Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon

Outside Arches Ntl Park on the way to Canyon Reef

Driving toward Capitol Reef was more unbelievable scenery as seen in the photo above. We drove for miles and miles through landscape that changed every few miles. 

Boondocking . . .

Our boondocking site outside Canyon Reef

Sunset at our boondocking site

Sunrise from our little piece of heaven

It was late in the day when we arrived and  the campground at this canyon was full, but the ranger told us of a nice free spot located just up the road. We pulled off the road at mile 73 on  Hwy 24  and spent the night among the beautiful red rocks with a fabulous sunset and sunrise. Although Guy spent the whole night trying to keep us warm with running the generator for our little portable heater. We were afraid to use the propane since we didn't know what was wrong with it and have not found anywhere to have it looked at as yet. Although the temps had to get down to freezing as folks had ice on their windshields this morning I think I would have been fine under our warm cover. 

We didn't back track the few miles to Capitol Reef and instead opted to head on down the road to see Bryce Canyon National Park.

Moo-ving on down the road . . .

Cows in Dixie Ntl Forest crossing the road

Aspens and Cows in Dixie Ntl Forest

From Dixie Ntl Forest into Escalante

Escalante Creek Trail

As we rode thru the Dixie Forest area we had sightings of cows everywhere on the road and in the forests. When you see signs that say "open range" I guess they mean cows crossing the roads and no fences. We had to drive really slow around this area as the cows would just pop up out of nowhere and cross in front of you. The scenery kept changing from forests to towering red and white monoliths. Each turn bringing something new to our eyes. So many of the photos I'm showing are from our moving RV. There were many places that you could not pull off the road or we would come upon a photo op out of the blue. I kept my little camera at my side and stayed busy snapping photos as Guy drove. Riding along the top ridges with steep cliff dropoffs that would scare the most seasoned traveler.

Bryce Canyon ahead . . .

We are getting close to Bryce Canyon

We have arrived

Upon entering Bryce Canyon we spied a few deer on the side of the road and stopped at Sunset Point which was really crowded with numerous buses and cars. We had a little trouble finding a spot to pull into. A grand sight was to be had once we parked and walked up to the rim of the canyon. A ranger was giving a very interesting lecture on the geology of the canyon and we stopped to listen for a few minutes. We later stopped at Inspiration Point which was also a nice overlook as well.

Sunset Point in Bryce Canyon Ntl Park

Ranger giving geological presentation

Me and Bryce

Inspiration Point in Bryce Canyon

Driving thru a Tunnel outside of Bryce Canyon

A perfectly round mesa outside of  Page, AZ

Arizona Bound . . .

We chose to bypass Zion to get into Page AZ hoping to find someone to look at our propane tank. Not knowing the Page area I had hoped to find another boondocking site, but we ended up at Page Lake Powell Campground. It wasn't on the water, but it was clean with great laundry facilities which we needed. The spots were rather short where they placed us and Guy was tired and backed into another rig who drove behind us as we were attempting to get parked in our spot. I can blame us for being tired, but I also think the other fellow played a part in it as well. Normally if we see someone trying to maneuver into their site we hold back and respectfully let them continue. Luckily, Guy with his expert knowledge of handling furniture repairs, was able to buff out the damage to the other rig owners satisfaction so we didn't have to use our insurance. Our bike rack was not hurt and his rig only had a superficial scratch to it. Sorry no photos from this incident.

At least we managed to get some laundry done here and met some very congenial folks - a couple from SC and another couple of German's from Chicago. The Chicago couple had just returned from a week long trip on a large houseboat down Lake Powell. They were so excited as they told us all about their trip. Sounds like a great trip, but I'm sure that was not cheap. They shared the boat with 3 other couples. Would be the only way to go!

San Francisco Peaks

Great Propane Business outside of Flagstaff, AZ

Moving on down the road toward Flagstaff to find a propane business to fix our tank we passed San Francisco Peaks and came upon Graves Propane just outside Flagstaff. I highly recommend this place. They give service extraordinaire and had us going in no time at all. Seems the last person to fill our tank stripped the gasket out. Had we known this before, we could have fixed it, but we are still  new at traveling in an RV. We now have a new problem - someone along the way took two lug nuts off our back tires, one from each side. Guess they didn't want us losing our tires. And we are finding out that lug nuts for our RV are hard to find. Can't get them at Camping World or any of the Trucking places. We will see where this adventure takes us.