We have continued our Utah travels on some spectacular roads. These scenic byways have taken us through quiet backcountry via dramatic cliffs. If you want to know what Mars will look like after terraforming (making it habitable, I just learned), just drive through southern Utah.

Awesome camping spot off the Burr Trail outside of Boulder, UT

Burr Trail Switchbacks – we did NOT drive these in the RV

The Burr Trail winds through Long Canyon

Calf Creek Falls

Roadtrip to Mars

On our long driving days, I occasionally read aloud while my chauffeur takes me and the dogs through new and beautiful country. We have been reading John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, a sweet travel memoir costarring Steinbeck’s pooch Charley. We recently read a chapter discussing how someone who is on the road for a long time can become too stuffed with new sights and experiences to keep taking them in, how eventually the urge will be to shorten and even skip certain destinations altogether. And we wondered, is that happening to us at all? Will we hit a point of uncomfortable satiety on this trip? Are our eyes going to glaze over?

We agreed that day that we felt a bit full of desert. We have seen so many beautiful red, orange, and yellow cliffs, arches, spires, hoodoos, and canyons. We have driven through and hiked through and biked through so many dry riverbeds. Our dogs have stepped on and been poked by many varieties of spiky desert plants. We have soaked up so much desert sun and felt its rays wick all moisture out of our dry skin and chapped lips. And now we are thirsty for tall conifers and flowing rivers, for rainy days and storm clouds that actually precipitate.

Bryce Canyon National Park reassured us today that our eyes are not yet glazed over. No way. And we can still gaze out at rock formations with immense pleasure, even if they are some tone of red, orange, or yellow. We spent today hiking our way through more than seven miles of God’s gorgeous creation. Bryce Canyon is a wonderland of peach-colored hoodoos, a feast for the eyes. We felt like we were in some underwater coral grotto, or the board game Candyland, or perhaps Gaudi’s mind as he imagined his whimsical architectural creations. The surplus of eye candy even slowed our hiking pace considerably, which very rarely happens with my regimental tendencies. The background track God chose for today’s adventure was loud and temperamental. With temps in the 30s and 40s, we spent the day shifting clothing layers as we experienced bouts of snow, hail, and strong sunshine. Strong gusts of wind howled around us all day. We like temperamental, and we’d rather be cold than hot. So we bundled up, enjoyed our emptyish park, and decided that this is our favorite place in Utah.

Snow!

A sunny and warm moment

Storm clouds roll across Bryce Canyon

In other news, here are a few interesting tidbits:

• We can cook a frozen pizza in our microwave/convection oven. This changes everything.
• We paid for a campsite last night for the first time in three weeks. Our nightly average has been doing pretty well!
• The small-town grocery store in tiny Escalante charges $1.49 for a can of green beans – outrageous! Strangely, we found Nic’s favorite Greek yogurt brand at that same store for a cheaper price than we’ve ever seen.
• The little camp store at rather remote Bryce Canyon National Park has a far superior snack selection to the aforementioned small-town grocery store. Their meat selection was about equal.
• Fine desert dust sticks to dirty dogs quite efficiently. A small dog with a slightly oily coat (not naming names here) can change his color completely with a few quick twists in the sand. Magic!