Zion National Park

May 28 - June 3, 2014

We spent six days in Hurricane, Utah (pronounced hur-a-kun by the locals) visiting Zion National Park and the local area. 

The drive over from Bryce Canyon was relatively uneventful, i.e. meaning the mountain passes weren't too nail biting.  :)  We saw a lot of pickups pulling horse trailers and decided it must be sale day.  We've seen a lot of horses in Utah--a lot more horses than cattle.  For a cattle ranch girl, that's been a change.  We also saw the first of these big guys....  "Triples" they are called in the trucking industry, we found out--a semi pulling three trailers.  You don't see these in Texas.  Obviously they have different trucking laws in Utah.  My driver, who was a trucker in a previous life, found them pretty interesting.

We also saw a lot of these high "deer fences", we call them in Texas, running beside the interstate.  Since the speed limit is 80 mph on the interstates in Utah (not that we ever go that fast!), I'm glad they take some precautions to keep the wildlife out of the way!







The drive from Hurricane to Zion includes several picturesque little towns including Rockville and then Springdale, which is right outside the entrance to Zion.  To our Lubbock friends, can you imagine living with these kinds of views in your backyard?  Gorgeous.

I know we have flowers in Texas, but I just had to take a pic of these.
I'm always a sucker for pretty flowers.

Rock shops were a big thing in Springdale.  We don't have the
space or the available weight to load on rocks so I just admired
from afar.  They were sure pretty!

When we arrived at the park, it was already "full", meaning there was no parking left inside the park.  We just had to park in Springdale and then take a free shuttle into the park area.  They run the shuttles every 10 minutes or so, so this was no problem.  They allow no private vehicles on the roads inside Zion anyway, so if you do get there before it's full, you park at the Visitor Center, and then from there you explore the park the same way we did anyway. 




The scenic treats at Zion start at the entry gate.  Zion is different from the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon in that the park is down inside the canyon rather than on the canyon rim.  At Zion even the wimpy hikers like us can enjoy the sites from the bottom looking up.  It's a totally different experience.

There are signs all over the parks asking you not to feed the wildlife.
That does not stop the wildlife from learning where
there are humans and food, crumbs usually end up on the ground,
on purpose or not.  This little guy was freaking out that little girl in purple.
She kept trying to shoo him away, but she wasn't bothering him in the least.  He wasn't
giving up till he got something to eat!

Beside the Virgin River.  It played a major part in helping to form the canyon.

These are the busses that carry you through the park.
We talked to a couple who had been to Zion probably 20 years ago.
He was quite vocal and upset about how they had
"turned the park into a Disneyland, complete with buses."

Those of you who have been to these parks or who plan to go might find this interesting little tidbit I found interesting:  The bottom layer of rock at Bryce Canyon is the top layer at Zion, and the bottom layer at Zion is the top layer at the Grand Canyon.







Another day we drove up to Kolob Canyon, a different section of Zion.  We had heard some people thought this part of Zion was even more beautiful than the main canyon.

At the top of the Canyon there was a "short 1/2 mile hike" (one way) so...I know...surprise, surprise....we took it!  I think they lied.  It was more way more than a half mile.  Those rangers may be good at wildlife and all that stuff but they can't measure distance worth a flip.  :)

My driver.  Where are his wheels??!!

Such fun with my new camera.

On top of the world.

 

The rock formations are just amazing.

In addition to the sightseeing at Zion, we had a great time visiting with some of our neighbors at the RV park - Ron and Ramona, and Jim and Mercy.  Ron and Ramona are fulltimers and originally from Maryland.  Ron had his own business for a number of years laying flooring and is now retired, and Ramona is a retired police officer.  Since Max is also an ex-police officer, he and Ramona had some interesting stories to share.  Jim and Mercy moved out to Utah from Florida.  Jim is a truck driver for Old Dominion, and right now they are living full time in their RV and loving it. 

We had so much fun with these two couples.  We have found on the road, one of the things we miss a lot is a sense of community.  We meet a lot of people and have a lot of relatively brief conversations, but we don't often get the opportunity to really sit down and visit a while.  This was a special treat for us.  One night we all got together for a potluck BBQ and included another neighbor, Rudy.  Now that was an interesting dude!  Our conversations that night included all the no-no's--politics, religion....and aliens.  Eye-popping at times.  LOL!  But what a hoot. 

Until next time....take care!

Max and Paula