Happy Easter from Lake Powell

Had an easy 2 1/2 hour drive down US 89 from Panguitch to Lake Powell just north of Page, AZ on Thursday morning.
Got lucky at the Wahweap campground and got a site overlooking the lake.  A friend suggested when we arrive at a new campground to ask to look at the sites available rather than let them assign one sight unseen.  So far it's been working great (thanks David).  There is no one in front or to the right side of us so the view is amazing.  It got very windy this afternoon so didn't get out much.  We went to mass then had a great pizza at Stromboli's.
If the wind dies down we may rent a boat to cruise the lake tomorrow or Saturday.  More later....
Well the wind finally died down yesterday so we rented a boat and spent the day riding around the lake.  Well not the entire lake, it is over 100 miles long!  But we spent about 6 hours in the boat.  A beautiful sunny clear day on the water.  We explored a few canyons, had a picnic lunch on a nice remote beach and just enjoyed the day.  Very few other people on the water but I can't imagine the madhouse during the summer!  It would make 4 mile bayou look like a playground.  There are hundreds of houseboats for rent and quite a few private houseboats.  And I'm sure many people bring their fishing and skiing boats.
Today we will make Easter mass in Page then enjoy a lunch buffet at the lodge here at the campground/resort.  Then just enjoy the rest of the day while getting ready to drive over to Cottonwood and spend a week at Dead Horse State Park.

Happy Easter to everyone.

Panguitch, Utah

End of the road

Kids climbing out of the cave

Entrance from inside the cave

Inside the cave, about 3' high

We left Green River yesterday morning and drove to Panguitch.  I-70 had some pretty hard climbs and descents, a few times I was in 2nd gear and 35mph going up!  I talked to a guy at a rest area and he said before they built I-70 there was no way to cross this area of Utah.  We took US 89 south which was a very pretty drive.  We stopped by the Sevier river for a break.  The highway followed the river for a few miles, 40mph curves.  Then the valley opened up for a nice ride.  We arrived in Panguitch about 3pm and are at the HitchNPost campground right in town.  Panguitch is a small very clean pretty little town.  There are a bunch of small red brick houses that date from the original settlers in the late 1800's.
We walked into town and had a nice bbq dinner at Cowboys Smokehouse then walked back.
Had our first medical emergency last night!  Cindy had a crown pop out, so she went to the local dentist planning to wait until they could see her.  Left at 7:50 am and was back at 8:40am!  Pretty quick service.
This morning, after Cindy's impromptu dentist visit, we drove out to Cedar Breaks National Monument.  Which was still closed due to snow but we were able to see part of the formations from an overlook.  They were impressive with snow covering them.  We drove past Panguitch Lake which was still mostly iced up.  Then we drove out to Mammoth Cave which is a lava tube.  We climbed down and looked around, but decided not to crawl on our stomachs to see more of the cave.  There were 2 other families there and some of the kids crawled through about 1/2 mile to the other opening.
We then enjoyed a picnic lunch there.
All in all another enjoyable day in Utah with incredible scenery.
Tomorrow morning we leave for Lake Powell.

Back to civilization!

We've been at a BLM campground near Goblin Valley since Thursday afternoon.  The campground at Goblin Valley was full so we came here.  It's just a large fenced gravel parking lot with pit toilets.  But it's free and it's quiet, and it's a good chance to try out the solar panels.  There are about 10 other campers here, a lot have 4 wheelers to ride the area.  There are many BLM campsites around here.  If you take any dirt road there will be a couple or more campsites with fire rings.  One was really nice tucked in between some hoodoos.  The guy that was there camping with his family flagged us down looking for jumper cables.  We helped him get his truck started then visited for a bit.
Thursday after parking we went to see the Goblins.  Pretty bizarre place, you can walk through the valley amongst all these wierd hoodoos.  We spent a couple hours just walking around. 
Friday morning we hiked Little Wild Horse Slot Canyon.  Very nice hike, some of the areas were pretty tight, had to turn sideways, or lean over to walk through.  Not a place to be if it rains!
After lunch we drove out to Capital Reef.  It still amazes us how varied the terrain can be in Utah.  We drove along sandy areas with amazing formations in the background.  Then just after Hanksville the terrain changed again, and again, and again.  This area is world renowned for having the most different types of formations.  The drive is along the Freemont river in a narrow valley.  There are still fruit orchards from the early Mormon settlers all along the valley.  Very pretty with the fruit trees starting to bud out. 
On the way out we stopped at a tiny bakery/farm and bought some fresh whole wheat bread, some old (aged) cheese, and fresh greenhouse grown salad.  Just ate some of the bread and cheese, very good.
So far the solar panels are working great here in the Utah sun.  We're running the generator about an hour each night only to heat water.  Upgrading the water heater from a 1250 watt to a 2000 watt heating element has helped.  It cut the genny run time in about half.  In the morning the battery voltage is about 12.7, enough to make coffee.  Then once the sun hits the panels we're making power! 
Sunday afternoon we'll go into Green River to pick up groceries, mail cards, and make mass.  We decided to move to Green River for a couple days.  Tuesday morning we leave heading south toward Arizona.  I think we might take 89 down and spend a couple days at Lake Powell, then head into Flagstaff.
When we got here in Green River I noticed the old front tv seemed loose (it's in the overhead cabinets.  The plastic where it was attached has broken so rather than having it drop on the floor while we drive I just finished pulling it out.  (Why does stuff like this happen in the middle of nowhere?  We won't see even a Walmart until we get to Flagstaff)  So it's on the floor now until we can get another one, then rebuild the cabinet to hold a bracket to mount it.  Not a big job, just don't have any power tools with us.
Looking forward to having Scott, Bevi, and Ella come visit for a long weekend next month.  Yea!!!!