On our way to Capitol Reef national park

April 29, 2009

Our dinner at Ruby’s Inn last night was awful. We got the all you can eat dinner to be safe, but it was bad food.

We left for Capitol Reef National Park at around 9 am. We stopped at three state parks: Kodachrome Basin, Escalante Petrified Forest, and Anazasi State Park. We will tour the Capitol Reef park tomorrow.

What struck us most about Kodachrome is the number of phallic-like structures in the landscape - huge and tall. We did a nice, short hike and then drove to Escalante Petrified Forest. We did a one-mile moderate to strenuous hike which brought us to actual petrified specimens. This is the first time I’ve seen petrified forest specimens and they look and feel exactly like minerals. One of the best still had the tree rings and the barks of the tree. Next was the Anazasi State Park…this was a small museum with small displays of actual diggings. The ones we’ve seen in New Mexico were more impressive.

For lunch, the lady at the Escalante Visitor Center suggested Giorgie’s at the town’s center. She was right about the place having good food. This was the first decent meal we’ve had after 2 days. I had taco and Dek ordered burrito.

The drive from Escalante to Capitol Reef via Highway 12 is truly scenic with a lot of winding miles. Nangangatog ang tuhod ko. At one point, both sides of the road dropped hundreds of feet below.

We’ve checked in at the Best Western Capitol Reef hotel and ate dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. Dek ordered pork chops (swine flu?) and that was good. My grilled trout was not good at all, so I gave that to Dek and ate half of his pork chops.

Why can't people offer good, simple food in these areas? Maybe some fast food competition would help. The only fast food I've seen so far is Subway. Maybe we'll eat there tomorrow.