Day Three--Mount Carmel to Moab

Stopping for photo op.

Wow.  Wow.  Wow.

On the road!

What a day!  Where do I begin?!  Well, the day started out with a chilly morning, the coldest temp was 27 degrees!  Jim and Denise had to put their cover on the Panoz!  Mount Carmel doesn’t seem to wake up early, so we hit the road pre-breakfast.  Early morning is THE time to enjoy our world, folks.  Sigh.  The pastures were still coated with a glistening white sheet of frost.  The black angus cows were trotting through the fields, their steamy breath blowing around them.  Calves were prancing next to their mamas, and it was just so very nice to enjoy such nice pastoral scenes.  (I’ve been waiting all my life to use the term “pastoral”, and this is the day!)  The sun was illuminating the red rocks that cover this unique Utah landscape.  They appeared to be glowing as the sun rose over the hills.  It was just magical...just magical.

Gorgeous!

We drove through a few sleepy towns in search of breakfast.  We found a place just outside of Bryce on Highway 12.  I’ll tell you, these little hole-in-the-wall places can either be a catastrophic flop or a monumental hit, and this place was a hit!  It was small, cozy, and rustic, and the food was delicious.  The waitress was a bit crabby, especially to Fernando who wanted to pay, and he was promptly told to sit down as she was going to be a while before she could take his payment.  Hehe---it was amusing.  You learn to embrace these moments throughout life and travels.  It is more enjoyable to accept these incidents as entertainment!  

After breakfast, we passed by Red Canyon and stopped for some photo opps.  The red of these rocks is just spectacular.  It is so pretty against the blue sky.  And seeing all of our cars with that red rock as a background was just breathtaking.  

Photo op.

We then headed into Escalante and stopped at the visitor center before starting the scenic drive out to Capital Reef National Park.  Wow.  Wow.  Wow.  

Scenic Byway 12:  write it down and put it on your bucket list of drives to take.  This exceptional drive negotiates an isolated landscape of canyons, plateaus, and valleys ranging from 4,000 to 9,000 feet above sea level.  Twists, turns, hills, views, red rocks, pastures, aspen trees, fall colors:  all things you can expect to see on this drive at this time of year.  We kept losing members of our caravan because at every turn, there was a photo op and we were turning off to take in the views!  (We each have walkie-talkies to stay in constant contact--not to worry!)  We stopped at Subway in Torrey to pick up sandwiches and drove a few more miles to Capital Reef National Park for a picnic at one of the best venues ever.  In the midst of all this red rock, Capital Reef has a lush lawn with a babbling creek running alongside it.  It was a perfect spot for a picnic!   

Our caravan.

Anyone getting jealous yet?  Obviously you wish you were here--no need to say it.

After our picnic, we hit the road for Moab.  Highway 24 was a long, straight stretch of road, and we had quite a “spirited” drive, showing us exactly what our cars are capable of.  What FUN!  

We coasted into Moab, quite windswept, and had a little time to freshen up before dinner.  Our main hotel was Redstone Inn.  We walked over to Moab Brewery and it was delicious.  They had a nice selection of local brews and menu items ranging from beer/cheddar soup to fajitas.  It was darn good.  We walked back to our hotel and had a nice social gathering, including a few adult beverages, in the parking lot.  

Good times!  Good memories!  

What’s going to happen tomorrow??  Can’t wait.

Fall color was beautiful!