We let the boys sleep in and had a leisurely bowl of cereal and cup of coffee. (the extent of the "included continental breakfast" that seemed appealing). I'm not into white toast and the fake, chemically "Light and Fit" yogurt, and that was the total menu. The kids have been good sports and deserve a rest.
Capitol Reef reminds me of Moab, Utah from last year's trip with Jeanne, and Chris reminded me it's probably because we're only 200 miles away on the same plateau. There is a small rock formation that looks like the US Capitol building and early settlers thought the cliffs were as dangerous as coral reefs are to sailors, hence the park's name. The cliffs also look like underwater sponges in places.
Walking home from the restaurant last night, I encountered a two foot gopher snake slithering across the asphalt. Of course my yelling and crying were fodder for the 3 guys to scare me with fake hissing and jokes the rest of the evening. They finally stopped once I threatened to hide their cell phones. But Jackson enjoyed surprising me with a stuffed snake in the gift shop, and I saw one wrapped around an apple tree in an orchard, so I kept expecting another one to greet me all day.
This morning we started with the most difficult hike, a one mile (one way) scramble up some cliffs mixed with a sandy path leading to Hickman Bridge. The "bridge" is a skinny rock formation that looks like an arch to non-geologists like me. It took 2 hours round trip and the views were stunning.
After what felt like off roading in the Jeep over a couple of miles of switchbacks, we surprised the kids with a stop at one of the orchards in the Fruita historic district. Apples and plums looked tempting but were not ripe. We picked about 10 peaches and they were sweet as sugar. They finished up their junior ranger activities after we stopped to see the Petroglyph Panels and had lunch. We're down to peanut butter and jelly today. Chris and Kyle were thrilled; Jackson and I, not so much.
After lunch we hiked through Capitol Gorge, really a wash/dry riverbed with high walls marked with both petroglyphs over 1000 years old, and "pioneer marks" (graffitti) dating back to 1892. We found some blocked off uranium mines from the Cold War era, and surprised the kids again with fresh tart cherry and strawberry pies topped with homemade ice cream at the historic Gifford House.
Honestly, today was the hottest and dustiest, and by 4 pm, I looked forward to a shower and dinner. Had the best dinner of the trip at Diablo Cafe, where we tried the M-80 habanero croquettes and rattlesnake cakes in a garden setting. Take that, scary snake!
I love Park City, but I'm not looking forward to driving back tomorrow...this means our vacation is ending and back to work/school. We'll try not to think about it...let's watch Michael Phelps win his 4th gold and forget about that while we can.
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