, windy evening. Tonight it's fun to frolic with the goblins under the light of a million stars. 

The Three Sisters

Deep thoughts looking across the valley

The greeter Goblin

The Henry Mountains

I love the background of the snowy Henry Mountains

Goblins all lined up

A valley of Goblins!

The Rambler

Day 37 - April 29

So today we might call this a "Not paying attention type of day." Or "Another Learning Curve" day. So....I got up and turned the Keurig on and "pop" everything went dead. But wait.....we were boondocking. On day 6 of using a little generator and relying on 200 watts of solar that weren't always charging. Short story is that we're still learning about this Victron inverter and lithium batteries. I didn't think to check the amperage before kicking off that coffee maker. So the batteries shut down. But all is good now. We were able to get enough charge to get the generator going and raise the jacks and off to our next campground which has a horrible name.  Starvation State Park.  The best thing is we have an electric hook-up. And we're the only ones here. Not sure why unless it's the name lol. We're parked on a nice reservoir. But this evening the black clouds rolled in, stormy, super windy and cold. Welcome to spring! I should record the sound of this wind!!

Nobody here

As I conclude this post, the winds are howling and there's some sleet hitting the Rambler. Will let you know if the patch of pink we see on the radar gives us a pretty morning. I told Ron he might have to do away with this green shirt he has on because when he has worn it, it's been a challenging day. LOL.