Adventures in Southern Utah

For as much as I still like blogging when I'm in the middle of it, I definitely haven't refound my groove yet.  And, for whatever reasons, trips are the things I most want to blog about and to make sure we have a record of, but they're also the hardest for me to write.  WE always take a gazillion pictures that are fun, but overwhelming to sort through.   And, unless I blog immediately after our trip, I tend to forget the details of it pretty quickly (hence why I want to blog about them in the first place).   So, there you have it and, now, here I am trying to piece together a trip we took 2 months ago.   

We've really missed being able to travel since COVID kicked in, so we decided that we needed to take advantage  while we were in Utah to see Emma and see some sites too.   After we went through the temple and spent some time with her, we took off for Southern Utah.  We'd already been to some of the National Parks, but, for as long as we've had connections in Utah, there was still a surprising amount we hadn't seen yet.   

Right after our trip, a friend told me that she was visiting Southern Utah soon and asked for some advice.  The rest of this blogpost will be our pictures, interspersed with the advice I sent her.  

Goblin Valley--
1. You only need an hour or two for this park, but it's totally worth the stop (especially with kids).
2. This is one of the best chances to get up close and personal with the hoodoos and we totally loved getting out and exploring amongst them. It's super kid friendly, it's also a great place to fly drones, watch the sunset, and stargaze (if the moon isn't full). 

  

Capitol Reef --
1. Stay in Torrey, Utah--it's very near the park, has great views, and is just a cute little town. The restaurants were a little pricey, but surprisingly good! We ate at Rim Rock and enjoyed it. We heard that Hunt and Gather was one that people drove from hours around to get to.
2. take a backcountry jeep tour to see Cathedral Valley--we LOVED getting off the beaten path to see parts of the park that would be hard to see otherwise. Kevin--our guide with Fremont Tours was so knowledgeable and a really good guy. We'd highly recommend this as a way to see the depths of Capitol Reef.
3. Stop and see the Petroglyph Panels. This was a super short hike and totally worth the stop.
4. Take the Scenic Drive through the park (only about 10 miles long) and then take the little side drive into Capitol Gorge. Capitol Gorge was soooooo pretty and one of our favorite parts of CR!

Highway 12 --
1. This is a gorgeous scenic byway that will lead you from Capitol Reef most of the way to Bryce Canyon.
2. There are lots of cool places you could stop between the two places (including Calf Creek Falls, Kodachrome Basin SP, Escalante, etc)



Calf Creek Falls Hike --
1. This was a moderately difficult hike (about 3 miles each way) mostly on sand. The ups and downs are about equal both ways. The falls and the views along the way are gorgeous and I'm sure your kids would have a hayday playing in the water at the falls (although it was quite cold)!
2. This hike was right on the way from Capitol Reef to Bryce Canyon. 

Escalante--
1. Okay, so we only passed through this little town, but the food truck we ate dinner at was sooooo good and I highly recommend it. It was called Georgie's Outdoor Mexican Cafe and everything we got was delicious (and it had good gluten free options if that's something important to you).


Bryce Canyon --
1. Stay in Panguitch, Utah--it's about 30 minutes outside of Bryce Canyon and has everything you need here. WE stayed at the Blue Pine Motel and were actually reasonably impressed with it. We don't normally stay at motels, but this was clean, had great reviews online, and was close to everything in town.
2. Bryce Canyon is a park you only need a day to explore. You can park at the Visitor's Center and take a shuttle to all the overlooks, but with kids it's probably easier to just drive and park at the different overlooks.
3. We really enjoyed taking about a 3 mile hike to get down into the canyon and see the scenery from a different viewpoint--we started at Sunset Point, then took the Wall Street trail to Navajo Loop to Queen's Garden and back to Sunrise Point. It's a lot of elevation change, but totally beautiful and worth the walk.

After that, we headed home and spent the last day or two visiting good friends....

Spending time with Nana...

Dropping by my Aunt Zina's house....

And cursing my new hiking shoes, which apparently are evil and don't work with my walking stride.  I had gotten them right before the trip and quickly discovered on our numerous hikes that one shoe somehow catches on the other and causes me to "almost trip" a lot.   Walking on a sidewalk near my parents' house, I went from "almost tripping" to falling flat on my face and I was not happy.  

I haven't worn the shoes again.

After all that excitement, we flew home and have been here ever since.   I imagine that someday we'll travel more regularly again, but for now, home is where it's at!  

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