Sharon ordered a veggie mole tortilla. It was a tortilla covered with potatoes, sautéed onions and other veggies covered with another tortilla and then covered with their homemade mole with avocado slices on top. It came with a salad with homemade blue cheese dressing. A pretty good meal.
Peter ordered trout with pines nuts in a wine sauce and rice, and he chose soup instead of salad…potato jalapeno. The soup was good but the fish was overdone and the rice underdone. Meh.
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It got dark as we ate our meal, and several bats had replaced the hummingbirds outside the windows. The lights attract moths and other bugs, and the little bats were taking full advantage. Very fun to watch.
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We were tired as we finally hit the tent. It was much warmer than we’re used to so sleeping was restless, especially after Peter got a cramp in his thigh. The campground was just settling down when a late arrival in an RV proceeded to spend the next hour and a half trying to back their camper in and set up camp. Glad we were a bit away from them…so rude…didn’t even try to be quiet...loud in fact. We may be from New York but live in the middle of 50 acres and canoe camp in
our own 6 million acre park, The Adirondacks. Neighbors aren’t something we’re used to…especially when camping.
Friday, 8/31
Friday, 8/31
Woke up at 7, made a strong pot of coffee while we broke camp. We left our lightweight double sleeping bag available to cover the two coolers to help preserve the ice in the hot car. We used the sleeping bag this way for the whole trip and it really helped…especially when we’d leave the car locked up in the sun while we hiked.
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We went east on Rt. 24 through the high red cliffs of the east side of Capitol Reef with the river gurgling beside the road in places. The lushness dissipated as the river turns away from the road and we entered the strange bentonite hills. Not much grows on the purple and brown mounds that make up this otherworldly landscape. Grey and brown cliffs line the way to Hanksville with a ranch every once in a while where the river was in the distance.
We went as far as the old uranium mining area and read the placards in the parking lot.
As we were driving back to the main road, Peter spotted a pictograph on the left side of the canyon. We pulled in for some photos. Pictographs are ancient rock art painted in multi colors on rock.
We found some German or Ukranian campers at the base of the cliff…they seemed aloof. We took our pictures and left
Back to the highway and on north to I-70 with the Waterpocket Fold rising up to the west of us.
The cliffs rise to great heights as the river cuts through the landscape. This is the Colorado River and it still has a long way to go and many canyons to carve on its journey to the Gulf of Mexico.
We were impressed with all the campgrounds and campsites along the river. There seemed to be a lot of vacancies considering it was Labor Day Friday.