We pulled out of camp at 8:30 with a temp of 75 degrees and high thing clouds. Our first stop before leaving town was to take on fuel...most expensive of the trip so far. We paid $4.10/gal because we got 87 octane as it seems to work better at these altitudes. We got 9.4 mpg thanks to all the climbing Muf has been doing I guess!

Leaving town we were almost immediately into melting monoliths and out of the red rocks . The area topography appears to us to be much older in its evolution, and more eroded than what we saw yesterday. Ernie B., we badly need you here and just not for your ability to say, "They are old rocks." Just saying.

At 9:30 we drove into the Capital Reef National Park boundaries. The Behunin Cabin was one of the first stops we made. In 1882 Elijah Cutler Behunin and his family built this cabin, and stayed a brief time until the rising river washed out their crops. Behunin was one of the first settlers in this area. They were a family of ten.

We continued to drive through more exotic landscapes. A little further down the road in the Fruita School area, we were able to once again see petroglyphs. They are called the Fremont Petroglyphs. It is thought they were done 1,500 or 1,600 years ago by the Fremont Indians who they know very little about but don't think they are tied to any modern day tribes. It really isn't known what happened to them, much like "The Ancient Ones" we have heard about in different areas of the south west .

This is a Waterpocket Fold area, and it is the longest one in North America. According to the brochure, "It is a giant buckle in Earth's crust that stretches across south-central Utah. This vast warping of rock, created 65 million years ago by the same great forces later uplifting the Colorado Plateau, is called the Waterpocket Fold. Capital Reef National Park preserves the Fold and its eroded jumble of colorful cliffs, massive domes, soaring spires, stark monoliths, twisting canyons, and graceful arches." We know for sure that it is beyond beautiful and Lora, once again you need to expand your bucket list!

We stopped for lunch in Mufasa at the end of the paved part of the scenic road. We expect that the rest of the road (about 6 more miles) is spectacular but there is no way we would have driven the motorhome up it. If we had a car or preferably a jeep type vehicle it would have been no problem as it appeared to be maintained very well . As it was, we knew we had seen beauty beyond compare already, so although we were disappointed not to get to the end of the road, we were fine. We are both amazed at the gigantic scale of this area.

Leaving the park, our next stop was in the little, quaint town of Torrey, Utah. It is a funky little place with many building that look as if they date to the time of the Mormon settlement of the area. We did make one stop trying to find a place that had a strong enough WIFI signal to get out yesterday's videos. We tried a cute little coffee shop, but their signal was much too weak to upload anything but we still (perhaps a mistake here...will let you know if either of us gets any sleep tonight!) ordered an iced coffee for their trouble. I am greatly afraid that once again we were into expresso as we perked right up pretty quickly!

Leaving Torrey, we were suddenly back into open country with large fields under irrigation. There were rolling hills on either side of us with big vistas . There were what seemed to be thousands of sort of rounded rocks that looked badly burned in many of the fields that we passed. Once again, not having Ernie B's expertise, we decided that they were likely thrown there due to volcanic activity in the far past. According to a sign we read, one of the distant mountain ranges was the magna that had been in an active volcano that eventually eroded away leaving what now are mountains. The farmland we drove through was very lush and we could see mountain ranges in front of us. This really felt relaxing to us--being in the mountains again. All that we have seen in the last few days has really put us not so much into overload as causing whip lash trying to see everything!

We climbed up and down several summits ranging from 7,000 feet to over 8,000 feet in elevation before once again being back into "melted badlands". Getting to I-70, we drove about 7 miles north to our destination for the night, Butch Cassidy RV Park at 4:15. It is an OK park ...almost level, fair electricity, and apparently NO WIFI. The good news is that I do have 4G phone service so I should be able to use the hot spot to get this post out as well as pictures and maybe videos. By the way, I was able to upload the videos from yesterday shortly after we arrived here, so if you are interested in seeing them, go back one post!

Now for the blessing mentioned in the title of this post. Our favorite South Carolina granddaughter, Ashton Victoria Conner, turned 18 today! Go Ashton!! Serendipitously, she also got the news in today's mail that she as been awarded yet another teaching scholarship to The University of South Carolina! With this one, if she does as we all know she is capable of doing, will hopefully help to insure that when she graduates with a degree in teaching she will come out it it debt free! Yay Ashie!!! Love you loads little one!

We drove 133 miles today.