The Captain & Admiral – On the Road Again!

A Reunion – and a Test Ride!

It is always a joy beyond measure to be with family! The bi-annual (usually but not always) Reunion of Ratts had been eagerly anticipated and superbly planned by Lisa Ratts Jennings Clark and ably assisted by Natalie Gardner Ratts. Everyone able to attend convened in Denver, in time to begin the festivities on Thursday evening.

The Captain & Admiral started out early for an easy trip from Asheville thru Charlotte to Denver compliments of American Airlines. And we do mean compliments as we continue to whittle away the frequent flyer mileage. That may seem unimaginable, as the Admiral has now been “retired” for over 13 years! However, you probably recall that the three things she never wanted to do again was – fly in an airplane, stay in a hotel and eat in a restaurant. We are glad to report that she has recovered from that statement, but years of boating and motor homing have limited air travel – at least on the airlines having frequent flyer balances.

We got to the airport shortly after 7:00a for a 9:05a departure – and thanks to a construction worker involved in the huge expansion of the Asheville Airport – we did not leave Asheville until almost 2:00p.  Destination Philadelphia, which if you have looked at a map recently, is directionally incorrect for Denver! A two-hour layover there put us into Denver at 10:00p local time, another hour to get out of the airport, stand in line at Avis while 40 people dealt with 2 agents, road construction on the airport exit roadway and a 45 minute drive to Elizabeth CO put us in about 2:00a local/4:00a body clock. Never fear – there were bleary-eyed Ratts (including niece & nephew) to greet us – but we all crashed shortly thereafter.

The weekend was a joyous blur of laughter, tears, hugs and lots of food & drink. There were Ratts we had not seen in a long time – and Ratts we had never met – and loads of Ratts that we love to see at every/many reunions. We savored the time and made plans to reunite over Fathers’ Day 2026 somewhere in Western NC! With a heads-up that 2028 needs to be in Cancun!

Top left – The Ratts Clan present, The Blood Ratts, Eric & Tricia & Family – and The Ratts Rock travels to the next destination – next will be #15!

We set out at 6:00a Sunday morning (long before anyone else was stirring) heading for Salt Lake City to begin our research into the Next Chapter of Travel. It was a long but uneventful day culminating in returning the rental car at the airport and preparing for our Uber early the next morning to pick up the 19’ Sprinter Van for our camping adventure to The Mighty Five National Parks of Southern Utah.

We arrived at Moterra Campervans – setting out early for our 10:00a pick-up to avoid any problems. First, GPS took the Uber to the wrong address, then upon arrival (9:20a), no one was there for our rendezvous. No problem – they are supposed to be open at 9a but running late!

We encountered a few surprises — as it is always the questions that you don’t ask that get ya every time. First, the literature touted an inside shower, but neglected to say there was nothing but a porta-potty! Second, there was no air conditioning – and we were headed to the desert of southern Utah which was under the “heat dome” of several weeks of extremely high temperatures. Third, there was no awning over the side door for living space (never seen a van that didn’t have one). Seems like we went to camping from glamping a bit more dramatically than we anticipated!

We checked out with Riley, twisted his arm to wash the windshield. He then gave us the rest of the bottle of Windex – as we know what bugs on a large front windshield do! We headed south, stopped for provisioning in Spanish Fork and arrived at Zion Family Campground by cocktail time. Spent the evening getting familiar with the rig – and realizing that without a grill or a microwave, our creative cooking was going to be curtailed (i.e., we’re camping!)

Fortunately, we had chosen to stay on the east side of Zion, which is more convenient to our next stop – Bryce Canyon. The elevation on the east side of Zion is 6,500’ compared to the 3,500’ on the west side – which served us well for evening temperatures. We awoke on Tuesday to 52^oF, enjoyed the early morning and made our way to the East Entrance, with a stop for some of the “essentials” (like a water hose that didn’t leak!).

The sunrise shining on the rock formations in front of us was spectacular. We got to the 1-mile two-lane tunnel that is truly a wonder given that it was built in the 1930’s, when current equipment and technologies simply did not exist. Also, in the 1930’s vehicles were not so big, not to mention the RVs, Campers, fifth wheels and all sorts of other large and imposing figures that dominate travel today. If you are driving a large vehicle, you must register – and then between 8:00a & 4:30p, rangers will stop traffic so that the larger vehicles can travel in the middle of the tunnel. We had been advised that a 10-15 minute wait was common. However, after 45 minutes, we learned that a large Class Super-C camper had gotten stuck in the tunnel! About 10 minutes later, the camper had been extricated, he came sheepishly through the traffic without making eye contact and traffic began to flow smoothly!

We arrived at the Visitors Center, where all visitors must board a shuttle bus to enter the canyon. The sheer volume of people and vehicles were overwhelming! After another half-hour of circling the only parking lot without success, we headed out the west entrance of Zion where we saw all the commercialism of which we had none on the east side.

We decided a road trip around the park was preferred to retracing our steps – and give us an opportunity to see the local landscape. And, as is always the case, our adventure was enjoyable, calm and so much better than what we had encountered in Zion. By 12:30p, we were conveniently in Colorado City, AZ and stumbled upon End of the World Brewing Company where we had a simply delightful lunch and some Nitro Irish Stout beer that truly was exceptional. We returned to our campsite by late afternoon.

With the less-than-desirable facilities on the van, we have elected to use the bathhouses in the campgrounds we stay in. As we walked down the road, we met Jeremy Chamberlain, who with his wife Betty, own Zion Family Campground. Quite a personable gentleman, Jeremy shared his family history and that of the land that includes the campground. He explained that his great-grandfather Chamberlain settled the land up the valleys, and it has remained in the family ever since. At the time, Mormons practiced polygamy (Jeremy was quick to point out that neither he nor Mormons do that anymore!). The great-grandfather, however, had 6 wives and 54 children – and he provided for them (and they for each other) on that land. The grandfather (one of 54) is now gone and many/most of the descendants want to sell off the land – Jeremy & Betty want to keep it/some, so they built and opened the campground 4 years ago.

Our “home” for 12 days – Contessa she is not!

With hopes of a parking space and an opportunity to see the canyon and the Narrows of Zion, we were on the road at 6a, through the tunnel without any delay, and in the visitor parking at 7a. We found a spot in the last row, but there were several others still available. The number of human bodies pouring into Zion was absolutely mind-boggling! We gathered our things and stood in line for 45 minutes (cold and windy) to board the shuttle that took us into the park. We decided to enjoy a lovely brunch at the Lodge and then re-board a shuttle that took us to the furthest point – the Temple of Sinewava. From there we “hiked” up to the Narrows – with so many people you really just had to lift your feet and they would move you along.

Entrance & Exit to Mile Long Tunnel

The Narrows consists of amazingly tall and straight vertical cliffs, made possible by the Virgin River cutting through the valley. The sedimentary rock is cut deep and vertically vs the more typical wide swath of riverbeds.

At the beginning of the Narrows, the path requires that a person wade up the Virgin River to gain access to the path on the other side. Perhaps we were showing our age, but battling through throngs of people to stumble over rocks in freezing water temperatures simply wasn’t appealing.

The Virgin River – and the Wading into The Narrows

We retraced our steps, boarded the shuttle to travel “down canyon”, made a stop at the Court of the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac & Jacob) and proceeded to make someone’s day by giving them our parking place about 2p. The cars were again circling like buzzards throughout the parking lots vying for an illusive spot!

The Court of the Patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac & Jacob

As luck would have it, the tunnel had just been shut down for oncoming large vehicles – we could see the taillights of the car that just made it through. We rolled down the window to chat with the Park Ranger who was responsible for the traffic control on our end of the tunnel. Of course, our first question to each other was – “where are you from”. Imagine our collective astonishment when Henry Smith was from Greenville SC – and had spent every summer since 3^rd grade thru high school (attending) and the all 4 years of college (counselor) at High Rocks Camp,, which is less than ¼ mile from our cabin! He was so excited to connect vicariously with Danny Stewart! He had then spent two summers at a “seasonal employee” for the National Park Service on Cumberland Island GA, so we had a delightful chat about St. Mary’s where he stayed and we had enjoyed so often on our cruising from Marathon to Charleston and then our several days there during our Loop Adventure. Alas, this time the delay really was only 15 minutes, so we wished him well and headed through this amazing feat of engineering from the 1930’s.

On to new territory, we headed northwest about 100 miles and were speechless with the beauty of Bryce Canyon. Unlike the rush of Zion, Bryce Canyon can be enjoyed in your own vehicle or you can take a shuttle, which saves the hassle of finding parking and allows us both to enjoy the scenery along the way. Southern Paiutes call this place “Red Face Standing” (English translation). Within the bowl-like areas – amphitheaters – stands the world’s greatest concentration of irregular rock spires, called “hoodoos”. The word is a mistranslation of the Paiute word “Oodoo”, which describes the fear among faces and forms in the rocks. Bryce Canyon is named for a Scottish immigrant, Ebenezer Bryce, who joined other settlers in the valley to the east in 1875. He built a road that ended at the pink cliffs. Others started calling it Bryce’s Canyon. He and his family moved on to Arizona in 1880, never anticipating his name would remain over a century later.

Unlike Zion but like the Grand Canyon, all the viewing is from the rim of the canyon. Hiking trails lead down canyon, and many require the individuals to get wilderness permits so they can be tracked and rescued, if necessary. We kept to the rim and savored the views and history of the amphitheater-like shapes and the hoodoos that make the canyon their home. A hoodoo is a vertical rock formation that in many cases resemble people standing or clustered together in formations created by each person’s imagination. A Southern Paiute oral tradition says the hoodoos are ancient “legend people” turned to stone by the trickster god, Coyote, as punishment for bad deeds.

Hoodoos Speak!

The first stop was Bryce Point with an elevation of 8,300’ – rare, thin air, for sure. Inspiration Point was aptly named and we spent quite some time just breathing in the majesty while we identified formations across the canyon. Sunset Point was next – and our timing was perfect to enjoy a walk to Bryce Canyon Lodge for a light lunch. A chat with Hallie, our server, revealed she is from Kalamazoo, and was there on an 8-month contract. We shared that we would be in her home area in late August visiting dear friends Loyal & Bonnie Eldridge. The world gets smaller and smaller – just like our encounter with Henry from High Rocks!

We left the canyon mid-afternoon and proceeded to Torrey, Utah and Sand Creek, a delightful campground owned by Harry & Leslie. Harry is quite a colorful and affable soul who shared their 3-month journey in his itty-bitty trailer with two big dogs doing research on campgrounds after they had purchased Sand Creek 4 years ago. It is a small but very well-kept campground with luscious shade trees, as it was well into the 90’s when we arrived (remember – no air conditioning in the rig!)

This morning, we savored an easy morning and scrumptious coffee before we set out for Capitol Reef National Park. One of our first “LOOK” moments was when we approached Chimney Rock! All the miles and we are only a few miles from home?!?!?

Chimney Rock

On the recommendation of Harry, our first stop was at Gooseneck Point to view the canyon from above. Here you can see the traversing of the Fremont river, a Colorado river tributary as it winds and turns through the canyon. Well worth of diversion, the road to Gooseneck is a “maintained” gravel road that many would avoid unless they had been clued in by Harry.

The Goosenecks of the Fremont River

The weather today is quite different, with forecasts of rain, thunder & lighting – and flash floods in several areas – such a difference from the dry, sun-drenched days of 90^o+ that we’ve had since arriving in southern Utah. The breeze across the canyon was soul-refreshing and the clouds added a dimension to the view that takes your breath away.

We headed into the canyon and continued to be so thankful that the crowds of Zion were again not present. Capitol Reef became a national monument in 1937 and a national park in 1971. The Capitol Dome, a Navajo sandstone feature, was named for its resemblance to the US Capitol. Its unique geologic feature, called a Waterpocket Fold, that is a barrier rock nearly 100-miles long that obstructed early travelers like a barrier “reef”, inspiring the park’s name evidencing the rise of the earth floor from a pastural landscape. Our National Park representative who assisted us was from Bardstown, KY – a place close to our bourbon hearts and a place we will visit again this September with friends Bru & Debra Izard and Tom & Susan Murray.

Capitol Reef – Glorious!

The valley floor of Capitol Reef was home to a large and prosperous Mormon settlement. Evidence of their homesteads and plants of luscious fruit trees abound across the valley. Ever supporting local commerce, we simply had to purchase a strawberry-rhubarb and a mixed berry pie (both small pies) to share with dear friends, Mel & Yvonne Morgan when we rendezvous tomorrow morning in Moab!