Bea-utiful Place To Camp

Tom & Justine would be joining us near Torrey for a few nights of camping. While they were coming from Moab later in the day, we were en route from Goblin Valley earlier. I had Al go ahead to Loa as we needed a cabin air filter for the Ram or we would be without any sort of heating or cooling. I found a rather level spot and got everything set up at coordinates 38.29778,-111.38415 all by myself. Okay, so Suki says she helped get in the way a few times. I told Al that he may as well check out Pando again while he was more than halfway there, but y’all already read about that. When he got back, I changed the cabin filter as it was mostly clogged, so now we could actually feel air coming out the vents again. Tom & Justine arrived just before sunset, so we assisted in getting them level & set up, too.

This BLM spot is conveniently located 10 miles from the Capitol Reef Visitor Center, and 2 miles from Torrey. There are a few restaurants and resorts nearby. Aside from scenery, there are no amenities. We had dumped and refilled our tanks before arriving in Green River and after in Escalante, but those services are also available at the national park campground if needed. We were surrounded with great views of the colorful landscape, and while we had winds and rain during an overnight, we woke to new views of snow in the distance at the higher elevations.

This is a heavily visited area as there are no current fees. I saw online that in 2019, their business plan was to start charging $10-15 nightly, however it doesn’t appear to have been implemented, but recent reviews say otherwise and we didn’t see a fee board or station. Come by mid day or you options will diminish. Expect a cloud of dust after every vehicle passing. It’s good to be upwind and farther from the dirt road, which we were. I was glad I put out the rug to prevent our floors from matching the red dirt outside.

We enjoyed our adventures with our friends, and our evenings sitting outside in coats and sweats. It was too windy for a fire, but still fine for enjoying pie. I was able to get a few things done while staying with the dogs. It was nice having cooler temps so I could make some brownies as we’d been without home-baked treats for a while. This was a good place to stay, especially if others are joining you. If it was the middle of summer, I might head to higher ground in the Dixie National Forest for fewer people and cooler temperatures, but this was a great stop at the right time.

Today, the motorhome got a half-bath. No, we didn’t remodel. We grabbed a mitt, bucket and chamois, doing what we could with around 5 gallons of water. Huge improvements were made. I doubt they’ll last long, but it pleases us for the moment. We also stopped by a dealership to see what we had for vehicle options. They did not have anything in stock that thrilled us enough to trade, but it gave us a better idea of what we want. On the way home, we stopped at Costco to restock the freezer & pantry, while enjoying our dining out splurge consisting of a hot dog and pizza slice from their food court. Ain’t we fancy? Well, at least I didn’t have to cook tonight! I’d call that a win! One last thing... This is our 100th post!

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