Goblins

right in the middle of nowhere was Goblin Valley State Park

goblins

and more goblins

crazy lady

and her overdressed husband. He is paranoid about sun exposure

this one looks like a duck

On our way now to Capitol Reef Lots of different rock formations on the way

these all gray ones went on for miles

walk way to the pictograms. This valley, lots more moisture than surrounding areas, was inhabited from 300 to 1300 AD by natives who drew pictograms. They seemed to suddenly disappear. No we didn't claim the Hopi and Zuni, we just moved on. Something about the great migration to the center of the universe

you can see some pictograms here. Later if I am not lazy, I will post Steve's superior photos

Not only did the natives find this moist fertile valley for agriculture, Mormon settlers came in in the 1800s calling the area Fruitta. 3000 fruit trees remain. We were allowed to pick the fruit and eat it on the spot but if you carry it out, they charge $1/pound. They did have a bakery that made tasty pies for 2. Steve wanted cherry. Props to the park service for not price gouging. While we were eating it, Steve thought he saw a woodpecker in a cherry tree. Not a woodpecker but close, a red naped sapsucker. We have theoretically yellow bellied sapsuckers here but I've yet to see one. She was unperturbed by my presence or people continually banging the bear proof garbage can near us

Her handy work. She drills holes in the bark so sap will ooze out attracting insects which she eats.

more rocks

Capitol Reef had its own series of goosenecks. The whole center of Utah is called the Grand Staircase with different steps or layers of rocks/sandstone. The bottom of this canyon is kailab white stone which forms the top layer at the North Rim of Grand Canyon. Yep we are high up

Toadstools, needles, goblins and hoodoos all seem to be names of carved spires in various places of Utah. Last Monday featured goblins before heading to Capitol Reef so-called as some of the domes are covered with white limestone looking like the Capitol and the other formations look like coral reefs.

We left our dirty ghost town place and drove 20 miles before we could find a town that had breakfast. We would try to eat a big breakfast as sometimes lunch places were far and few between. I did have a giant bag of snacks and we made sure to have water.

Steve was still mad about our crappy place but walking among the goblins put him into a better mood.  Then on to Capitol Reef where I guess the cherry pie was our lunch. It wasn't much further to the tiny town of Bicknell where we had a whole house to ourselves. The owner was on vacation but had a keypad to get in. Very disappointed to find the State liquor store closed on a Monday but the gas station had some spiked seltzers. Despite the small town, a pair of Indian brothers opened up a comination curry and Italian restaurant. We opted for curry.