Capitol Reef and Toothache

 I loved Capitol Reef. But even more I love the open road. Me, a car and a feeling of total freedom, a forgetting of all worries and just the exhilaration of the ride. I was well into the rural outback when I stopped off at this little cafe - we chatted and they asked me to stay on for another hour or two because they loved my accent!

Capitol Reef may not be the most grandiose of Utah's parks, but I loved it. How can one place be so panoramic and vast, yet feel cosy and accessible at one time? The biggest plus was the absence of other tourists. All the other places were packed but here it was peaceful and solitary. The geology was still stunning, the baked earth and ochre colours lived up to my expectations and I even managed to get in some good bird watching with advice from the local naturalist. My kind of heaven -  a lasting memory will be sitting in front of the old Mormon homestead, eating home-made ice-cream, watching cowbirds, Say's Phoebe, and mule deer in the sunshine. Bliss. I guess I love solitude....

But very good moments must have their balance. For every positive it seems there must be an enormous negative. Let me state here and now that I know I have just a few, awful teeth. I am the person your parents use as an example of someone who didn't look after her teeth. I did come prepared with some, I thought, strong Portuguese antibiotics. But they weren't a match for the maple syrup pancakes at breakfast the next day. Capitol Reef on my doorstep and only 24 hours left there. What did I have to do? Give in to the awful fact that the toothache wasn't going to go away. Lay on the bed and feel that familiar pain spreading around my cheeks and jaw.

Say's Phoebe

By the evening, I knew I had to act and went to reception of my Great Western hotel. They were kind and caring. Did lots of ringing round. Eventually I was dispatched to the Tooth Ranch a couple of villages up the road. Then came surely one of the worst pain experiences of my life up to now...I won't go into detail but it HURT. The cruel-to-be-kind dentist scoffed at my meds and gave me something stronger 'for the road' - for I was venturing even further into the outback. The ordeal was over. I was back going towards Highway 12, with vistas of the Grand Staircase Escalante - where the history of the planet reveals itself in coloured steps in vast horizons of pinks and oranges. I realise now why I never put on weight when I am traveling (as opposed to the present forced sedentary lapse).....I am constantly getting in and out of the car to take photos. Thousands of them. Every one worth it.