Day 8 - Kanab, UT > Torrey, UT
Getaway Day. Time to leave Kanab, and even though the house is great, it’s time to move on.
The Pain in the Ass owner wanted a bunch of ridiculous stuff done like laundry. We did some, bagged the rest, and got all our deposit back anyway.
Up Route 89 again, past Bryce. it’s funny how the road seems much shorter the second time you travel it, and we passed Bryce in no time. At least it seemed short when Jill was doing the driving.
The Pain in the Ass owner wanted a bunch of ridiculous stuff done like laundry. We did some, bagged the rest, and got all our deposit back anyway.
Up Route 89 again, past Bryce. it’s funny how the road seems much shorter the second time you travel it, and we passed Bryce in no time. At least it seemed short when Jill was doing the driving.
About an hour after Bryce, Route 12 really began to get more scenic and you could tell why it was one of the top drives in the country. We stopped at Kodachrome Basin State Park, a small affair where we had to eat in the car because the gnats attacked us as soon as we found a shaded picnic table, and the sun was brutal. Hoodoos and cliffs.
Then the drive got even more scenic, kind of desert ranchland and of course no other cars. Eventually we hit the spectacular Calf Canyon area, north of Escalante. Massive white cliffs, white stone fields, long range views, few other vehicles. At one point I saw Jill shudder and said “I wondered if you saw that”... we were high on a 2 lane hogback road, 1000 foot drops on each side, no guardrails... and an oncoming truck caused Jill to shudder. There were signs to “Hell’s Backbone”, another local road. And in the middle of nowhere we stopped at the Kiva coffee House, but just to check out the views not the java.
Drove up and down some mountains with great views, passed thru Aspen forests. After about 6 hours total we made it to the Sandstone motel in Torrey. Our standard motel room was tiny after our house.
We enjoyed the pool - enclosed due to winds - then went to Cafe Diablo for dinner, an innovative place in the middle of nowhere. Reminded you of Napa Valley, herb and veg garden adjacent to our outdoor seating. I had made reservations by email like 2 months ago, and I think they were amused.
We had a friendly waiter, and for our $125 including tip, we had 2 glasses of wine, lemonade, tequila mojito, a calamari / coconut salad, a citrus salad, a rack of ribs set up like a crown, a pork dish, flank steak and a lemon tart. My ribs could have been better, they were kind of parboiled and coated with a sweet syrup, I would have preferred smoked. Overall good though, especially for Utah!
Back to our small motel room for a bad night’s sleep and a $25 breakfast. We prefer to eat in.
Day 9 >>>
Then the drive got even more scenic, kind of desert ranchland and of course no other cars. Eventually we hit the spectacular Calf Canyon area, north of Escalante. Massive white cliffs, white stone fields, long range views, few other vehicles. At one point I saw Jill shudder and said “I wondered if you saw that”... we were high on a 2 lane hogback road, 1000 foot drops on each side, no guardrails... and an oncoming truck caused Jill to shudder. There were signs to “Hell’s Backbone”, another local road. And in the middle of nowhere we stopped at the Kiva coffee House, but just to check out the views not the java.
Drove up and down some mountains with great views, passed thru Aspen forests. After about 6 hours total we made it to the Sandstone motel in Torrey. Our standard motel room was tiny after our house.
We enjoyed the pool - enclosed due to winds - then went to Cafe Diablo for dinner, an innovative place in the middle of nowhere. Reminded you of Napa Valley, herb and veg garden adjacent to our outdoor seating. I had made reservations by email like 2 months ago, and I think they were amused.
We had a friendly waiter, and for our $125 including tip, we had 2 glasses of wine, lemonade, tequila mojito, a calamari / coconut salad, a citrus salad, a rack of ribs set up like a crown, a pork dish, flank steak and a lemon tart. My ribs could have been better, they were kind of parboiled and coated with a sweet syrup, I would have preferred smoked. Overall good though, especially for Utah!
Back to our small motel room for a bad night’s sleep and a $25 breakfast. We prefer to eat in.
Day 9 >>>
