three time zones in a half hour

Our room in Hurricane. It had a very nice patio to sit out on and a huge walk in shower plus a nice breakfast in the morning

It was a toasty 100 degrees when we got to Hurricane. Too hot to walk around much but as the sun set, we went to the edge of the neighborhood where they were driving golf balls into the canyon

Zion the next morning. I have a mix of Steve's photos and mine. He has the good but bulky DSLR camera with a variety of lenses whereas I make do with an iphone

me on our walk in the narrows

overlooking Emerald pool

our b&b All sorts of colorful lights at night

the golden hour in Hurricane

these were all over  I thought they were Jerusalem artichokes but probably not

my view of Zion through the mandatory bus window

see why it's called the narrows

the virgin river

sometimes these would have huge lily like flowers on them

this spray of water was refreshing on a hot day

one can drive through the lower part of the park which we needed to do to get to our next stop Kanab

I remember this tunnel when I was a kid. At one point, it was the longest tunnel in the US.  We could go only single file so a wait was involved

Vermillion cliffs on the other side

Checkerboard Mesa

We flew into Las Vegas which was crowded and full of construction. I couldn't wait to get out of it. Our car started making all these beeping noises.???? Turns out it was equipped with all these accident avoidance measures. Steve was driving too close to the lane markers. We were the first drivers of this rental car we were told. We ended up putting 2000 miles on it and after our trip, it no longer smelled new.

How fast we went from  an overcrowded area to total remoteness!  We ate at a Mexican truck stop.

How were we in 3 time zones in 25 miles? Nevada is in PDT; Arizona is in MST; and Utah is in MDT. We of course started early that morning in Michigan which is at the western edge of the EDT. Arizona is one of the few states that does not do daylight savings time though Navajo Nation, the NE upper quarter does. We did stay there one of the nights. Figuring out what time it is was a challenge especially when it was not clear what part of Arizona were we in.

I thought it would be nice to see the Kolob canyon section of Zion but after driving a good hour extra to see it, it was closed! Backtracked to Hurricane. The preferred place to stay for Zion is a town right outside of it; Springdale but due to popularity of the park in the fall (summer is too hot)rooms started at $250/night. I got a very nice place in Hurricane for 25% of that.

We had our own studio apartment in a pretty adobe building with plenty of skylights. The hostess was very sweet. 70% of Utah is Mormon which means they don't drink alcohol or anything else that might be a drug such as caffeine containing beverages. We were supplied with a bag of cold brew coffee and a French press. Probably a pricey bag. I didn't get around to reading how to make cold pressed coffee until the next morning. First step: the night before let seep overnight in the refrigerator...That would have been nice to know ahead of time. Our hostess said she had no idea how to use the coffee as she was not a drinker. I need coffee! While I took my shower, Steve found some in town. I did bring my own wine to sip as the sun set.

That was the only morning I had time to run. I had noticed the neighborhood road was wide and smooth. I had a flasher on so the very few drivers could see me. Hard to see much myself as there were no  lights. Though we were surrounded by mountains, the valley there is fairly flat. Our hostess made a nice breakfast (no coffee!!!) with a huge fruit bowl, bacon and homemade bread. I saw a female Anna hummingbird flit around. I was hoping to see other kinds but alas, just Annas.

Onto Zion. We stopped at an information place which said we better get into the park ASAP to get one of the free parking spots. Otherwise we'd have to pay for a private spot in town. This also would have been nice to know in advance.  We scored one in the very last row.

Our senior parks pass came in very handy. We paid $10 a piece (though we can get by with just one but it is good to have two for insurance) 3 years ago. On this trip, we went to 5 National Parks and one National Monument, which would have cost us $150 total without the pass though younger folks can get an annual pass for $80 or travel with a fourth grader for free. We went to a few other National Monuments which did not collect a fee. We also visited 2 Utah state parks which did charge us. They give seniors a discount only if they live in Utah. Now the geezer pass is much more pricey so I am glad we got it when we did.

Zion is the third most visited national park behind the Great Smokies and the Grand Canyon. And again, though school is out, summer is too hot to enjoy it. The bus had about 10 stops in which you could take trails of various lengths. It was very pretty. Lots of foreign tourists with their walking poles though the trails were not steep in general (Bryce's trails were much more demanding). I do have to say that even on the modest climbs, the American tourists were huffing and puffing whereas the foreigners were in much better shape. I visited this park as a kid but all I remember was the tunnel and that I thought Bryce, also visited, was much more interesting. My father, a photographer, was quite obese and seemed to have a policy of never walking much more than 20 minutes from the car. Even with my dicey balance (thanks chemo!) I did well as I am physically fit but how many years do I have left that I can spend the days scrambling over rocks. Carpe diem.

We retrieved our car to go through the southern half up a steep pass going into the tunnel mentioned above. I thought the area east of the touristy sections were prettier though there were hardly any other tourists there. On to Kanab where my eagerly awaited glamping experience turned out to be magnitudes less glamourous than hoped.

Sigh

And we were there for two nights.