Well, good ol’ Ruby came through with a pretty great breakfast buffet. All in all, hotels will have a hard act to follow after Ruby’s Inn. Of course last night we stayed at a brand new Comfort Inn and Suites in Hurricane, Utah. This place even smells new.
On
the way to Zion National Park we saw a sight we have never seen before. Now we of course have seen road kill of all
shapes and sizes. But for the most part,
road kill still has some meat on the bones.
This time we saw what appeared to be a deer … skeleton. I mean picked clean by the buzzards and other
creatures and parched white from the sun.
Fascinating nature specimen, right?
When
we finally arrived at Zion, Chris was driving.
Important later. We came to a
small tunnel while she was driving.
Chris doesn’t like tunnels. She doesn’t
even like driving under a railroad track, especially if a train is going over
at the time. She did well this time. Of course it wasn’t very long …
Soon
after the tunnel we changed drivers so Chris could be in the camera taking
seat. And just a few miles down the road
… lo and behold … another tunnel. And oh, what a difference. First, we had to wait a while before we could
go through. It was a one lane at a time
deal. And when we were released to go
in, we had to turn on the lights. Not a
good sign for Chris. And as we drove it
became apparent that this one would be looooong. Let’s just say she was … uncomfortable. She managed to last through the whole thing without
a panic attack or anything.
We
saw some pretty incredible sights just on the drive to the visitor center. Hugely high mountains and hugely low
canyons. It was gorgeous. After about a 20 or 30 minute drive once we
were inside the park, we finally came upon the visitor center. And so did a few hundred thousand others. It is Spring Break
Week in Utah, ladies and gentlemen. And
every family in the state is at Zion National Park, in case you are looking for
someone you know. It was like a summer
day at DisneyWorld. The sign to the
parking lot said that it was full and all efforts to park there would be …
futile. Well, it didn’t really say that
exactly, but it should have. What it
actually said was, “Park in town.”
Right. Well, not to be denied, we
did what every other driver was doing … we entered the parking lot anyway to see
for ourselves before finally deciding to take their advice.
We
left the park and looked for a parking lot near one of the shuttle bus stops
provided by the park. (Insert Chuckle
here).
The
cost to park your car was $50. We drove
clear to the other end of town with no luck.
So … Chris had a great idea.
Drive back into the park (the lines by this time, by the way, rivaled
the aforementioned theme park), and drop her off at the visitor
center. She could get her stamp and see
if they had any animals for adoption. My
job would be to cruise the full parking lot and look at people. The idea worked really well. I even managed to snag a “15 minutes only”
parking spot. And we did well inside,
too. She got her stamp and a few others
they had as a bonus. We managed to rescue
a kangaroo rat. They bounce around places
like this all the time. I sent out
feelers for names on this one, since rats of all kinds rarely go by human
names. Read for this one? From AnnaGrace: “Gus, and sometimes you can
call him Gussy.” Of course. Gus.
What’s
that? What about the whole point of the trip
to the park? What about seeing the rest
of the incredible sights? Well … we decided
it would be fruitless to pursue any attempt at parking. We once again left the park and headed further
west, where our hotel would be for the night.
But then Chris had a great idea. about
20 minutes north there was another part of the park that is not actually
connected to the main park. It has its
own entrance and everything. It is much
smaller, of course, but it had its own park stamp for Chris, so it was a double
bonus. We drove to the end of the only
road in the park and found the entrance to the only “easy” trail marked on the map. It was described as just one mile round trip,
and on site is was described as “moderate.”
So which do you believe? Easy or
moderate. Hey. After what we accomplished on yesterday’s
hike? Let’s do it. OK. It
was indeed exactly one mile total. And there
were some pretty good views of the canyon.
But they somehow managed to make it where you had to hike uphill … both
ways. And in some places you had to
scamper over rocks. Loose and otherwise.
It was not by any means as hard as the one that nailed Chris, but it had
its moments. We made it all the way,
though. Hiking in Zion Park …
check. And since our hotel is just 20
minutes from the park, we decided to get in line by 7 a.m. or so to see if we can
nab one of those visitor center parking spots.
That way we can get on the park shuttle and hopefully see everything and
be done by around noon. Then it’s on to
the next place she has located, somewhere in northern Arizona, I think.
Joshua
1:9 says, “Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous. Do not
be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you
wherever you go.”
Father,
thank you for the surprise hike experience we had yesterday. It is fun to meet all different kind of people
from all over the world. Amen.
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