To Arches 06/18/20

Thousand Lakes RV Park, Torrey, Utah

Like one who seizes a dog by the ears, is a passer-by who meddles in a quarrel not his own. ~ Proverbs 26:17

When we left today, we had to drive through Capitol Reef National Park, along their Scenic Road. 

Heading through the town of Torrey, and then into Capitol Reef NP.
Entering the Park.

That took us right past an old cabin that we’d skipped over while we were here, because it just didn’t seem like it was worth stopping for. 

However, one day when I was searching for something else, I ran across the National Park description of that cabin.  It was just too interesting not to share! 

Elijah Cutler Behunin was one of the first settlers in this area. He built the cabin in 1882 and they stayed briefly until the rising river washed out their crops.  Mr. Behunin had a very large family.  He and his wife, Tabitha and 11 of their 13 children lived in this cabin.  Just this cabin.  All at the same time!  Can you imagine?!?!?  The NPS says they probably ate outside.  Well, that’s not much of a stretch to imagine!  Are you wondering about sleeping arrangements?  Mom and Dad and the two youngest slept inside.  The remaining girls slept in a wagon box in the yard.  And the boys?  Well, they made their beds in a rock alcove.  Pioneers – and their children – were sure made of stern stuff!! 

Behunin Cabin as we fly by
Built in 1882

Our 157-mile, 3-hour drive was fairly uneventful today. 

We’re outside the Park boundary now, but still on the same scenic byway, UT-24.
These fools decided to park in the middle of the street for some reason!
We’d just crested a hill when we came upon them and approaching traffic that had to swerve around them.
And we simply cannot stop on a dime, even if he slams on the brakes.
It could’ve been a horrific accident, but for the Lord’s intervention!
They’re pulling at least part of that hill down.
To prevent rockfalls, maybe?
A Coke truck! We sure didn’t expect to see that out here! : )

We made one stop alongside the road to eat lunch, which ended up being pretty interesting. 

The pull-out on the left is where we stopped.

We didn’t end up with pictures because they didn’t turn out, but here’s a bit of a description of what someone took the time to put together.

When we pulled off the road, we noticed right away that there were signs forming a large semi-circle just off the pull-off.  Upon further inspection, they all had names on them, like “Prairie Dog Butte”, etc.  The signs were mounted on vertical metal rods with another horizontal metal rod welded to the top and placed just so, so that when you looked through it, the designated point of interest was in view.  Kinda like monoculars without the magnification.  Fun!  But whomever it was that set them up, had to be a man at least 6’ tall, because I couldn’t even stand on tippy-toe to see in half of them.  😊

On to our destination for today . . .

You thought we were close, didn’t you?
We still have more than 30 miles to go yet.
Uh. Oh.
If it’s bad enough to make these guys run in the opposite direction,
maybe we should turn around . . . . . : )
They were at some kind of a tourist attraction. : )
That’s our turn!
And that’s the office.

Portal RV Resort, Moab, Utah

For whatever reason, I didn’t do very good with my map this time. Sorry.
If you look at a map and find Arches National Park, you’ll see Moab. That’s where we are. : )

Portal:  a doorway, gate or entrance, especially a large and imposing one.

I was curious about the name of this campground, so I looked up the actual definition.  I guess they figure “Portal” was a good name because they’re situated very close to the entrance to Arches National Park. Their sign is pretty large and imposing, but the rest of the place, not so much. 😊  It’s a nice place though.  They have trees, flowers and some grass that they water, and a swimming pool.  Unfortunately, until the virus is eradicated, we’ll not be visiting a public pool.

We took a walk around the place after dinner.
This is the side where those who own space here live. Pretty fancy!
Some even have three story apartments to go with their big rigs.
Every flower on this bush looked like this – – like a petal was missing.
How many ways can you come up with to design a flower?
Apparently, it’s limitless when you’re a Creator!

Oh.  And they also have a fancy table top and a TV in their laundry room, but the washers and dryers weren’t clean when we stopped in.  And the space is pretty small.

We expect to be very busy during the two weeks we’re here.

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