Trip Report: The Perfect Family Trip!
EDIT: I wanted to add this link here at the beginning. Ragusa's Summer 2014 Trailer Hello friends! We have been home for two months, but I am just now feeling like getting to the trip repo...
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Capitol Reef
The drive from Bryce to Capitol Reef, on Hwy12, was a vacation in and of itself. Our favorite stretch of road for the entire trip! Wish we had time to stay in the area and explore a bit.
There was a grade about an hour before getting to Capitol Reef, that had the tranny temp see its highest! 232 degrees for about 10 minutes. I figure it was about a 10% grade and it was 95d outside (Just found a photo, it was 10%). The truck had no problem at all, except I was getting concerned about that tranny gauge. That was the only moment of the trip that was over 210d. 210d seemed where it would settle for typical 6%.
This was a roadside pull off on top of the mountain that got the temps up. Anyone recognize it? We stopped and made grilled cheese sandwiches and took a siesta from driving.
We had allowed for just one night here. That worked out fine for our energy level. We were fairly tired at this point, and used this as a "driving" visit. The park was stunning. We would plan 3-4 days if visiting again.
We camped in Fruita, right in the fruit orchards. Here's a buck finding a snack.
We spent our time mainly doing the unpaved roads of the park. We felt like big explorers. I felt like the driver of "Big Foot", until an old lady in a Prius came off the trail we had just done. LOL.
This road wound through a very tight canyon for an hour or so. Spectacular. We saw all sorts of rock formations, and some abandoned and boarded off uranium mines.
Here's a very complimentary drawing my son did of what I look like napping at camp. I don't see the likeness???
Here's a shot of the campsite. No power (no A/C) and highs in the mid 90's, we were barely escaping the lowlands in time. It was a bit uncomfortable sleeping for the next week of the trip. Of the 6 weeks, it was the only time this was a problem.
No pictures from our ranger program on the stars, but it was very informative and a stunning view. Again, the Milky Way doesn't pop out until nearly 11pm. It takes that long to get dark enough. But when it did, it really did! The ranger said that light pollution is about as good as it gets in the U.S. there isn't even a single red-light in the county.
Next stop, Goblin Valley and Arches...
The drive from Bryce to Capitol Reef, on Hwy12, was a vacation in and of itself. Our favorite stretch of road for the entire trip! Wish we had time to stay in the area and explore a bit.
There was a grade about an hour before getting to Capitol Reef, that had the tranny temp see its highest! 232 degrees for about 10 minutes. I figure it was about a 10% grade and it was 95d outside (Just found a photo, it was 10%). The truck had no problem at all, except I was getting concerned about that tranny gauge. That was the only moment of the trip that was over 210d. 210d seemed where it would settle for typical 6%.
This was a roadside pull off on top of the mountain that got the temps up. Anyone recognize it? We stopped and made grilled cheese sandwiches and took a siesta from driving.
We had allowed for just one night here. That worked out fine for our energy level. We were fairly tired at this point, and used this as a "driving" visit. The park was stunning. We would plan 3-4 days if visiting again.
We camped in Fruita, right in the fruit orchards. Here's a buck finding a snack.
We spent our time mainly doing the unpaved roads of the park. We felt like big explorers. I felt like the driver of "Big Foot", until an old lady in a Prius came off the trail we had just done. LOL.
This road wound through a very tight canyon for an hour or so. Spectacular. We saw all sorts of rock formations, and some abandoned and boarded off uranium mines.
Here's a very complimentary drawing my son did of what I look like napping at camp. I don't see the likeness???
Here's a shot of the campsite. No power (no A/C) and highs in the mid 90's, we were barely escaping the lowlands in time. It was a bit uncomfortable sleeping for the next week of the trip. Of the 6 weeks, it was the only time this was a problem.
No pictures from our ranger program on the stars, but it was very informative and a stunning view. Again, the Milky Way doesn't pop out until nearly 11pm. It takes that long to get dark enough. But when it did, it really did! The ranger said that light pollution is about as good as it gets in the U.S. there isn't even a single red-light in the county.
Next stop, Goblin Valley and Arches...