A Heavenly Day in Zion!

Last night we stayed at a well-seasoned resort up in the mountains between Bryce and Zions.  We picked it for the location and the log cabin ambiance.  It turned out that the breakfast was the best part.  The morning brought a beautiful, sunny crisp day.  On our drive to Zions National Park, we decided to take a detour to Kanab, the old western movies capital of Utah.  We had been there once with our college friends, Clark and Nadine. It was a quaint little town and the drive there and back brought more beauty and wonder.

 On the drive to Kanab and back we passed several businesses built into holes in the sides of huge rock mountains.  I couldn't catch any pictures of those but I was able to get this wall of windows.

When we stopped in Kanab for a bathroom break , we passed by a police car on the side of the road.  In the front seat was a "dummy" driver.  I guess it is cheaper on the payroll.  We got a kick out of that.  On the way back from Kanab to Zions, we passed another sheriff's car with a female dummy.  We went back and took this photo.  I guess Kane County has a creative way to balance the budget.

I can't describe the beauty of the massive rock mountains in Zions and none of our pictures even begin to show the splendor and sheer magnificence of these rock mountains.  There are two tunnels that have been blasted through the mountains.  One of them is over a mile long.  I was able to get a photo of one of those.

This ledge over my head has water dripping down from the wall like a waterfall except that it just weeps out of the rock.  It was cool, like an air conditioned room.  It is called Weeping Wall.

The weather was perfect today so we took several longer hikes to see the amazing rock formations.  Here we are at the end of the trail.  In order to walk through the narrows, you have to wade through the river and hike another distance.  We didn't have the right footwear, so we ended our two mile hike here along with the majority of other tourists and then hiked two more miles back to our truck.

After all of our hiking, we were pretty tired, so we had an early supper at  Wildcat Willey's and then took a piece of bumbleberry pie with us to our cabin at Zion Mountain Ranch.  We really love this newer cabin with its log walls, kitchenette, gas log stove and awesome bathroom. 

We also love the view from our front porch of the buffalo preserve.  It is gorgeous at sunset. 

It's been another wonderful day.  We have loved our adventures throughout the canyons and parks of Utah!  We never imagined we could enjoy so much beautiful scenery day after day!

Lucky For Us!

Steve relaxed for a few minutes at the bed and breakfast where we had a delicious breakfast and are ready to head out for new adventures.  Steve called the Dodge dealership in Richfield and discussed our problem with the truck not starting. We figured we would have to drive over there and get a new key and then change our plans for the day.  Luckily, the dealership said the way to fix the problem is to remove the bolts on the battery and then reconnect them again.  That will reset the computer and then the key should work.  That was done last night.  So off we went south on the famous All American Highway 12. We had seen so much beautiful scenery yesterday that we couldn't even imagine that there was that much to see that would be spectacular!  Well we were wrong.  We were in for another day of gorgeous scenery.  Within minutes we were in beautiful forests and climbing up the mountains.  At the top of Boulder Mtn., 9600 feet in elevation, we saw snow and beautiful valley vistas.  As we dropped down into the small town of Boulder, we were amazed that this town has existed since pioneer times and didn't even have electricity until 1953. They didn't pave the road from Torrey to Boulder, 37 rough miles, until 1985.

From Boulder we started climbing again and entered the Escalante National Monument area.  The first phase of the road is like a thin ribbon with amazing canyon drop offs on each side.  I don't know how they ever built that road.  No wonder Boulder was isolated for so long.  We passed the beginning of the Burr Trail and added that to our list of adventures we want to pursue.

Both indians and pioneers lived along the Escalante River in narrow valleys for centuries. It is amazing.

After we left the Escalante area, we were at the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park.  Once again, the vistas were breathtaking.  They call these rock pillars hoodoos.  They look like people clustered together and many of them look like castles to us.  There are numerous hiking trails down into the canyons and throughout the hoodoos.  We were content to hike to view points so we could see amazing views like this one.

We were photographers for several other tourists and then they took our photo here at Inspiration Point.  We had to hike up through the snow but it was worth it. 

This is called the Wall of Windows.  Cool, isn't it?

This was called a bridge but it is really an arch.  We were fairly close to it so we really liked this one.

This one really looks like a huge castle to me.  Or perhaps a temple, right?

At the end of our visit through Bryce Canyon, we had lunch at the Famous Ruby's Inn.  The guy owns the whole town and he sure knows how to cater to the foreign visitors.  Everything is posted in French, German, Italian and English.  There were many people speaking other languages and spending a fortune on items in the store.

We left the Bryce Canyon area and headed west through the Red Canyon area.  Once again there were beautiful red rocks and green pines and junipers.  The visitors' center was closed but everyone gets to go through two of these rock tunnels on the main highway which is Highway 12.  I guess they were made from rocks in the area but didn't occur naturally.

We were so happy that we were able to continue our travels through Boulder, Escalante, etc.  We were surrounded by such beauty all day.  It is truly God's Country because only God could the world this beautiful!

Exploring Utah's Parks!

We have lived within a few hundred miles of some amazing scenery in eastern and southern Utah but we've never seen it in person--just pictures.  So Steve and I decided to take a few days off and explore the national and state parks in that area before the big spring rush starts.

We started off with Dead Horse State Park.  It was so awesome at sunset.  It took our breath away.

We stayed in Moab the first night and then headed to Arches National Park the first thing the next morning.  It too was abundant with breathtaking red rock formations and spectacular arches.  The only negatives were the cloudy skies and the very strong gusty winds.  Because of the wind, we passed on most of the short hikes in the area except for a short one to the Sand Dunes Arch.  We were glad we ventured into the winds for that as we couldn't have seen this interior arch any other way.

Next we headed down the road to Monticello and drove by the beautiful LDS Temple.  It was Monday so that was the best we could do.  Then we headed to Blanding where we had lunch at the Patio place .  It was a little hamburger & shake joint with lots of cars around it.  Inside we got a kick out of the local missionaries tossing out their one-liner bits of wisdom.  After the elders left, we talked with the sisters and found out they are part of the Farmington, New Mexico mission that covers parts of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona.

Then we headed to Natural Bridges National Monument.  The weather had moderated now into sunshine and a mostly breezes with a few gusts of wind.  Therefore we ventured on a couple of hikes because we wanted to see the Indian ruins and the hidden bridges made by strong rushing water in years past.  If you look really closely at the bottom of the rock arch, you can barely see the openings to the caves made by the Indians 1,000 years ago.

This is the Owachomo Bridge which no longer has any water running beneath it.  It is called a mature bridge.  We learned that bridges are made by water and arches are made with other erosionary forces.

On to Torrey to stay at the Skybridge Bed and Breakfast.  Because the season really starts in earnest next week, we happened to be the only guests.  We really had the place to ourselves.  It was lovely and the hosts fixed a yummy breakfast.  When we asked for a recommendation for a local restaurant, they sent us 8 miles west to a town called Bicknell and a restaurant named Sunglow.  In addition to homemade food, they specialize in homemade pies.  This is the famous pie sampler.  It features pinto bean, pickle, oatmeal and buttermilk pie samples.  Everyone of them was delicious.  I understand they DON'T give out their recipes.  You just have to go back for more.

Our only unfortunate incident of the day happened at the restaurant however.  When we finished our dinner and went to leave, the truck wouldn't start.  Steve went back in the restaurant and asked if anyone had jumper cables.  We got lots of helpers.  The battery wasn't dead so one lady called a local mechanic.  He was there in 5 minutes.  He fiddled around with things and tried a few clicks with our electronic key.  He finally got it started but wasn't certain what the problem was.  We all think the key has a problem.  The people were amazingly helpful and wouldn't let us compensate them in any way.  What a great little area-Torrey and Bicknell.  We loved it's beauty and cleanliness especially compared to some other communities we had seen.  All in all, we a wonderful day and the scenery was "Heavenly".  Our only regret was that you all weren't with us to see it.  Now we will make a detour to Richfield to try to take care of the key issue.