Finally, a recap of our 1-day-turned-into-4-days camping trip.

J-Man is in preschool 5 days a week, Bedge had a few days off from his hectic schedule and we close the gallery Tuesdays and Wednesday for some much needed down time so, we pulled J-Man from school, packed up a few items and hit the road.

We left Moab on Tuesday afternoon and headed south. Our plan was to camp one night on Boulder Mountain, eat at Hell’s Backbone Grill, do a little hike the next day and then head home.

We did all of that and more.

The day we left Moab we stopped in Capital Reef National Park. J-Man had never been there so that was another national park to add to his list of 13. Bedge remembered that they had orchards where you can pick your own fruit. I have always wanted to do that, so that was a bonus. Ripe delicious apples were waiting to be picked, a handful of pears were available and we snagged pretty much the last of the peaches. It was fun to use the fruit picker and fill up our bags. We paid $1.00 a pound for each fruit type. That’s quite the bargain.

 

One of the many orchards.

 

J-Man pickin’ his apples.

 

Our load of apples.

 

Who knew he had an orchard in Capital Reef?

 

After playing around in the orchards, we stopped by the visitor center where J-man came away with a book, once again, and Bedge photographed the incoming storm high above the sandstone pillars, we continued heading south.

We arrived at Hell’s Backbone Grill just in time for our reservations and filled our tummies with delicious local and organic entree creations and, of course, yummy desserts. If you ever have the chance to eat at Hell’s Backbone Grill you MUST do it.

After leaving the restaurant happy and content we made our way into Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument to camp for the night.

If you missed Tuesdays recap of that evening feel free to read about the Crazy, Creepy and Interesting All-In-One.

Believe it or not and to my surprise I didnt’ have a single nightmare. Whew!

The next morning we had breakfast at camp, packed things up and made the decision to stay another day and camp another night. We had no plan, no itinerary and no reservations. We began driving south, referencing our Atlas and discussing our options of what we should do for the day and where we should camp. We made a pit stop at a convenience store in Boulder, UT to stock up on some extra snacks and get gas.

 

Breakfast at camp.
(Details about this delicious caffeinated drink in the near future.)

 

J-Man practicing his navigation skills.

 

Short side trip through a canyon so Bedge could photograph.

 

 Leavin the Monument and we never leave without a family snap shot in front of the sign.

 

Our travels continued south passing an out in the boony’s drive-in. Yeah, the old fashion drive-in type where you sit in your car and watch a movie on the big screen. Who would have ever known such a thing existed in the middle of nowhere? That is one thing I love about road trips. Coming across the most random things. We stopped to get details but it was closed for a private party. Apparently other’s know about the Shooting Star Drive-In, except us. We also discovered that it is not just a drive-in, but also a place where you can rent Airestream trailers for the night. How crazy is that? We grabbed a brochure and Bedge wants to go back.

 

The Drive – In.

 

Airstream nightly rentals.

 

After that little discovery we made our way to Devil’s Garden -sandstone formations and arches located down a dirt road on the way to the famous Hole in the Rock. It was pretty hot with temps in the mid 90′s so we cut our visit there short. Considering that we were in the middle of nowhere there were a lot more people touring around than I expected to see. Bedge informed me that we were doing part of the popular Grand Circle.

 

Arch in Devil’s Garden.

 

This little guy showed us how tough he was with his push-up routine.

 

Cool sandstone formations.

 

Of course he scrambled up the backside and through the hole.

 

 

Visitors from around the world come to Utah for the Grand Circle, which takes you through all 5 Utah National Parks, as well as, the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Mesa Verde and Lake Powell. We were on a portion of that route.

Our next stop…

Check back tomorrow for the finale of our our 1-day-turned-into-4-days camping trip.

 

 

Do you like taking road trips? What is the most random thing you have seen during your travels? Have you ever hit the road with no plans or reservations?