America the Beautiful

Tuesday morning and we leave Bryce and head south two hours to Zion Canyon, NP. The scenery is just astonishing and I finally know what a "purple mountain majesty" is and lots of red rock too. The spectacular formations at Bryce are unique, but Zion is mighty beautiful too and more interactive as the amount of hiking trails and other activities is mind boggling.

To enter Zion from the east you pass the main gate and then proceed through a very long, dark tunnel. It can take two lanes of cars, but RV's have to be escorted through singly and they charge $15 each. The reward on the other side is a series of switchbacks on a road that drops hundreds of feet with no shoulder. I have to say that Jeff did a great job as we are still here to tell the tale, but we never did go back to explore that part of the park.

Today is very, very hot and we heard informally that the thermometer hit 108 degrees. I believe it as I headed straight to the pool as soon as we were parked. Ziggy and I went for a walk and discovered the Virgin River running right alongside our campground. Now Jeff may say that Ziggy doesn't love to swim, but she is not totally foolish, and she jumped right in. Lots of kids were swimming and there was also tubing and some folks sitting in their chairs right in the water. Anything to cool off.

After dinner Jeff and I took a bike ride on the Parus Trail which is level and lovely. Yes, we have our bicycles hitched between the RV and the car. This is the first time we've (Jeff) taken them off. The entire canyon was carved by the Virgin River and it was good to finally see a river bed with water in it. The canyon walls are amazing in colors from bright red to white. In Zion you mostly view the rock walls from the bottom as opposed to Bryce or the Grand Canyon where you look down.

As it cooled off we cooked dinner and made a fire and enjoyed the evening.