It was not as cold this morning. I guess that extra 3,000 feet makes a difference. We headed north on highway 89, immediately crossing into Utah. The country was beautiful. We were near the Vermilion Hills National Monument and that describes it pretty well -- layers of different colored rock (pink, red, orange, tan, etc.) sculpted into hills and mesas.
These layers were laid down at different times as this area was at the bottom of a great shallow lake -- and later a vast dessert with sand dunes thousands of feet high. Eventually the sand turned into sandstone. Then the whole Colorado Plateau was raised up from 8,000 to 10,000 feet. Rivers formed to drain rain and snow and carved out the beautiful canyons in this area. Iron in the sediments rusted resulting in the vivid colors. The different layers of sandstone were composed of different material eroding at different rates. So the spires and pillars (called hoodoos) formed in many interesting shapes.
As we travelled along the road leading to Zion National Park, we saw about six small mule deer dead along the highway. Jim named it "dead mule deer road." They must be like possums here. We saw a number of live deer as well. Once we entered the park, the ranger told us to drive 12 miles to the visitor center and park. There was a shuttle to take us from there.
We immediately found ourselves on a winding road in the midst of colorful mountains -- snaking through the peaks. This offered beautiful views for me, but not the driver. Jim said he could usually look around when driving, but was not going to do that on this road. They did have scenic pullouts here and there, so we stopped to gaze at the towering mountains and steep cliffs rising in front of us.
Then we saw sign for a tunnel. And what a tunnel it was, straight through one of the mountains, dark, curvy and ONE MILE long. They had carved about six side windows through the side of the mountains. The semi-circle in the rock in this picture is one of these tunnel windows. They were spaced so that just when you eyes adjusted to the light, they would blind you again. Great for those with claustrophobia, not so good for the driver. We finally emerged and entered the hairpin curve section of the road (five) until we leveled out at the bottom along the river valley.
We got to the visitors center at about 10:30 and got one of the last parking places. There was another gate to the Park right next to the visitor center -- so we figured we came in the back door. Later we saw a sign saying that the parking lot was full and you needed to park in town (near the front door)....then take another shuttle from there.
The park shuttle was great, but crowded. Each shuttle was a double bus and one came by every 6 minutes or so. They took you to all the points of interest and stopped both ways on the route which made it easy to get anywhere you wanted to go. Getting Jim onto a crowded shuttle was about the same as getting him near the edge of the Grand Canyon. Fortunately, folks dispersed quickly and Jim really enjoyed being able to get places without worrying about driving and parking.
After an enjoyable visit, we left about 2:30 back on the tunnel road to make our way to Bryce Canyon. On our way, we saw a roadrunner run across the road. Later we saw a dead coyote-like animal beside the road -- wondered if that wasn't Wyle Coyote. We stopped at Ruby's Inn on the road to Bryce Canyon National Park about 1 mile from the entrance. We decided that one park per day was our quota. We would get up early and hit Bryce first thing in the morning.
Ruby's Inn is quite a place and I highly recommend it to anyone going to Bryce Canyon. In 1916 Reuben Syrett (Ruby) and his wife bought a ranch on the land where the current Inn is located. Some friends told them about the nearby Canyon, and when they saw it, they were enthralled. They told all their friends about it and ended up pitching a tent called a "tourist rest" to host them. More and more people came and they built a lodge and kept expanding as the Canyon became a National Monument and then a National Park. The current Inn is huge and is run by Ruby's children and grandchildren. There is a huge gift shop and grocery store, restaurant, swimming pool. Down the street, they have a camping/RV area with its own swimming pool, and across the street there is an old fashioned main street with more stores.
When we checked in they explained that the electricity would be off from 11:00 pm to 6:00 AM. It had something to do with the power company repairs. They didn't offer a discount, but they had hot water (until 11:00) After dinner, Jim went to the room to watch football and I toured the gift shop.
These layers were laid down at different times as this area was at the bottom of a great shallow lake -- and later a vast dessert with sand dunes thousands of feet high. Eventually the sand turned into sandstone. Then the whole Colorado Plateau was raised up from 8,000 to 10,000 feet. Rivers formed to drain rain and snow and carved out the beautiful canyons in this area. Iron in the sediments rusted resulting in the vivid colors. The different layers of sandstone were composed of different material eroding at different rates. So the spires and pillars (called hoodoos) formed in many interesting shapes.As we travelled along the road leading to Zion National Park, we saw about six small mule deer dead along the highway. Jim named it "dead mule deer road." They must be like possums here. We saw a number of live deer as well. Once we entered the park, the ranger told us to drive 12 miles to the visitor center and park. There was a shuttle to take us from there.
We immediately found ourselves on a winding road in the midst of colorful mountains -- snaking through the peaks. This offered beautiful views for me, but not the driver. Jim said he could usually look around when driving, but was not going to do that on this road. They did have scenic pullouts here and there, so we stopped to gaze at the towering mountains and steep cliffs rising in front of us.
Then we saw sign for a tunnel. And what a tunnel it was, straight through one of the mountains, dark, curvy and ONE MILE long. They had carved about six side windows through the side of the mountains. The semi-circle in the rock in this picture is one of these tunnel windows. They were spaced so that just when you eyes adjusted to the light, they would blind you again. Great for those with claustrophobia, not so good for the driver. We finally emerged and entered the hairpin curve section of the road (five) until we leveled out at the bottom along the river valley.We got to the visitors center at about 10:30 and got one of the last parking places. There was another gate to the Park right next to the visitor center -- so we figured we came in the back door. Later we saw a sign saying that the parking lot was full and you needed to park in town (near the front door)....then take another shuttle from there.
The park shuttle was great, but crowded. Each shuttle was a double bus and one came by every 6 minutes or so. They took you to all the points of interest and stopped both ways on the route which made it easy to get anywhere you wanted to go. Getting Jim onto a crowded shuttle was about the same as getting him near the edge of the Grand Canyon. Fortunately, folks dispersed quickly and Jim really enjoyed being able to get places without worrying about driving and parking.After an enjoyable visit, we left about 2:30 back on the tunnel road to make our way to Bryce Canyon. On our way, we saw a roadrunner run across the road. Later we saw a dead coyote-like animal beside the road -- wondered if that wasn't Wyle Coyote. We stopped at Ruby's Inn on the road to Bryce Canyon National Park about 1 mile from the entrance. We decided that one park per day was our quota. We would get up early and hit Bryce first thing in the morning.
Ruby's Inn is quite a place and I highly recommend it to anyone going to Bryce Canyon. In 1916 Reuben Syrett (Ruby) and his wife bought a ranch on the land where the current Inn is located. Some friends told them about the nearby Canyon, and when they saw it, they were enthralled. They told all their friends about it and ended up pitching a tent called a "tourist rest" to host them. More and more people came and they built a lodge and kept expanding as the Canyon became a National Monument and then a National Park. The current Inn is huge and is run by Ruby's children and grandchildren. There is a huge gift shop and grocery store, restaurant, swimming pool. Down the street, they have a camping/RV area with its own swimming pool, and across the street there is an old fashioned main street with more stores.
When we checked in they explained that the electricity would be off from 11:00 pm to 6:00 AM. It had something to do with the power company repairs. They didn't offer a discount, but they had hot water (until 11:00) After dinner, Jim went to the room to watch football and I toured the gift shop.
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