Canyons: Bryce and Zion, but no Grand.

A buffalo farm we drove by

This morning we made the executive decision to go to Bryce and Zion, and skip the Grand Canyon. We want to be home by monday, and we wanted to visit at least one day with my grandparents in Vegas, so that gave us the choice of a 16 hour drive today to visit all three, or to choose Grand Canyon, or the other two. Stephanie felt that 2 parks is better than one, so we chose the 2 parks, and I think we got the better deal.

We started by heading east from Panguitch about 20 miles, through the Red Canyon. The Red Canyon is a wonder in itself, with deeply red dirt and interesting rock formations. The highway to Bryce goes through a couple of stone arches. They seem like they were natural arches that the construction crews just finished off.

Grand Tetons. I mean, Bryce Canyon.

Bryce itself is just like the pictures, only lots freakin bigger. There's a nice highway through the park that takes you to seemingly all of the best views. On the way into the park all of the pullouts are on the left, which made it awkward to pull into. Of course, all of those pullouts are on the right when you are heading out, which is what the guide that they give you when you come into the park says you should do. Across one meadow, 4 antelope were chewing grass right off the roadway, not 10 feet from the car. We stopped and took pictures from the window, and as we were pulled over, they began to cross the street right behind the The rock formations are weird and cool, all sticking up like they don't belong there, and orange and yellow and white. The cliffs have arching holes in them and red/orange sand below. We could see people walking among the towering spires way wayyy down there. They looked like ants. At one stop a little chipmunk walked right up to Stephanie, it clearly wanted food. I held out my hand and I was able to stroke my finger down its back before it ran off.

Big antelopes

A tasty morsel for Sherbert

From Bryce we drove west to Zion. The highway in Zion is even more spectacular than Bryce in my opinion. The cliff walls extend straight upward from the road, and they are everywhere. Stephanie and I spent more time trying to figure out how to get the whole cliff in the shot, than actually taking pictures. On the drive through the 3 mile long tunnel, Steph said we should hold our breaths. We did, but she quickly lost it cuz her aide beeped. I started breathing through my nose, but kept my cheeks bulged. She believed that I was holding my breath for about 5 minutes, until I started laughing at her. This whole trip has been really good for our relationship, and we've had countless moments like this throughout the trip.

Up in the middle of that cliff, you can see a window that goes into the long tunnel.

Outside of the parks, the freeway from Zion to Vegas is awesome too. Huge sweeping mountainscapes and steep cliffs and tight twisting turns. On one particularly nasty grade going down, at 75mph, we came upon a whole truck tire right in the middle of my lane, right around a tight turn. With cars on all sides of me, and a concrete wall to my left, I had little options. I slowed down to around 50 before we were upon the tire and I managed to squeeze our car between the tire and the wall, with about an inch to spare on either side. Stephanie shrieked, but we squeezed by and continued on our merry way.

Before long we could see the impressive skyline of Vegas beckoning in the distance, and not long after that we were battling for our lives in heavy urban freeway traffic. The final stretch down the surface streets involved 2 roundabouts. I had to go through the first roundabout 3 times before I got going the right way, but I breezed through the second one like a pro.

Grandma and Grandpa greeted us at their door. They have a lovely huge apt and welcomed us right in. After a little chitchat Grandpa mentioned that his computer was giving him fits, so I buckled down to see if I could help. It turns out that I couldn't really help, but I gave him a workaround of sorts. While I was helping Gramps, Barb showed up, and Grandma started making dinner. Steak and potatoes, mmmmmmm. We had a nice family dinner around the table, and before you know it, it was time for Barb to head out, and Steph and I did the dishes. Grandpa mentioned that his DVD player wasn't hooked up, so I buckled down to see if I could get it working. In the process I managed to lose a DVD inside the player, so I had to open it up and fish it out. However, now the DVD player works, if they can remember how to turn it on. The DVD that Gramps wanted to watch was of my uncle Walter doing Chi Gung, which Grandpa wants to try doing, to help him excercise and relax.Working for my supper

Making sure I don't mess up.

After all that hard hard work, we were ready for bed, and took advantage of it.

That is all.

We briefly entered Arizona