Day 23: Moab to Parowan...

Update: Reader and friend Simon M. corrects my inept use of a sports term.  I said “…batting 50-50”, which he tells me should actually be “…batting 500”.  That makes no sense to me, but I'm certain his expertise in this area is greater than mine (because mine is approximately the lowest in the world).  The correction has been made below...
Also, the second melon has now been consumed, and it was a great one!

Original Post:

Today was the first day it really felt like we were headed home, which of course we were.  We stopped first at the Jailhouse Cafe for another great breakfast, and then took off north to hit I-70.

We took a different route, trying to avoid Hanksville and the surrounding area.  This time we went west on I-70 to the junction with Utah 10, and then wandered southwest to Panguitch, over Cedar Breaks, and down past Brian Head into Parowan.

The country we passed through was all new to us, and certainly prettier and more interesting than Hanksville :)  Alon the way we some pronghorn antelope (first on this trip) and lots of beautiful and prosperous farmland.  Also more than a few deer.

We stopped in Green River and bought some melons - the first one we tried was awful, and we ended up throwing it away.  Melons sure are a hit-or-miss affair, and I don't think we're even batting 500.  Sometimes we get a real winner, sometimes not so much...

Before leaving Green River, we stopped to get a drink at one of those convenience stores that's built into a gas station.  There was a bus parked outside, but we didn't think anything of it.  When I went inside, the place was absolutely packed with Japanese tourists – what looked like a hundred short people, all with black hair, and all smiles and laughs and chattering away at a mile a minute.  Camera flashes were popping all over the place.  I watched a giggling couple taking photographs of a ketchup dispenser – I'd love to know why!  There was a Japanese man behind the counter, chattering away to the tourists in Japanese; I suspect his presence accounts for the bus stopping here...

After a few hours of travel we got to Centerville, where we found a little shop that sells espresso (Debbie's only good for a few hours at a stretch without another “hit”).  When Debbie went in for her fix, she discovered homemade cakes on display – so she got us a big piece of carrot cake.  That was the best carrot cake I've had in a very long time, and I'm no carrot cake fan.  We polished it off in just a few minutes, with Debbie feeding me pieces as we drove.

In the midst of the farmland around Centerville, we drove alongside a meandering brook that wound its way through meadow and willow.   One a little peninsula formed by one of the brook's bends, we spotted a young buck standing and watching us.  He was a magnificent specimen, and perfectly displayed in that setting.  The sun was behind him, backlighting the fuzz on his antlers.  He was munching some brilliant green grass.  The brook burbled at his feet.  Willows provided a backdrop.  Perfect...

In another little town we saw an old broken-down wooden cart in someone's front yard.  It had been filled with dirt, and had sunflowers growing out of it.  Cute, and very cheerful in the sunlight...

We pulled into Panguitch on US 89, but switched there to Utah 143 to go over Cedar Breaks.  In Panguitch you just go straight on US 89 south and it turns into Utah 143; you have to turn left to stay on US 89.  It would be easy for someone to miss that left turn, and end up on Utah 143 thinking they were still on US 89.  Still, we got a big laugh out of an official highway sign along Utah 143 as we left Panguitch – it said “This is not US 89!”

As we crossed over Cedar Breaks, we were in a storm.  We had periods of very intense rain, and even a little small hail.  A lot of our possessions were in the Rhino bag on our roof, and we worried a bit about whether everything was going to get wet.  We needn't have worried – when I unpacked tonight, everything inside was dry as a bone.

We pulled into Parowan in the late afternoon, and decided to just relax in our room at the Days Inn and go to bed early.  Tomorrow we drive home, a 10 hour drive that we wanted to start early, before it got too danged hot...