It’s a beautiful morning this morning. The wind stopped – it didn’t bother us overnight at all. In fact we had a great sleep.

We got ourselves cleaned up and packed up and went to breakfast. No, I didn’t have a Navajo Taco, or Warrior Surprise – which is a Navajo Taco with an egg on top. I had The Navajo, a Blue Corn Pancake. It was great. And by the way, the service in the restaurant continues to improve with each visit.

At the same time, the prices in the trading post (other than food) are quite high even for the ‘cheap’ stuff.

After breakfast we mailed a postcard to Chloe and Evelyn, gassed up and hit the road. And again by the way, today is Evelyn’s Birthday! Two Years old.

The trip home was routine – an easy drive. There was smoke north of Flagstaff and all the way to Cameron, but there was little traffic the weather was great.

We went directly to Changing Hands Bookstore at 3rd Ave and Camelback, primarily to find a few things to bring to Chloe and Evelyn. And we found they have quite a bit, good quality and reasonable pricing. We also shared a tuna melt – this place, along with the adjacent Southern Rail Restaurant – is wonderful. I wish it were closer.

Then the drive straight out Camelback, with a pause to buy coffee beans and gas. Home really looked good.

It has been a great trip. We are happy campers even though we didn’t camp out at all on this trip.

This will be the last entry in this journal. Thanks for reading.

Had a great sleep – the location is very quiet and the temp with the window open was perfect. No A/C!

Up around 7 – showered and packed up by 8. We went back to Capitol Reef Inn & Cafe where we ate so well last night, and breakfast was equally good and a good deal too.

Stopped for gas – a bit on the high side for this trip. Then we headed out on Utah route 12. We really want to repeat the trip down the hill that we did last year. It was really exciting, and Julie drove it. Today I’ll drive it – the only difference is we know what to expect – last year it was a bit of a surprise.

The drive on 12 is really pretty – lots of great vistas. It goes up to about 10K feet, but it’s so gradual that you hardly notice. But when it starts back down, it goes down – fast. And narrow. There’s one spot where the road has severe drop offs on both sides. It’s exciting. I enjoyed every second.

After that, when we got to Henrieville, we realized we had a choice of routes. We could take the same route we have used previously a time or two, or we could take a dirt road across Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument – about 45 miles, and saves about 30-40 minutes (maybe). Of course we chose the different route, dirt road and all.

And it worked out the be a great choice. Yes, it was dusty and bumpy, and occasionally the road conditions caused a little concern, but the drive was really cool and the scenery was great. We didn’t see many other cars until almost the end. I recommend the drive, as long as conditions are absolutely DRY. This road is not passable in wet conditions.

We stopped in Page for ice cream. And then on down 89 to Cameron. I haven’t been on 89 out of Page for quite a while – it is quite a downhill run – drops 1000 feet in no time.

Julie drove us to Cameron (from where we entered 89 above Page). We checked in – I had to call Doug to send me a picture of my AARP card! – and our room is great. The wind is really up, and it’s around 100 degrees. We won’t be exploring outside this afternoon.

Soon enough we were in the dining room ordering our Navajo Taco. And it was great of course. We topped it with a sopapilla. Wonderful.

Now we’re back in the room, ready for Rummicube. I was the champ last night – what’s in store tonight???

Leaving Vernal this morning. I slept almost 11 hours!

Julie checked out the breakfast area. It’s a negative. Coffee isn’t good either.

So we used Maps to locate breakfast and coffee, and wow did we get lucky!

First was breakfast at Betty’s – and it was wonderful – especially mine. I got the breakfast special with ham. It took me a long time to decide between bacon, sausage and ham, but ham it was. And what a good decision. This was a huge ham steak, as good as any ham steak I have ever had. I ate every bit. The sunny side up eggs were great too, and the potatoes were nicely cooked and flavorful. Can’t say that the biscuit and gravy was great, but it was good. I’m still stuffed!

And we stopped for coffee – there is no Starbucks here anymore – at Brew and Beans – and the coffee was excellent. We both enjoyed ours for about an hour while driving down the road.

The drive today was uneventful. There were a bunch of nice scenic views – again we didn’t stop for any, just enjoyed motoring on through. And the route to Teasdale is very rural. We picked up some food just to be sure we had something to eat.

Did I mention the car has been perfect? Well, except that there seems to be a battle brewing between the cars’ entertainment system and my iPhone. But we’ve been listening to Sirius Deep Tracks all the way and the music is great, and now that I can use Google Maps with the system that’s good too. – Much better than the built in GPS, which still has all of the problems with searching and updating that GPS systems had 20 years ago. Much better to use Google Maps or Apple Maps – even the maps are better!

So we got to Teasdale. There’s no cell service, and I have not written down enough info to find our room. To make a long story short, we backtracked about 5 miles to cell service, I got on AirBnB and found the info needed, and we headed back – we had passed right by the ‘motel’. So we checked in – easy – Linda just handed me the key.

The place is nice, clean, and located on a working farm. Nice scenery too. It’s warm today – about 90 I think – but it’ll be window open tonight I’m sure. There are supposedly nice restaurants in Torrie – about 6 miles away – and if we are hungry (breakfast still filling me up!) we will probably mosey over there to check.

We checked out Torrie. There are several places to eat, and the road has trees! It was very nice driving. We picked the most expensive place in town, checked out the menu, and decided to eat elsewhere. It would be a fine place to eat if we were truly hungry, but we both wanted to go ‘lite’.

We went back to the Capitol Reef Inn & Cafe, and the food was good, plentiful (too much) and inexpensive, plus they had a nice gift shop. I had a Pina Colada with rum and a Primavera Alfredo with chicken. The prices were incredibly low! And the food was excellent – and the quantity was too much to finish. I was so stuffed I couldn’t order the $5 Hot Fudge Sundae!

And the shop had a lot of interesting things. We didn’t buy the nice traveling bags, or the woven strip for the dining room table or any of the pottery or woven bowls. But Julie did buy a ceramic gecko for me for our patio. It was really inexpensive also.

Now we are back at the room. This building is fairly new, and the room is nicely appointed. We like the room a lot. And there is an almost full moon tonight. It’s going to be a nice evening. We met our neighbors, from Kentucky, and they seem cool. Three ladies traveling to an Essential Oils conference and making a road trip from Reno.

Tonight I’m going to win a RummyCube game, starting now.

Ok, Ok. It’s Monday evening. I’m late. Sorry.

Sunday was quite a day. We didn’t have a long drive and could take our time.

We had breakfast in Afton at the same restaurant where we had dinner – we think it’s probably the nicest place in town. My French toast was fine, but the coffee wasn’t much. Julie had problems with her breakfast – goopy eggs (returned and done right the second time), potatoes not crisp, lousy coffee. It wasn’t a great breakfast.

And we hit the road. The drive to Vernal was through Flaming Gorge. We found no place along that entire route to buy a decent cup of coffee. But the scenery was great. However we didn’t stop to view any of it, choosing instead to look as we traveled. Not that we were in a hurry, but we just didn’t stop at any overlooks.

The trip was capped off with a big rainstorm at the top of the hill before dropping down into Vernal, followed by a long s-l-o-w trip down the hill behind a long line caused by a slow tractor trailer hauling a large cable dispenser down the mountain. That took about 20 extra minutes just crawling down the hill.

We’ve been to Vernal many times. This time we stayed in a motel on the east side of town (again), but closer to town than before. It was still remote and industrial and on a major highway so there was noise. Not a great choice, and next time in Vernal we will stay on the west side. Promise.

Also, there’s really not much to do in Vernal. Especially on Sunday. Very Morman.

But the best restaurant in town, Plaza Mexicana, is open, and we went there for a great meal. We each had a Chicken Tostada, and it was huge and excellent. And we had the house margarita. Both were more than we could handle – but it was a great and very fast meal. If you’re ever in Vernal, eat there. You won’t regret it.

Back a the room we essentially crashed. Yes, it was early – around 8, but we were very tired somehow.

That was the day in a nutshell. No pics. Just a regular travel day.

This morning I was awakened by the alarm clock in the room at 6am. That was fine, but I didn’t set THAT alarm, I set my phone for 6:30. What a surprise. Well, I was up, so may as well get moving.

Which we did. We really didn’t have much repacking to do, so we just got ourselves travel ready and went to the dining room for our included breakfast. And the breakfast was excellent. Julie had to send the first eggs Benedict back for goopiness, but the next try was excellent. We left the dining room very well satisfied.

And we rather quickly got packed up, loaded into the car and gassed. Then we started up the hill. BearTooth Pass that is. We have ridden BearTooth many times, so it isn’t a surprise exactly, but it is just an incredible road with unbelievable views.

I’m not going to try and describe all of the wonderful things we saw today. Mother Nature at her finest. If there were a God it should be proud. The weather was perfect, the temperature, the sky, the clouds, everything. After BearTooth pass it was back down, through Cooke City and into Yellowstone, where the wonderment just continued. And added in were animals. Many, many Bison. An elk. A bear.

Lots of very slow tourists. And more natural beauty than should be present on this earth. It was a slow drive, as expected, but once again it was simply amazing. I will never tire of Yellowstone, or the Grand Canyon, or any of the fantastic natural places I have been.

And after Yellowstone we went directly into Grand Teton NP, which is more of the same. I love those Teton’s and all of the beauty that surrounds them.

Then through Jackson Hole and down to Afton, WY. There were many parts of this ride that were wonderful as well.

In Afton we easily found our AirBnB – Afton is a small place, but growing. We got a little settled in and went out to find dinner. Today was our longest drive of the trip – a little over 8 hours – and we were beat and hungry. We found a steakhouse – probably the premier eating spot in town – and had a very nice meal which I topped with a Hot Fudge Sunday. Um. Um. Good. Stuffed (again)

And that brings us back here to the AirBnB – we just finished a nice talk with Wendy and Alan, and now we have brought our journals up to date.

Goodnight.

Today I had toast with blueberries for breakfast. Jan is taking good care of me with breakfasts.

And today the focus is on our trip to Tippett Rise. We are going in separate cars, and staying at the Pollard after (!), and Julie and I will head home from Red Lodge while Cap and Jan head back home.

The trip to Tippet Rise was easy and we were there with plenty of time to spare. We took the (leftover) chicken sandwiches into the dining hall, purchased drinks and enjoyed the rest of last nights chicken. It was still great.

We still had a few minutes before our tour started, so we looked at a couple of the art exhibits in close proximity. Then up to the solar array to start our tour. There was a bit of a mixup – too many people showed up for our bus – but it was quickly handled. Nancy took us on a very nice tour of all of the art on the 12,000 acre working farm. I’m not going to try to describe any of it – read about it – it is fascinating.

After the two hour tour we went to hear a talk about the upcoming music event. It’s chamber music. The pianist of the trio described the trio, how it formed 28 years ago, and the music to be played tonight. He was very interesting. And we got an extra unexpected talk with the artist who designed the latest piece, The Xylem Pavilion, by Francis Kere of Burkina Fasco. Francis was amazing. Read about him – he is a globally acclaimed architect. And his description of the Pavilion, it’s concept and how it was created and built, was just fascinating.

Then we had dinner – it was a pretty nice menu, and the food was excellent. I had a beef bbq with Mac and cheese. It was very yummy and very filling.

And then to the concert. What a great venue, and it was packed – probably about 300 people. Maybe more. And the music was simply wonderful. A great concert. Again, look up the Gryphon Trio for good descriptions and information on the music. I can’t do it justice – I’m just a rock and roll sax player with no formal training.

After the encore the four of us were the first out on the building somehow, and the carts were waiting to transport us to the parking lot, and before I knew it our two vehicles were the first to leave! Never done that before. It was still light ad 8:45, and there was a huge storm to the east – exactly where we were headed to Red Lodge. We chased that storm, but never really caught it – but it was amazing to watch.

Once we checked into our room at the Pollard the four of us went to the bar for a drink, and that’s when the storm unloaded. Wow. So much water – just incredible.

We said goodbyes this evening – Julie and I would be on the road before Jan and Cap got up. It had been a wonderful 4 days and today especially was fantastic.

I’ve gotten a little behind in my journaling. It is Saturday evening as I write this.

A good night’s sleep, and breakfast is coffee, toast with raspberries. Cap is off to work, and the three of us ride up to the gate to hike through the wildflowers. We don’t hike together this time. I ‘took off’ at my usual speed, Jan was next and Julie was happy to be alone. I went up to the tree line – a pretty decent hike actually. I thought the wildflowers were exquisite, but Jan was disappointed in the quantity.

We all had a few errands to take care of, so out on an excursion we went. I don’t even remember all the places. I think we started at REI, returning expired bear spray canisters. I remember the post office, and the chocolate shoppe. And we had a wonderful lunch at Fresco Cafe. And we ordered a to go for Cap, which we delivered to him at work.

A couple more stops, including one for gas, and we headed home. I think there was a nap.

This evening Cap cooked a chicken on the grill, and it was wonderful. Add a Kale Caesar Salad and corn on the cob, and it was an absolutely great dinner.

After dinner we just watched some TV, and one at a time we crashed.

Great day.

A fine day today. We were up just as Cap was leaving for work, had a coffee or two and I had a piece of toast with raspberries (again). Jan had a hair appointment, leaving Julie and I to fend for ourselves.

And fend we did. We drove somewhat aimlessly, trying to find the route to Bridger Bowl ski area. And after a few wrong turns we did find the route. Julie is certain that we brought Jake and Woody here and had them playing in the open areas. I cannot remember every coming here. I’m sure she is correct, and it bothers me that the memory seems totally gone, but we had a good time today. We did a little hiking and generally just enjoyed the scenery and the drive.

When we got back to town it was lunch time, and we decided to try Over Easy, a restaurant we have used several times for breakfast and it has always been great. At lunchtime it was not too crowded today, but the salad we shared was excellent and the service was good.

We decided to go see as much of the drive to Hyalite Trail area. We’ve been there several times for hiking, including Jake and Woody, and I remember those. As we drove up the forest road, which was as beautiful as ever with the stream running full blast and all the greenery. But we didn’t get too far today – road construction had the road down to one lane, and we really didn’t have enough time to wait for the pilot car twice. So we turned around and drove home.

As was common today, we hunted and pecked our way home, making a wrong turn or two, but we got there. And we had plenty of time to get cleaned up and ready to go out to dinner.

We met Cap and Paula at Blackbird in downtown for dinner. Paula is an artist friend who just might move to Scottsdale this year. She is a good friend of Jan’s and seems like someone we would enjoy knowing as well. Our meal was great – I shared a Margarita Pizza with Paula, and the appetizers and wine were really good as well. There was a lot of good conversation, but unfortunately I couldn’t really hear much of it.

We drove home and watched an episode of Midsomer Murders – and that was about it for everyone.

A good day.

Didn’t hear the trains last night. Must have slept really well.

Cap had already left for work when I finally stumbled out of bed. Breakfast, thanks to Jan, was raspberries on toast, and it was yummy.

I also had two cups of coffee, and the coffee is really good. I hope we have similar results when we get home to our new coffee making system.

We took a walk – it was a great morning with a nice breeze and only a hint of possible showers, which did not happen. I walked up the road to the gate where the trail starts, overall probably about three miles round trip.

When we got back we headed out to 1)return expired bear spray to REI, 2) stop by CVS for a cream that may help Julie with her bruising, 3) get postcards for the girls, and 4) get lunch. We got all of that done. Lunch at Plonc was excellent. We all had BLTs and they were wonderful.

From there home. We watched a movie – Lion – on Netflix, and it was excellent. Not a dry eye in the house.

Julie took a nap, and I ‘powered’ through because Cap would be home soon. And when he got home we had drinks and sat on the north porch in awe of the wonderful scenery. Jan and Julie joined us after a while. It was really nice.

For dinner Cap helped me grill the lamb, and it came out pretty well if I do say so. And dinner was great.

After cleaning up, Jan, Julie and I watched the latest episode of Endeavor, and it was good. I think I may have been the only on not to sleep during it.

And now it’s past bedtime. Adieu.

This morning was a hoot. There was a lot to be done -packing, cleaning, eating, loading, moving vehicles. Of course the puzzle was still there, and I did manage to add a piece or two, but there was no time to spend on that. I managed to warm up the last blueberry muffin for breakfast.

It all came together somehow, and Julie and I went to Regis for breakfast. We had said goodbyes to Jane, Orie and Carolyn, but the guys were still AWOL. Our breakfast was great again. I had French toast with fried bananas. Very yummy.

We went to the T-shirt store and Julie purchased 3 shirts and a whistle – the shirts were printed as we waited. I found it a very interesting process, and after Julie explained the stencil to me it was even more interesting.

Then we went looking for the Hawkin’s rental house, only knowing that it was in the vicinity of the vet. We found it! And everyone was there – so we said Aloha to all and headed for Bozeman.

The drive to Bozeman was good. First of all the road construction which had been causing long delays did not cause us any delay. In fact there was no delay in either direction. And once we got on the interstate the sky became more and more interesting. There were storms all around. We went through two or three, and some pretty heavy downpours, but thank goodness we had no hail. I drove the whole way without a problem, and we found the house with no aids.

Jan was home to greet us, and give us the great news that they have purchased a home in Scottsdale (!) not very far from us. We knew they had been looking, but this was the first we knew of an actual purchase. This is super. And based on the pictures and description the place is really nice. Can’t wait to see it!

We sat around and chatted for a while, and Cap got home from work – and since it was 5 o’clock somewhere we had a drink. Or two. With lots of good conversation. And I gave Cap a little help with grilling the corn – we had a good time doing the grilling.

The meal was wonderful, and I’m still stuffed. I had a hamburger along with an ear of corn. The hamburger was huge. I really had to struggle to clean my plate, but I wanted to because the food was excellent.

As we sat at the table after dinner sipping wine we got to talking about coffee making. The result of that conversation was that on the spot I ordered a coffee maker and a grinder – $500+. I’m thinking/hoping that it’s as good as advertised. I’m pretty sure it will be because of Cap’s recommendation. He has spent the time checking it all out, and I’m just taking advantage of that work. Amazon will have it to our house before we get there.

And that’s the evening. And the day. A really nice day, again.