National Park Tour: Zion National Park, UT 6/24/08

We got up pretty early this morning (6:30ish), had breakfast on the picnic table outside of our funky motor lodge and then headed for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I really enjoyed being in the higher elevation among all the pine trees again. It reminded me of home and I realized, once again, how much I love living in Nevada City. We arrived at the visitor center about 9:00 and had a great time just hanging out and taking in the vibe of the place. We tried for a camping spot in the park, but were told that everything was booked solid. So, we decided to just hang out for awhile, go on a couple of short walks, scope out the views and visit the lodge. (See one of the few joint photos of us taken overlooking the canyon). It felt great to be in the cool mountain air once again. Knowing that we needed to set up camp somewhere tonight, we decided to venture on to Zion National Park. It was a gorgeous drive thru the mountains, down into a desert valley and entering into the Eastern side of Zion. Wow, the drive thru the park completely knocked our socks off! We were fortunate to get a camping spot in the park and decided to just hang out for 3 days! The challenging aspect will be no showers or electricity. We spent the rest of the day and early evening exploring Zion. This included visiting the Canyon Visitor’s Center, watching a movie at the Zion Human History Museum, and taking the shuttle thru the whole park. We were particularly interested in scoping out all the areas for biking, swimming and seeing if the lodge would be a fun place to have dinner with Polly & Eric when they arrive on Thursday. By the time we got back to the campsite it was a little after 8. It’s definitely hot here. It reached 98 degrees today and we are hoping that it will cool down this evening. The first thing I did upon returning to the campsite was put on my bathing suit. I figure that I will be living in my suit and t-shirt for the next 3 days. Ned just fired up the barby & I’m drinking a “bottled” margarita. Geez, it feels good to be settled in.