On October 20, we moved out of Utah,  cut through Colorado, and camped for five nights in Farmington, New Mexico.   Farmington is a large city and we had to camp at a RV park.  Luckily we found a very nice one called Mom and Pops RV Park on the outskirts of town, the owner was very nice, handed out tons of info on the area sites, and had very clean, hot showers. The reason we picked Farmington was for the Sam's Club and other large stores to stock up on supplies and get prescriptions filled.
The first thing we did, on the recommendation of Pop, was make an appointment for the personal and free guided tour of the Bolack Wildlife Museum and the Bolack Electromecanical Museum.  These museums are privately owned by the Bolack family and open to the public by appointment only for no fee.   Very worth while.  Five Star.

Having fun in New Mexico!

October 15, we moved to another free BLM site near Moab, Utah, on Willow Creek Rd.   This area is very popular and tons of other campers were here, though there was lots of privacy.  This is the mecca for mountain biking in the spring and fall.  Nearby is Canyonland National Parks and Arches National Park.  Here are some views....

Bluff Fort is a reconstructed fort, built and maintained by the descendants of a group of  Morman pioneers.    What we enjoyed best was the fact that you could walk inside each cabin and the recorded voice from that families descendant would tell a family story.  It was a very large compound and there was no fee.  Four stars for this site.

I have many beautiful pictures of this fort and all the cabins, but I am going to show the ones with the handmade quilts.
Hope you enjoy this Mom!!!

If you ever get to go here, be sure to watch the film, very interesting.

We were near Blanding, Utah from October 10-15.  One of the side trips we did took us down the Mogi Dugway , stopping at the Natural Bridges National Monument and then to Bluff to visit Bluff Fort.

Bluff Fort continued in next posting.

On October 10 we left Capital Reef and Sleepy Hollow, and headed toward Blanding, Utah.  We found a boondocking campsite on Cottonwood Road ,
a National Forest Service Road with free dispersed camping.  There was one other camper there for the five days we stayed.  Around this area are many sites to explore with Ancient Indian Ruins as much as one thousand years old.

Miss everyone,  Barb & Dave

October 9.....The day before we leave this area we do one more hike.  Along the base of the mountain are very well preserved Petroglyphs from the Fremont Culture, created about 300 to 1300 CE. The modern-day tribes most closely related to the Reef Petroglyphs are the Hopi Tribe and the Pueblo of Zuni.
After following the path with the drawings, we came to the trailhead for the Hickman Natural Bridge.  This was even more interesting and challenging than the Tanks Hike. 

In case any one is interested, we talked to a couple from Ohio who were on a Southwest Tour.   They flew into Salt Lake City and were picked up in vans driven by  tour guides.  They stayed at hotels and toured the five Great Circle Of National Parks in Utah.  They were very , very happy with the tour and their guide who was personally knowledgable about the parks and tried to do different types of hikes each day.

October 8....As we near the main road, after exploring the Caineville Wash Road, we stopped at the restroom and then read the information board near by.  It tells us there is a designated open play area for Off Road Vehicles managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).  Since David and the boys used to love this sport,  we decided to check it out.  We drove on, north of the sign and found a huge staging area and then tons of tracks from dirt bikes that looked like they were going over the cliff.  We parked and walked to the end of the tracks.  They really were going over the cliff, between 500-700 feet almost straight down, along a ledge a mile long.  Below was miles of hills to ride.  I tried to get pictures that show how amazing this area is and how cool that the BLM  keeps a special place for those that love this sport.

Camp owner, Forrest told us about a scenic drive off of Hwy.24 south of our camp.   Very wild, one lane sandy road with great rock formations.
So this is another days adventure on October 8.

( Writing this from Cañon, New Mexico on Nov. 9. )

Nov. 9 is mom's birthday, miss you !!!

  Happy Birthday, 


                      Mother !

Here are some more pictures of the drives inside the national park 
on October 7.

The last three posts were all from one day of exploring the Reef.

October 7....At one point along the Great Gorge there is a trail up one of the mountain sides that lead to something called the Tanks.  What they are,  are pools of clear water sitting in indentations in the rock, two tenths of a mile up from the gorge floor and a gorgeous hike up to see them.  It defiantly felt like way more than two tenths of a mile, more like David trying to collect my life insurance!

October 7....Within the park, there is a three mile scenic drive that ends at a parking area to a trailhead through canyons called the Great Gorge and still more trails.
We walked one mile to the Tanks Trail that took you up the mountain side.  First I'll do pictures of the canyon then in the next post , the hike up to the Tanks.

All these different rock formations in just one mile, of course this is just a sampling of what we saw.

During our stay at Reef between October 5-10, we took many drives in various communities around the national park. 
Check out these properties, how would you like to come home from work to one of these views?

How was that?  Here are more pictures of the towns around the Reef , October 5-10.

I have more to cover of Reef, haven't even gone to the park yet.  Catch you next time.    Love to all,  Barb and Dave.

When we entered Zion, we were amazed; when we saw Bryce, we were breathless;  then there was Capital Reef...pretty much we needed CPR !!!

October 5-10....
Not only is the land in the national park unbelievable, but all the country side for miles around is just as spectacular.  City after city, built around and on beautiful rock formations. 

( Writing this from Jemez Springs Public Library, New Mexico, north of Cañon, on Nov. 6. )

On October 5, we came to the town of Torry, Utah, the closest town to Capital Reef National Park.  As you enter town there is a visitors center and in their driveway was a sign notifying us that Reef Campgrounds were all full.  We went inside to get information and the volunteer told us were some private campgrounds were located.  We decided on the one on the far side of Reef because it was close to an organic farmer who sold produce roadside.  We were very pleased with the campground and decided to stay there for a five nights and just drive back up to Reef.
This post is about Sleepy Hollow Campground in Caineville and the scenery right from our campsite.  
By the way, the farmers stand was fabulous, we loved the feta goat cheese and homemade pesto.  We went back on our last day and bought more to take with us.

October 5, we leave Bryce for Capital Reef National Park.  It is not that far away so on the way there we stop at Kodachrome to get pictures.  Even though we were only there an hour, I have some great pictures to share.

Here are some views from the many lookouts along the drive down scenic Road 19 in side Bryce NP. 

After lunch, we took a short hike to Mossy Cave.

This Raven was so tame, he stayed on the fence post while visitor after visitor walked up and took his picture.   See you all next time.

On Sept. 30, we followed  Highway 12 Scenic Byway to Bryce NP.  

While at the top, we hiked the one mile trail to view the Bristlecone Pines.

The next post will take us down the mountain and then another hike.