On May 5th, we drove to Capital Reef hoping to get a camping spot.  There were only 2 spots left at 11.  No trees above us but that could have been a good thing, as the caterpillars were out.

We took a walk to the visitor center and back along the river.

We were staying in the town of Fruita which is why there were so many orchards.

Like I said, the caterpillars were out.

And the deer took up a lot of the campground.

Met a lot of people coming over and asking about the T@B.

The next morning, we did some short hikes around the campground to see the petroglyphs,

then we drove down Scenic Hwy 12 across Hells Backbone to Escalante to complete the Hwy 12 trip.

Had coffee at the Kiva House and lunch at Hells Backbone Grill . Jake, Karen’s nephew on his way across the country, met us at the campground that evening.

The next day, we hiked thru Canab to Hillsons Arch and back.

Jake, forever the adventurer.

Got back to camp and did up some mac n cheese and bratwurst around a fire.

The next day, we headed off to Moab.

Stopped off at Green River for lunch. There are more atvs in Moab than anywhere else in the world!!!  At least that’s what it looked like as we drove in.   We relaxed at the Moab Brewery for dinner.