road trip: Day 45 Dec 19- headed for Bryce Canyon

We got on the road heading for Bryce Canyon, but today would prove to define the fact that the journey lies in between destinations.

When you travel, it's the little things that count. I looked ahead and saw hills blanketed with snow. Then, I looked in my rearview mirror and had to take a double take. There was no snow in sight!

Wow!! Well, the sun only heats up one side of the hills creating a split season view...

On the sides that had snow, the hills were laced with animal tracks.

We think the tracks were deer, elk, rabbit, turkey, coyote and small birds. There wasn't a 10-foot square without tracks for probably 10 miles.

Next stop...

Small town USA- Loa, UT. This was a tiny town with two gas stations

(the number of gas stations is my new way of establishing how large a city or county is)

One gas station is usually a population of about 500 or less.

Two gas stations means we might jump up to 600-900.
Three gas stations means this place is booming!!

We were starting to get hungry and just as we reached the far edge of town (about a half-mile past the beginning) we passed this little place.

"Hey, dad, did you see that?"

"No. what was it?"

"Lunch at a walk-up ice cream stand."

"Turn around, let's go back."

Oooo... U-turn.

At first, we only saw an ice cream menu but then we spotted the full menu around the corner. It has a little window you walk up to, to the right of the ice machine.

After receiving our food, we walked through the blue door and carefully picked one of the four tables to sit at. As we ate, we got to chatting with three guys dressed in hunting gear that were sitting across from us. I asked them what they were hunting for, expecting them to say deer or elk. Oh, no. They were hunting for coyotes. I didn't know people did that for real. That is the past time around here. The sport of hunting coyotes. Huh!! Go figure!!

After a fantastic lunch here are two belly filled smiles!!

It's time for you to see why it took us 9 hours to go 120 miles. I had the hardest time picking out what pictures to put on here. I wanted to put all 250 that I took today because they were all different but the blog doesn't allow that much space and I figured you'd all throw tomatoes at me through your screen, so after an hour of hmm- umm- well- huh and mmmm...

Here is what I came up with....

Get yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy!!

About an hour into our journey, the character of the area started to show...

This is an old mill that still stands today with its original equipment fully intact on the inside down to the cash register. It is built of the most incredibly rich wood that looks soft as a blanket and as vibrant as wood that was soaked in stain yesterday. It was built in 1893 to produce flour, germade, shorts, and bran. But in the 1930's, the roads were improved and it became easier to truck in the flour and more cost effective. So the mill had to shut down.

When I turned around after taking the picture of the mill, this is what I saw...

This section of the road was a field-filled valley surrounded by sheer red rock cliffs that shot up out of the ground probably 400 feet.

This sparked our desire to see more about the area, so when we saw a sign a few miles past the mill, saying, "Fishlake National Forest" we had to turn in. As we entered the park, a sign said, "Stay only on roads that are on certified maps."

OK but there were no maps, so I guess we'll just go til we get stopped or the car can't go anymore.

This decision led us down a rough and tumble road filled with the strangest rocks I have ever seen...

If you look at the rocks on the ground, you will notice the black on parts of them as if they had been burned but there was no fire here. My dad explained that thousands of years ago, there had to have been a volcanic explosion and these were thrown out onto this ground. The black, he explained, was probably the side that was exposed to the fire in the volcano. But where was the volcano? Wow. Would like to come back and do some learning here!!

The rough and tumble road became a bit rough for my 4-wheel-drive buggy, so we decided it was time to turn around. This decision placed us looking out the window at this...

I have always been a fan of unique homes and would like to someday build one of my own so stopping to see this was a no-brainer...

Home sweet home!!!! What a cool house!!! It is in the process of being built out of clay and rocks from the local area. I wanted to go inside but we didn't feel like being arrested for trespassing today.

More small town character...

Now, typically when you see an old building, it has been turned into a museum or something like that. This building is being used today for the exact same reason it was used for when it was built in 1898. It was built to be a school and to be used by the LDS church for community activities. While it is not a school, it is still used as a local community center for the church and town of Torrey, UT.

After leaving Torrey...

we started climbing in elevation and the land went from rocks and short shrubs to 10-foot-tall fir trees to forests of white Aspens with a scattered fir tree. The pure white bark up against the sparkling snow was so peaceful!! I wanted to sit there all day, but more views await...

This just explains the whole scene. Aspen on the left, fir trees on the right, red rocks in the middle, and white capped mountains in the distance. Oh my gosh, I am in heaven.

At this point, my dad is starting to see the light in why I travel back roads!! He was really enjoying the views just as much as me.

Now that we are one and a half full days into traveling together, I don't want any of you to worry about us getting lost...

My dad has now collected two more maps and a local newsletter for us to keep on track.

Welcome to Boulder, UT, a city with more hotels than people and the only attraction was Anasazi State Park. This is a park dedicated to the Hopi Indians because an archaeological dig was done here to reveal an old Hopi Indian village. It is believed that the Indians only lived here for about 50 years and when they left, they burned down the buildings, so only the rock walls remain and stubs of burned wood framed walls.

Now, these Indians were no fools. At the same site, this is an underground house because it was easier to keep warm in winter and cold in summer. I like this idea. Maybe I should build something like this!

And this is one of the stone and mud houses fully constructed.

It's a darn good thing we were the only people on the highway because the shoulder was filled with snow, so in order to take pictures, I had to just stop in the middle of the road.

And this was worth a middle of the road stop, even if I did block traffic...

Motel??? You must be kidding me?

You see, to the right of the house was a pen about 30 feet in diameter bordered with pieces of chicken wire, chain link fence, and farm fence. This beauty of a pen held a horse but it was the occupants of the next pen that were more of what you would want to cuddle up with- The sheep. Their pen was of equal building quality and about the same size. The front porch was jammed full of all kinds of- what I would classify as- junk. The yard was filled with fencing, car parts, big barrels, a swing set, and a dog. The house was clearly owned by a pack rat, so I'm not sure if the bed is between the Christmas tree and the couch or squeezed between the antique display case, doll collection, and fake flower arrangements.

What we didn't realize at this point was our fun was only just beginning...

After joking about the "Motel" we started to drive up a road that appeared to be an open country road. There was nothing around and I was zooming along at 60 mph when out of the corner of my eye, I saw this...

HUH? 35? That must be a mistake. There is nothing out here...

Oh, contraire...

Es-cuze-me... Can we get through?

Then another 1/2 mile ahead, it was clearly a family reunion...

AND another mile ahead... Oh, did we disturb dinner?

BUT WAIT... There's more...

Those look bigger than deer...

Mooooo!!!

Don't make me cross the white line and come and get you. I now have cowgirl skills and I know how to use them!!

And once we made it past all the deer and cows...

14% for 4 miles? Whewee!! Thank goodness I'm not in the motor home!!

Oh, did I forget to mention that 14% would be down the ridge of a mountain with drop offs on either side of the road.

Let the beauty begin...

That downhill sent us into a canyon of red rocks...

That were filled with incredible formations...

We had to get out and touch the rocks!! It was a must and we were extremely surprised to feel what we did. These weren't rocks at all!! It's sand. The rocks just turn to dust under your fingers and when we picked up, off the ground, what looked like a rock, it fell to pieces in the palm of our hands. It is merely packed sand. WOW, all these hills are just sand packed hard enough to create something like a rock!!!

As the sun began to set, we were on the search for a place called Devils Garden. We were told by several people it was worth seeing but we weren't sure we could get there by sunset. According to my dad's scientific measurements, it shouldn't be more than 10 miles so that meant we might be able to make it. We turned on The Hole in the Rock Road and raced the sunset to see this incredible sight.