Chapter 3 - Day 33 - Great Salt Lake and Salt Flats

 5/3/24

This was Ben's last full day in Utah. We left our campsite in the morning and headed north and then west to visit Bonneville Salt Flats. The road across the flats was literally the longest, flattest, straightest road I'd ever driven. Miles of flat. Straightness of straight. 

We headed back toward Salt Lake City after playing in the salty water and driving around to look at the flats.

We camped at Great Salt Lake State Park which really was just a marina with a couple of RV spots. But it had an absolutely beautiful sunset.

Chapter 3 - Day 32 - Capitol Reef and Heading North

 5/2/24

Capitol Reef National Park is pretty neat. It's a little bit of everything Utah plus has an old mormon settlement, with orchards intact, in the valley. We listened to another audio tour which was really great. Bought a couple of fresh pies, grabbed a couple totally inappropriate stickers at the gift shop, took a ton of pictures, and walked the Grand Wash for a mile or so finding geodes and such.

petroglyphs

Geode with citrine, we think

Then we headed north to a spot outside Yuba State Park for the night.

Chapter 3 Day 31 - Aliens, Goblins and Red Rocks

 5/1/24

We started our day with a stop at Jackass Joe's jerky emporium, aka Papa Joe's Gas and Go. It's another must-see stop for the roadside attraction group. Very fun and full of all things jerky.

We were supposed to make it to Capitol Reef National Park for the day but ended up on a side trip to Goblin Valley National Park instead for a bit. We found a really cool piece of red poppy jasper and finally saw pronghorns.

We voted to find a place for the night and to do Capitol Reef in the morning. So we headed to Overlook Point Camping, a dispersed camping spot that is absolutely gorgeous. 

Ben's adhoc cooking table

Chapter 3 - Day 30 - Arches and Hole N' The Wall

 4/30/24

Off to Hole N' The Rock for the morning, after stopping and getting more spicy chai and scones. Espresso Wagon for the win.

Hole N' The Rock was really cool. Firstly, it looks like a Route 66 roadside stop with all the important things like dad humor, license plates, etc. But inside the rock is a 5000 sq ft home. No joke. The original owners dynamited, dug and drilled the entire home out. We couldn't take pics inside, but believe me it was well worth the $8 to get a guided tour.

We went petroglyph hunting after that along the Colorado River on Potash Road. Check that off the Utah list of things to do.

Then, a quick nap.

And Arches National Park.

We stayed the night at UtahRaptor State Park.