Drive from Kodachrome Basin State Park to Spanish Fork, Utah

When we left Kodachrome, we weren't exactly sure where we were going to end up in the Salt Lake City area... the ranger who helped us with canceling the remainder of our reservation at Kodachrome had recommended a hospital (St Mark's) that her grandfather had gone to. We called them to see if they might have parking where Gracie would fit, and while they tried to be helpful, but it didn't sound super promising. I had checked with one of our RVing friends who is now in northeastern Nevada, and her husband had been inpatient at University of Utah hospital, but she didn't think they would have parking for Gracie (though she offered for them to come and get Gracie and take the rig to their place in Nevada). We knew that there was a clinic in the small town (Cannonville) near Kodachrome that was open on Tuesdays and Thursdays (and we were leaving on a Tuesday) -- but we weren't sure that they would have the diagnostic facilities that we thought might be needed. The closest hospital was in Panguitch, a bit over an hour away -- but we had the same concern that it might not have the testing facilities and might not have the skills if something more extensive was needed (i.e. hospital stay and/or surgery). So, as we drove, we decided against stopping at Cannonville or Panguitch, opting instead to head to Salt Lake City area.

Heading out from the campground...

Such beautiful blue skies and interesting rock formations!

As we got near Cannonville, we saw this rock formation that looked like a temple on the top of the Acropolis in Athens!

We decided not to stop at the clinic in Cannonville...

So we turned west to drive past Bryce Canyon National Park. This was the parking area at the trailhead for Mossy Cave Trail.

"Smile, Carl!" The blessing with his pain was that it wasn't severe and it wasn't constant, but it was very tender and it wasn't going away (even after 5 days).

We went through tunnel #1...

... and tunnel #2 on Route 12. (While we would prefer to go through these tunnels by ourselves so we could easily hug the center line, it seems that there is almost always oncoming traffic right when we get to the tunnel!)

Red Canyon Rocks

We had also discussed whether we would be better off turning south to go to Mesa, rather than north to Panguitch or Salt Lake City, but Mesa was about 150 miles further (450 versus 300) and in the opposite direction from where the remainder of our summer travels are planned to go. So, we turned north when we got to US 89. And we continued driving when we got to Panguitch.

The views continued, though not the pretty red rocks...

Along the way, we went through a canyon area with a river and a bike trail (rail-to-trail) next to us (I can't see either the river or the bike trail in this picture, so you'll have to believe me on this!). The bike trail is named Candy Mountain Express from Sevier to Big Rock Candy Mountain (yes, really!) and, since it is a former railroad route, appears to be relatively level.

As we drove, we discussed different alternatives -- going to St Mark's, trying to find parking somewhere else, other hospital options. We would be getting there late afternoon, and we weren't sure that was a great time to visit an emergency room. We decided that a better option might be to find a place to stay the night, and leave Gracie there and drive the Jeep to an ER the next morning. I found a Harvest Host farm that indicated that we could stay additional nights, and sent in a request. They responded almost immediately that we could stay, and we decided to head there. 

The wife of the farming family greeted us soon after we arrived, and we talked with her about hospitals in the area -- God provided an amazing resource in this young lady as she has had multiple abdominal issues and surgeries. She was able to give us good input on the two closer hospitals (though she also shared with us that her surgery was done by a doctor from St Marks and so she gave it high marks too). We decided that waiting until morning was the best strategy -- we'd be able to better deal with any potential delays after a night's sleep.

Sunset out of our bathroom's window over some of the farm equipment that is sharing the field where we're parked

We were grateful to have a plan and a safe place to leave Gracie while we take care of this concern.