Helper, UT

Saturday, September 26

Our morning started in Fruita, UT about 10 miles outside Capitol Reef National Park. We dry-camped on free BLM last night, and woke up around 7:00am to get on the road. We have a longer day of driving ahead of us today. It’s about 4 hours to Park City, UT — our next destination — with not much to do in between.

One of the things we loved about traveling in New Zealand is that we could drive a short distance and be in a completely different environment. But what Andi and I have since realized is that the United States isn’t much different. Sure, the US is a much bigger in size, but it continues to amaze us on this RV trip through Colorado and Utah how diverse the landscape is within a few hour’s drive.

Southeastern Utah was dry, arid and hot. Lots of big, beautiful canyons and not a lot of trees. Just an hour north of there, we started to climb in elevation. We saw mule deer, colorful aspen and shrub oak trees, and temperatures drop into the 60’s.

Andi and I decided to break up the 4 hour drive and stop overnight in Helper, UT. There was a brand new RV Park there that we could fill up on water, dump our sewer and trash, do some laundry and use the internet. Honestly, we were all tired today after a busy week at the national parks and could use a rest day.

We arrived in Helper around 1:00pm and checked into the RV Park. Andi pan-fried chicken cutlets for lunch and steamed asparagus. Then, we all laid around the RV for the afternoon. The kids watched iPads and I blogged while Andi took a nice, long shower and did laundry. The RV Park had a splash pad which Tory and Aden tried out, but returned a minute later saying the water was too cold.

Around 4:00pm, we decided to walk into town. The RV Park was located just outside city limits and was a short walk to the historic town center. Walking the streets of Helper was like stepping back into time. Once a coal mining town and a stopping point for trains gearing up to make the climb into Price Canyon, it was obvious this was once a bustling Main Street. And just like so many small towns in America, the town was almost forgotten about when those needs ended. Someone must be working very hard to bring the town of Helper back to life though — it was obvious in the many restoration projects happening with downtown buildings. We walked by an old service station that was completely restored, to the point where Andi and I wondered if it were currently in business. We discovered later that the old service station is now an Air BNB available for rent for $147/night which is pretty neat. There’s also the historic Lincoln Hotel which has been renovated into a Harley Davidson museum, and an old-time pick-up window in a courtyard selling hot dogs, shakes and fries.

It was fun to walk down Helper’s Main Street and read all the historic signs placarded on buildings. We stumbled upon a food truck at the very end of Main Street selling authentic Mexican food. This food truck didn’t fit in at all with the restorative theme of the town, but it looked legit. It’s no secret that Andi is a sucker for street tacos, so stopping at Angel’s Craving was a must. We bought four tacos and decided to take them to-go back to our RV. We also stopped by the corner market to buy a package of Creamies for dessert which are a fudge Popsicle only made in Utah.

On our walk back to the RV Park, Tory found a geocache near the library. We didn’t bring any trinkets to leave in the cache, but finding one is always a fun motivator to keep the kids entertained while we’re walking through a town.

Back at camp, Tory sat outside and FaceTimed her cousins while Andi and I warmed up tacos for dinner. They were fantastic! The kids ate leftovers and then Andi, Tory and Aden tried Creamies for the first time. Andi and Tory loved them — they said they tasted just like chocolate ice cream. We watched a few episodes of When Calls the Heart before bed.

Tomorrow, we’re continuing on to Park City, UT.