Broken down in Green River, a wild wrecker ride, and a rainbow ending

It all happened because we were hungry. Mac told us to be sure we were hungry when we got to Green River, UT because the best burgers out west were to be found at Ray's Tavern.  We got off I-70 at Green River, drove up and down the one main street, and finally located Ray's on the third pass.  We tturned the corner and all hell broke loose.  Westy's temp gauge pegged on "HOT", a buzzer on the dash went off,  steam poured out the back of the car and we heard a nasty hissing sound from somewhere underneath us.  Craig shut off the engine, coasted to the curb, and we got out to find greenish liquid pouring onto the pavement.

Whaddya do in a situation like this?  Eat burgers, of course.
 
After lunch( and those burgers ARE good)  we asked around to see if anybody at Ray's knew of an auto repair in town that worked on old VWs (nobody did).  We finally poured enough water into the cooled-off engine to limp Westy back to I-70 and the Super-8 near the exit, checked in and went to work on an internet search for mechanical assistance.  Turned out that the nearest foreign car repairs were in Moab, UT  and Grand Junction, CO -- and the Moab place (much closer)  wasn't sure parts were available.  After working the phones for more than an hour, Craig lined up a wrecker to take Westy (and us) to GJ the next moring.
     We met our ride at 9 am --  cowboy driving a huge flatbed wrecker (capable of hauling a semi truck) with high-clearance wheels and a cab requiring one to climb a ladder to get into it.  He loaded Westy onto the flatbed (where he looked awfully small), chained everything down, and we were off.  Two and a half hours later we pulled into The Foreign Aid, the auto repair in Grand Junction, and met Steve Stewart -- owner, mechanical genius and weekend racecar driver.  We knew were were at the right place.
       Within twenty minutes Steve had put Westy up on a hoist, diagnosed the problem, ordered the necessary parts overnighted in, lined up a rental car for us, and told us about all the area sights and spots we needed to see while we were in the area.  When it bacame obvious that we were not going to be able to leave until the next day, he suggested that we spend the night in Westy, inside his air-conditioned shop.

     With the work completed the next day and Westy once again ready to travel, we turned for home.  Campground next night was at Bonny Lake State Park in eastern Colorado, a hard-to-find spot in the middle of nowhere that was one of the nicest parks we've stayed in.  A sweltering hot afternoon looked like it would give way to a late-day thunderstorm, but the storm never materialized.  Instead, a heavy layer of clouds produced just a few sprinkles -- and a spectacular, full-bow double rainbow over the campground.  Amazing -- what a way to wrap up a memorable vacation!!
   

Capitol Reef NP -- a surprise in the desert

Our friend Mac told us that his favorite desert campground was at Capitol Reef NP because there were lots of fruit trees and if anything was ripe, you could pick it.  I told him he had spent entirely too much time in the hot sun if he was telling me a story like that.  Turned out, he wasn't kidding.  This lush, tree-covered oasis along the Fremont River was settled by Mormon pioneers who planted trees like crazy, especially fruit-bearing varieties.The Park Service has maintained the orchards, replanting them as necessary over the years.  The campground along the river is shaded and cool even though huge desert rocks tower over it.  No wonder the Mormons stopped here.  They must have thought they were getting close to the Promised Land. 

The mule deer in the campground were so tame they came within twenty feet of our picnic table (left).  They thought nothing of wandering over for some of the green grass thet grew around the bath house -- heck, this sure seemed like better pickings than eating cactus across the road in the desert! 
We claimed the Purple Jersey (well, we DID ride from the campground on our bikes) next morning at the restored village where a couple of nice ladies served fresh-baked pie and coffee for breakfast.  We had blackberry pie at 9 am -- Jeff, are you reading this???

Hiking the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon

These are the weirdest rocks ever.  Hoodoos are rock formations caused by wind erosion, but a  Native American legend says that the people were turned to stone by the coyote god because they weren't well-behaved enough.  If you look hard you can imagine that -- they DO look like people in all sorts of poses and positions.  We worked our way along much of Bryce Canyon rim, so we saw the same rocks from about 240 degrees.  No matter how you look at them, they keep changing and look different in different light.

The Bryce Canyon Lodge is one of the only original park lodges from the early 1920s, and it's a beautiful building that's been well-maintained over the years.  It's open year 'round, so might be a fun winter destination -- snowshoeing and X-C skiing are winter activities in the park.  I found this raven hanging out in a tree outside the Lodge.  He definitely wanted me to notice him -- and cooperated by sitting still until I had snapped his picture, then moved just enough to give me another view of his very handsome self.  The ravens in the big parks have turned into shameless hucksters -- they LOVE to show off for visitors, and make sure you notice them by rudely squawking until you pay attention to them.
     Next stop -- Capitol Reef NP.

Zion National Park -- flowers in the desert

The drive to the East Entrance of Zion National Park is without a doubt one of the most spectacular scenic drives anywhere in the US.  The road winds up and up for something like 27 miles, clings to the sides of rodk walls, and shoots in and out of tunnels carved right through the mountains. 

Every turn reveals a postcard-picture view.  The red rocks tower above you and the light seems to come from within them.  They seem to glow with colors too bright to be real, but they are.

     We found a space at Watchman Campground, in with the big RVs, and enjoyed being close to the Visitor's Center and the shuttle bus routes.  Riding the park shuttles was the best way to get around, and we spent one whole day riding up and down the canyon, stopping to hike down to the bottom of the canyon and taking pictures everywhere we looked.Two of Zion's most famous rock formations -- beloved, we're told, of vertical-wall climbing fanatics -- are The Three Patriarchs  (right) and Angel's Landing (left, above).  There is actually a hiking trail all the way to the top of Angel's Landing, featuring a summit approach only 3' wide with thousand-foot dropoffs on both sides.  We decided NOT to attempt that one.

I was interested in the wildflowers that grew in all of the parks, but none of them were as spectacular as the Angel's Trumpets that were all over Zion.  These night-blooming shrubs opened their big white blossoms in the evening and closed up in the heat of the day, and when we first encountered them after dark on a walk back from a ranger talk, I was sure they were fakes.  The plants grow several feet high, resenble shrubs or bushes, and are entirely wild.  A park ranger told us that they "love it here" and do best in the hot, arid climate.  They were certainly the showiest wild flowers we found anywhere.
     Next stop:  Bryce Canyon NP, where we plan to "hike the hoo-doos."
    

The road less traveled

     The North Rim...it has to be one of my favorite places on Earth, and I'm writing this from the viewpoint if having done FOUR great parks in the past week or so.  The NR is beautiful, uncrowded, has everything we needed and nothing much that we didn't.  The park gets only about 10% as many visitors as the more-famous South Rim of the Grand Canyon, mostly because it's really remote and hard to get to.

We spent two nights here, hiked the trails and rode our bikes between the campground and the Lodge, Visitor Center and the General Store (which has groceries, ice, laundry and showers -- all the basic necessities!)  The NR's "spokescritter" (every park needs one, right?) is "Brighty", a burro once made famous in a childrens' story about his real-life namesake (named for Bright Angel Creek, which runs down the canyon from the North Rim).  When we found a toy version of Brighty in the NR Assoc store, we decided Max needed him and then had to figure out how to get our new friend back to the camper.  I'm not sure what the real Brighty would have thought of our solition, but it worked well for us.
     Next we're off to Zion, Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef NPs ("The Grand Staircase").