Jeremiah 17:6
They shall be like a shrub in the desert and shall not see when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.
So, Michael says I am matter of fact in my posts. Maybe it is because I am behind in my posting. Our adventures have been wonderful so far. After we left Colorado, we made the long trek across southern Utah and Nevada. Our first stop along the way was Fruita Campground in Capitol Reef National Park. The campground was full, and we had a walk-in site which wasn’t ideal for our pop-up tent. This park is unique (for me) than other national parks as it not only showcases the natural beauty of the land but it also highlights the settlers of this territory. As with all national parks, dogs are not allowed on the trails so we were very limited in what we could do.The one trail we were allowed to go on went past a pasture with a foal and her mama. Sebastian wanted to herd and nip all at once. Michael asked my stepdaughter Gillian, what we should do in Torrey, Utah and she recommended Etta Place Cidery. I think that Utah should stick with cider over wine, because this cider was yummy. The cidery was right next to an RV park. During our tasting I was thinking, where would our ladder go in the parking lot between all the cars? We decided not to go back to the walk-in camp site and instead stay at the RV park, with showers and running toilets.
The next night was a better camping experience than the previous night. We camped at Grey Cliffs Campground in Great Basin National Park. Their were few campers in our campground, which is to my liking. Because we got to the campground early we put up our shade structure. We had some snacks and after supper Michael brought out his guitar and serenaded us. He doesn’t do that too often. Mostly because we get to the campsites near dusk and there is setup and dinner to do. But this was not the case on this night. It was so relaxing. The next morning we got in the car (again, National Park, no doggie walking) and drove the scenic road in the park and stopped at an overlook. From this overlook I could see why this park was so impressive. It is truly a great basin. Michael’s favorite tree. the Mountain Mahogany, was in abundance at this altitude. Michael was so excited about seeing the tree that he stopped another tourist to tell her all about the tree. Sebastian was just happy to be out of the moving car after so many left and right turns on our way up. This is probably my favorite Nevada place. I actually hope to never drive across Nevada again. Let’s just say, we saw the state through the eyes of the network of telephone polls. Yay.
The next night we were supposed to camp primitively in Tonopah, Nevada but the thought of being on scorched earth with barely any vegetation made me, let’s just say, very weirded out. So we kept driving. We avoided a major accident by circumventing the highway but this made us unable to get gas… so we decided to drive a few more hours, maybe one and a half hours, to the closest town with both a gas station and an RV park. The RV park received great reviews and we had a beautiful site, but it was right next to an armed forces rocket launch test site, the highway, and lots of people who like to set off aerial fireworks on the 17th of September. Sebastian did not have a great evening with all the loud booms, Michael didn’t have a great night because of the truck traffic on the highway, and I didn’t have a good night worrying about both of them. Even though the showers were nice, we opted not to shower until after our kayaking trip on Mono lake… stay tuned.
