Capitol Reef

We woke up early to head to Capitol Reef from the Grand Canyon, it is a 6 1\2 hour drive and to save us an hour the GPS took us on this really scary potion of road that went up a butte, the road was narrow, gravel, and it had hard sharp switchbacks and no guardrail along the side. I was so nervous I had to close my eyes and deep breathe, Scott thought it was great! 

That drive was so interesting, the terrain was desert with red rock formations all around us, we didn’t have cell service for about two-three hours and there was hardly anyone on the road. There was no services or bathrooms for about 4 straight hours. Luckily I had snacks and about an hour before Capitol Reef we stopped in a tiny town which was close to the turnoff to Lake Powell and we were able to have lunch at about 2 in the afternoon.  There were a lot of RVs and boats and people in lake attire there. When we finally had cell service a text message came through from dad saying, “ What are you doing in Nevada?” Then a voicemail message asking the same thing, for some reason the google tracker that dad was following of my phone said that we were close to Reno.  I assured him we weren’t and then it showed up that we were in the right spot.    We drove to our Air B n B first and checked in with Bob, he is an old timer with a hunchback and limp, but he was genuinely nice and he had the fridge and pantry stocked with food and treats for our family and he told us to help ourselves. Then he left the property and told us to call him if we needed anything. The house from the outside looked a bit rough and Scott and I were looking at each other like what did we get ourselves into. But inside was nice, tile floors, a full kitchen and living area with two queen beds and a separate bedroom with another queen bed. Another plus was the large bathroom with a washer and dryer. It was very well kept and very clean. We started laundry, brought in our stuff then drove to the visitors center of Capital Reef. It was closing for the day just as we got there, but luckily they had maps outside the building and I had already researched which hikes I wanted to do. 

We started off on the hike called Cohab Canyon, it had switchbacks at first but then led into a canyon with little slots and holes the kids explored in, it was in the shade too since we were in a canyon and it was later in the day. The kids had a great time climbing around. 

After that hike, we took the scenic drive and it felt like we were driving through Radiator Springs in the movie Cars. 

We then did a shorter hike called Pioneer Register or Tanks where you can see where pioneers carved their names in the red rock some as old as 1811.  

We were losing daylight after the hike so we headed back to the house and we ate some of the snacks and fruit that was left for us, which was so nice because we were too tired and dirty to go to a restaurant. Everyone showered, the kids went to bed, and Scott and I finished the laundry and were asleep by 11:00.