Out of Denver, June/July 2012
“Towering palms thriving in a vast desert are just one of the many amazing sights in and around Death Valley National Park, our playground while we winter in Nevada…”
See David’s amazing photos and read about our adventures in Death Valley in our On The Road column published in the June/July 2012 issue of Out of Denver magazine.
P.S. The file opens great on Internet Explorer and Safari, but not on Firefox.
Filed under California, Nevada, RV Travel, Western United States
After rolling the fresh dough for cinnamon rolls, David gets the cinnamon and butter ready. Photo credit: Rose Muenker
Despite Stone Canyon Inn’s remote location in Tropic, Utah, it hosts travelers from around the word. This week alone, we’ve had guests from the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, New Zealand and Great Britain, as well as Americans from New York, Florida and California.
While the owners are away on a 10-day vacation, we staff are running the inn. The activities we normally do only once a week — taking reservations, checking guests in, and preparing and serving breakfast — we’re now doing several times a week. Plus we’re doing the daily cleaning. We’re getting a crash course in what the owner does every day and has been doing for 12 years! (And that doesn’t include marketing and administrative tasks.) She’s amazing!!!
After dipping the dough in melted butter and then cinnamon, David twists the dough into a roll. Photo credit: Rose Muenker
One of our regular assignments as work campers at Stone Canyon Inn is cooking and serving breakfast to the inn guests on Saturday mornings. To ensure everything runs smoothly, David does much of the prep work on Friday afternoon while I check in guests. Tomorrow’s breakfast includes freshly baked cinnamon rolls, baked apple crumble, and a delicious artichoke, spinach, cheese and egg dish.
Cinnamon rolls prepped and ready to bake in the morning. Photo credit: Rose Muenker
Tomorrow morning we’ll get to the kitchen by 6:45am (I can see several of you rolling on the floor laughing!), start the ovens, do the final preparations, bake everything, and then serve our guests at 8 am.
And we’ll have lots of delightful conversations with our guests from near and far! Bon appetit!
Filed under RV Travel
Mossy Cave Trail features a waterfall, cave, flowers and hoodoos and is only 4 miles from our “summer home.” Photo credit: Rose Muenker
Short and scenic Mossy Cave Trail draws Highway 12 travelers out of their cars and into Water Canyon for an easy hike among hoodoos to a cave and small waterfall. We explored it when evening sunlight brought out the rocks’ rich array of colors.
A short waterfall cascades in Water Canyon. Photo credit: Rose Muenker
A stream of water — always a welcome sight in these parts — serenaded the canyon. I love the intimacy of this canyon! As I basked in the peacefulness of that evening hour, I chose the rock I’ll perch on during journal writing getaways.
The trail leads to a small waterfall and a cave lined with rich green moss. The tenaciousness of vegetation in this rugged desert climate amazes me. Trees anchor themselves in crevasses and delicate flowers sprout from rock walls.
A delicate flower grows on a rock wall near Mossy Cave. Photo credit: Rose Muenker
Even more amazing are the fascinating formations sculpted by the elements that manage not to topple. At least not yet!
Spindle legs support a bulbous rock atop a Water Canyon wall. Photo credit: Rose Muenker
At the end of the groomed trail, we scaled up a slope for a view of the surroundings. A healthy Bristlecone pine graced the scene. Unlike the Bristlecone pines I was accustomed to seeing in the Rocky Mountains, this one has not been twisted or dwarfed by the wind.
The rich green of a Bristlecone pine contrasts with the red and golden hues of the rock formations. Photo credit: Rose Muenker
It’s always fun to catch a bird’s-eye view of our surroundings. But when I come back, I’ll stay down by the stream, listening to the symphony of running water, breezes and birds.
Filed under RV Lifestyle, Utah, Western United States
From Bryce Point, we can actually see the rooftop of our RV in the far distance (but only because we know where to look!) Photo credit: Rose Muenker
For our first hike in Bryce Canyon National Park, we went to Bryce Point on the rim for a 4-mile route that combined descending Bryce Point Trail, following the west section of Peek-a-Boo Loop Trail, and then climbing out of the canyon on the Wall Street section of the Navajo Loop to Sunset Viewpoint on the rim.
Here are some favorite sights along steep, strenuous and scenic 1-mile-long Bryce Point Trail.
Called hoodoos, the whimsical rock formations in Bryce Canyon tickle the imagination. Photo credit: Rose Muenker
This hoodoo looks like a camel carrying several passengers at a time.
Bryce Point Trail walks through a window. Photo credit: Rose Muenker
We could see the window for quite awhile before we reached it. Knowing we would get the chance to walk through it was a great motivator to keep pressing on.
David takes one of his 215 photos that day of Bryce Canyon Amphitheater. Photo credit: Rose Muenker
Each bend in the trail opens to yet another spectacular view of Bryce Canyon Amphitheater. To say that David was in “photographer’s heaven” is an understatement!
Wondrous rock formations tweak the imagination. Photo credit: Rose Muenker
The magical hoodoos, fins and other rock formations strike each person differently. As I rounded a curve and looked up, this formation looked like an angel with massive wings. A deep sense of peace filled my heart.
The sights along Bryce Point Trail were among the most spectacular on our hike.
Filed under RV Lifestyle, RV Travel, Utah, Western United States
