Joy and Bernie's Place

Our log home is 3 blocks from downtown Torrey. 4 miles to beautiful Capitol Reef and scenic highway 12. Seasonal nightlife includes local natural history, culture, and live music. The natural area brings wildlife into our backyard orchard. Great for bird watching! Home is rustic and eclectic, all wood interior with wood burning stove. Great place for couples, solo adventurers, and business travelers. Smoke and pet free, we use natural soaps and cleaners for your health. 1 block to town park. The apartment is rustic with all wood and/or rock interior. There is a queen size bed that can sleep 2 and a couch that can sleep one small-medium adult or child comfortably. Apartment and bathroom are not wheelchair accessible. There are a few stairs to navigate coming in to the apt. and also up to the kitchen and bathroom. Bathroom is attached to the kitchen and is small, but functional, with a custom-tiled walk-in shower. The small kitchen has an electric 4 burner stove top and oven, a toaster, coffee maker, crock pot, and a small dormitory style refrigerator with small freezer section. The kitchen is stocked with basic dishes, pots, and pans needed to cook and eat, a few spices, oatmeal and cold cereal for you to prepare if you choose. Coffee and tea are available as well and fruit from orchard when in season. Bring your own milk. There is a wood burning stove as well as an electric heater. Electric heater should be pulled away from wall when using. If using the wood burning stove remember to pull the flue out just a little to get it started and going well. Instructions for using the wood burning stove are on the wood box in the apartment. Fire starting materials and wood will be available for your convenience. Please take all precautions when starting and using a fire. If you need advice, please ask. Our BnB is just across the street from a fringe wooded area, where deer often bed down at night. Our east window faces the woods and sometimes you can see deer coming and going to our orchard property or to other places in the neighborhood. The deer frequent all parts of the property, eating fruit from the orchard in season, alfalfa, and wild greens in the yard. The fruit orchard and the canopy of mature trees in Torrey bring in an abundance of birds for viewing. Guests have access to the apartment, which is located on the left side of the house when you are on the street facing the house. Park on the left of the house and come in the 1st back door, which is the apartment door. The hosts live in the larger portion of the house (second back door), which is attached, but completely separate with separate entrance. The apartment includes a large bedroom/living room space with a dining table, a kitchen, and a small bathroom with a custom tiled shower. There is not a bathtub in the bathroom and there is no wheelchair access to the toilet or shower. Guests will have access to most of the .83 acre property, except the north yard, the front porch of house, and the garage. There is a fire-pit with wood bench seating in the backyard. Guests are welcome to build a fire, as long as the fire is safely put out when not in use. Guests can also enjoy the orchard behind the fire-pit and the older orchard in the "garden" through the gate just south of the garage. There are lawn chairs set up in a few places and guests are welcome to move them around as desired. We have 27 fruit trees, (apples, apricots, cherries & plums). You are welcome to help yourself to fruit that might be available during your stay. We very much enjoy meeting our guests when we are in town, and we do our best to meet each guest at the apartment soon after you arrive. If our schedules work out, we'd love to sit in the yard or house with you and chat. However, we'll also be happy to give you whatever privacy you want. We do travel at times and then are not available on site, but are still available through phone or messaging. We wish to assist you in having a meaningful stay, so please feel free to ask any questions. Feel free to knock on our door, call, or message us any time with questions. We are both nature enthusiasts and love sharing the beauty of the area with guests. Joy is a licensed Psychologist in Utah with a private practice in Torrey and may be available for a counseling session, a customized retreat, an Opening to Nature and Yourself Session, a nature walk around Torrey, and/or a bird watching session for a fee. You can find Joy on (SENSITIVE CONTENTS HIDDEN) at joymorrisin motion. Bernie makes and sells solar ovens and solar roasted coffee. He is also a musician in a local band and loves to play music around the campfire as well. You can find Bernie on (SENSITIVE CONTENTS HIDDEN) at Bernie Wuestefeld. The apartment is in the valley of Torrey, between Boulder Mountain to the south and Thousand Lakes Mountain to the north. North views are of the redrock cliffs and knolls of Torrey, with Thousand Lakes Mountain above. Torrey's elevation is 6837 ft. above sea level. Torrey has a beautiful combination of redrock cliffs, knolls, pinyon and juniper forest, and sage and rabbit brush desert scrub. The area has been referred to as high desert or cold desert, due to it's elevation and cool temperatures, fall through spring. The apartment sits opposite an open lot with a small wooded area that deer often bed down in at night, a meadow, and a small wetland area, based on the irrigation ditch that runs through town. This open natural land so close to the apartment brings wildlife and an abundance of birds into the area and property. We have kept our yard free of pesticides and let it grow wilder than most do, to facilitate our yard being used by the local animals and birds for food, habitat, nesting material, etc. We have noticed that the birds, deer, ants and squirrels have all been eating from the 90 year old apricot trees just outside the apt. door. We are happy to share our property with our "deer friends and neighbors." Because the mountains and plateaus surrounding Torrey rise to nearly 11,000 feet, the town rarely experiences the heat that much of Southern Utah does. We do get rain occasionally -- mostly in July and August. If temperatures do get hot during the day in July and August, the nights cool off quickly. To the East, the Torrey valley drops down into the red rock country of Capitol Reef National Park (4 miles away), to approximately 5,500 feet in elevation. The Navajos and Utes referred to the beautiful multicolored rock of the "waterpocket fold" and surrounding area, as "the land of the sleeping rainbow." Torrey is centrally located for many Southern Utah adventures. Accessible within 1.5-2 hours drive are parts of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and the canyons of the San Rafael Swell. Moab, with Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, is about 3 hours east. The Escalante Canyons are approximately 2 hours south. Bryce and Zion National Parks are about 3 hours south. Boulder Mountain to the South, Thousand Lakes Mountain to the North, and the Fish Lake area to the west and north, all have mountain lakes, streams and wooded areas. The area around Torrey is stunning in it's natural beauty and is a wonderful get-a-way from the city or the suburbs. Come to the "land of the sleeping rainbow." Enter the land of your soul. There is no public transportation. A car is needed, and a vehicle with high clearance can get you to more remote areas. However, parking is never a problem. There are 2 shuttle services in town that will take you to Capitol Reef or a number of trail-heads in the area if needed. Torrey is a very quiet and peaceful town and easy to explore by walking or bike riding. The apartment has no air conditioning. It is rarely needed in Torrey, because of our elevation (6837 ft.). However, there are occasions in August and July when it does get hot. In that case, we will supply a standing fan to help move the air around. If days are hot, leave the windows open at night to let the cool air in and close them in the morning to keep hot air out. There is no cable or Dish TV. The 21 in. TV is attached to an antenna and has 13 broadcast channels, such as ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS TV channels, etc. The town of Torrey is the gateway town to Capitol Reef National Park, 4 miles west of the park. Most businesses close at the end of October and open again in the spring. The area is beautiful in all four seasons. If you are coming in the late fall or winter, come prepared with the provisions you will need. Spring through Fall, amenities include: the Chuckwagon General Store in the center of town, coffee shops and restaurants, (some that serve alcohol and have seasonal weekend live music,) art galleries, gift shops, a gas station, and an auto repair shop. The Chuck Wagon has a small laundromat and beauty shop. Memorial Day through the end of October there is a wonderful Farmer's Market at the center of Torrey on Saturdays from 4-6 p.m. featuring local food and other products. If you are coming from the east, Mesa Farm Market in Caineville sells homemade goat cheeses & yogurt, artisan bread made in their brick oven, coffee, and fresh garden vegetables and fruit from their orchard, in season. There is a full sized grocery store, Royal's Food Town, 18 miles west of Torrey, in the town of Loa. The store is open until 8:30 and closed on Sunday.