Zion and Bryce

Last night we stayed in the Bumbleberry Inn just outside of Zion National Park. We got there late, and if we ever come back to Zion this will be near the top of the list of places to stay. It wasn't until we woke up and looked out the sliding glass door to see the car up the little hill in the parking lot with a big red cliff wall off in the distance behind it. We had Bumbleberry Pancakes, then went off to Zion.

Zion itself was crowded, but wasn't too bad (not that our standard for bad is the crowds of Yosemite, that is). In the summer you can't drive through the park for most of the roads, so we parked at the visitor center and took a shuttle to the end of the scenic road. There we took a hike to The Narrows where the canyon narrows so much that in order to continue you have to hike through the river. Not today, but definitely for a future visit when we have time. Please note that even at Zion, some people look like a fool.

Bryce Canyon is spectacular. It is so unique...the pictures you see, well that is what it is. I do want to come back and hike through those hoodoos... We met several folks at Bryce Point (where the picture here of the boys was taken), and some we met at multiple viewpoints. Always nice to meet more people and share the car. Today as we drove into the parking lot of the Visitor Center at Bryce Canyon National Park we hit 5,000 miles from the start of our trip!

The final picture is between Bryce and Escalante, Utah. Took a quick stop to get a picture of the sunset. What a beautiful place to live -- not much here besides the beautiful sunsets (and sunrises). It would be a neat place to retire, or at least have a cabin (if you could get to it easily on your own private plane!). :-)

Tonight we're bedding down at the Circle D Motel and tomorrow morning we'll chart out towards Capitol Reef National Park, then on to Moab, Utah where we can go to Arches and Canyonland National Parks.