Rolling Along Country Roads: Bryce Canyon NP, Boondocking in the woods, and the great convergence

May 3-9
Bryce National Park, UT

So… We left Zion with no water in our tanks. Our new friends milesawayeveryday from Instagram told us they filled their water tanks at an RV Park along the way to Bryce for free. We planned to do the same and rolled up to Paradise RV park in Panguitch about 40 miles south of Bryce. The manager was very nice and allowed me to fill our water tank while he watered the landscaping. I may be overstating the desert wildlife around this RV park, but they needed water too. Ellen left in the car to find our spot and I spent the next fifteen minutes waiting with a hose. She programed my phone with our final (possible) destination and I was good to go. As I headed toward Tome's Best Spring Rd. Ellen called and confirmed it was a good location and off I went. My trusty Google Maps told me to turn on a Forest Service Rd. I looked at it with fear in my heart and did just that… After driving about half a mile on this rutted, dusty, narrow road I called Ellen for confirmation. "This is not the road you're looking for!".

This is Tom's Best Spring Road. Ellen Leading the way.

It was about a mile earlier. I don't know if I was distracted or messed with by Google Maps. No where to turn the thirty-one foot motorhome around and no foreseeable spot. Now picture me driving off said rutted road into a field and turning around. Back to the highway and back the mile to Tom's Best Spring Rd. and the waiting Ellen. It was a better gravel road and we chose our spot on a side road in the woods. Beautiful tall trees with enough of a clearing that our solar panels would be effective. I even got to set up my new hammock between said trees.

Lost in the woods with hammock. It was a hard day. Nap was necessary

Later that day I got a text from our new friends asking where we landed. I told them we were "lost in the woods off Tom's Best Spring Rd.". They were just down the road from us about a half a mile. They invited us to join them after dinner at their campfire. A good time was had by all. We exchanged stories and they told us their experience in Bryce and outside at Red Canyon. A small park just south of Bryce we had passed through on our way here.

The next day we entered Bryce drove up to the rim trail parking and hiked the Rim Trail as far as Sunrise lookout. Not an awfully long way but we wanted to drive the whole park and decide the best strategy for seeing it. We drove the length of the park and stopped at the high lookout points. Magnificent! One of the areas is called something like Fairyland or Castle and it all looked something crafted of spun sugar or cake frosting… But red. Hard to adequately describe. We also (on the advice of our instagram friends) drove to Red Canyon. A Little south of Bryce and hiked among the hoodoos. I certainly got my steps in that day.

Red Canyon. Hiking among the Hoodoos

Yes, this hike seemed to go on and on and on...

That night we joined our new friends for burgers on the campfire. Great meal and then a gathering of other instagram fulltime Rvers arrived and we shared stories, laughter and like minded community around the campfire.