Capitol Reef Gets No Love—

I know it's been a few days, but we returned home and had to unpack and remember, I've been "gone" for close to a month now. So needless to say there was a lot of stuff to catch up on.

We packed up Saturday morning and headed to Torrey, Utah, which is 1) just outside Capitol Reef National Park and 2) is in the area I'm setting the next story I've got in mind. I am a little bit familiar with the area because of a Carriage Drivers Campout I went on with my buddies a few years ago but my family did not accompany me on that excursion so they were newbies.

Unlike the other parks which mostly go down in elevation because you are on the top, Capitol Reef rises up out of the ground to breathtaking heights as you drive along the highway. We stayed at an RV park in Torrey that is adjacent to the plateau rising at the base of Thousand Lakes Mountain. It's very impressive. No little foothills, no pre-curser to what you are about to hit, just wham! Wall. You can see where the mesa sides have crumbled and formed little "ramps" of rock leading up to the face.

Now, let me tell you the weaksauce part; we've been to Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Zion, and even the north rim of the Grand Canyon, but this? This is fabulous and it was virtually empty! And even worse this was one of three "Freebie Weekends" the government had to promote the national parks system. Most years there is only one free weekend. So even on a free weekend, Capitol Reef can't get no love.

Sad.









Anyway, I have to go and run errands now. I need to get some "real" writing done, not just my blog stuff (no offense but nobody's ever gonna want to publish this blog… few people are reading it these days anyway, so— ) and I have to come up with a costume for Saturday since I'm helping Ro do a gig at a senior's center and the theme is pirates.

Argh! PIRATES!!!