UEA done right again

It wasn't until I was in high school that I found out that fall break (the couple of days all Utah kids get off school for UEA) wasn't really a holiday for the deer hunt, but rather a chance for teachers to go to coordinated state-wide conference. Last weekend Stella and I (mostly I and everyone else in the state) wanted to take advantage of what might be one of the last weekends of great weather by going camping (while Calder toiled away on our house in Midway). We stopped in Spring City to pick up Grandma Kathy and the VW and then headed to our old stomping grounds in Capitol Reef and had a grand time. I remember lots of Octobers spent in Capitol Reef as a kid, picking apples in the orchards, camping in the campground, and watching deer who had escaped the orange colored hunters stalking the nearby mountains to the National Park refuge. This trip was no less exciting but much more crowded than our trips 25 years ago. The campground and main trails were crowded with loads of nature-seekers. We hiked in Grand Wash, ate burgers in Torrey, chased a raccoon away from our cooler in the middle of the night and managed to not freeze on our way through Sulphur Creek. Stella is a good camper and hiker, though we don't get very far very fast when she stops to pick up rocks every couple feet. We must go again soon.