Road trip 2011 – part 8

Day 23 11/29 – We drove from Bryce Canyon to Springdale, UT and stayed in a local hotel there. It was dark on the drive there and we didn’t know if we would find anything open in Springdale, so we stopped in a small town along the way at a grocery store and got some snacks. The cashier warned John about watching out for deer along the way. So glad that she did, because we saw probably 8 deer along the side of the road!
While driving, we could also tell that we were passing some very large mountains along the side of the road, but we couldn’t see them very clearly. One part of the road has a VERY long tunnel – so long that I was starting to get concerned that it would never end! Inside the tunnel, we saw a strange critter – looked kind of like a cat with a raccoon, fluffy tail. Later, we asked a park ranger what it was and they told us that it was a ringtail and that it was very rare for people to see them.
I know it will be hard to believe, but I really did weed out a lot of pictures! These are just some of my favorites. We really liked Zion National Park – absolutely beautiful and different than Bryce Canyon in its own way. At Bryce, the main viewing points are at the rim. At Zion, the main viewing points are down in the bottom, so both offer a very unique, beautiful view of God’s creation.

Just look at the colors of the rocks!! And the sky!!!

It’s hard to grasp the scale, but these are VERY large. Did I mention the colors? :)

We drove to the end of the road first and worked our way back out. We took a very easy hike along the river.

Just a bunch of shots of the fam and the canyon during the morning hike. It was cold!!

On the return, we saw a small group of deer eating along the path. We watched them as they crossed over the river.

We also took another hiking trail – this one a little less groomed and we hiked to the emerald pools – small waterfalls with pools below them. Much more enjoyable hike, as it had warmed up a bit. There was a narrow pathway, so we spent some time goofing off.

Words and pictures just don’t do it justice – it is incredibly beautiful! We already want to go back and spend more time there doing some of the longer hikes.

To try to give you a sense of perspective … we spied some climbers scaling the face of one of the mountains. The above series shows them up close (far left), a little further away (look very closely at the dark stripe in the center) and finally zoomed out all of the way (the dark stripe is right about the center of the frame). Can you spy them in the last one? We watched them for a few minutes – long enough for the bottom climber to catch up the the upper one. I have no idea how high they were planning on going, but WOW!!

Road trip 2011 – part 7

Whew – I did warn you that we took a LOT of pictures!
Day 22 (11/28) – Drove to Provo, UT and stayed the night. Continued on to Bryce Canyon in UT. Pictures don’t do it justice as to how beautiful it really is.

A smaller formation on the drive in. That is a person a little left of center in the picture. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the beautiful colors in the rocks.

It had recently snowed, so there was lingering patches here and there. Just enough to make it extra beautiful.

Hoodoos – beautiful colors!

The ravens were very cute. Here is one on the sign at the highest elevation point.

To kind of grasp the scale … those are pine trees at the top of the picture.

Natural bridge.

This was my favorite spot – I think they called it the amphitheater. Breathtaking views looking down into a huge bowl area. We didn’t do a lot of hiking here because it was cold, later in the day, and there were some icy spots on the trails. We mostly enjoyed this canyon from the rim.

At the end of the day, we were at a lookout point where a nice trail went down a little distance. Hadden and I decided to hike down for a bit. That’s us in the picture above.

Aren’t we little? :)
Next up: Zion National Park

Road trip 2011 – part 6

Day 18-21 (11/24-11/27) We headed to Idaho for some extended rest with my sister, Teresa, and her family in their new home. After travelling so many miles each day, it was nice to rest for a few days and relax.

Thanksgiving meal with Rob, Teresa, Joshua, John, Luke, and Ethan – fun times!
Saturday, most of us went to Boise, ID to visit the state capital and the zoo. We also found an Idaho Black History Museum that we enjoyed spending some time at.

Bald eagle and zebra at the zoo.

Beautiful tiger and the 4 kiddos in a nest. They are all fairly close in age, so that have hours of fun together!

Inside the capital building looking down – there was a beautiful tree made out of potted poinsettias on the bottom floor. We discovered that the ceiling in the elevator was a mirror, so we took a quirky shot of us all looking up. Ha – sorry, Rob, you are hidden by a light – must mean that you are the brightest of us all :)

We took a timed photo of all of us together. Also, one of just the cousins.
This was our last group of family or friends to visit on this trip. We were SO thrilled to spend time with each of you, but there is never enough time. Thank you ALL for your hospitality! It’s so nice that my family are also my friends – it’s a blessing to be with each one.
So, I guess it would now be each of your turns to visit us!!! Tag – you’re it!

Road trip 2011 – part 5

Day 13 (11/19) – We stayed in Cannon Beach, OR to visit my sister, Debbie, and her husband, Troy. After taking a very large detour getting to their house, we had a very nice time together. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we enjoyed a little more time at the Pacific Ocean when we arrived.

Ecola State Park. Debbie and me at a lookout spot.

Our boy and some rocks. Beautiful sunset on the beach.
Family photo on the beach.

Uncle Troy shared his enjoyment of guns and even blessed Hadden with one to keep! He also took some time to do some target practice and they all had fun shooting. I stood inside by the very warm fire :)
Thanks Deb and Troy for your warm hospitality – we had a great time seeing you!
Day 14-16 (11/20-11/22) We arrived into Portland later in the evening, so we went straight to the hotel in Wilsonville to rest up. We stayed at the same hotel where our wedding reception was located almost 12 years ago.
While John took the kids to OMSI and a day out at the mall, I got to spend time with my 1/2 brain and bff, Heidi. She and her husband, Rob were blessed with little Maximus last February and this is the first time I got to meet him in person. So much fun catching up with Heidi and playing with the little man.

Heidi and Maximus. We were training him early to enjoy some Star*bucks! (Don’t worry, it was the clean, extra cup they put on for insulation.)

So sweet to spend time with them! Thanks Heidi for a great time visiting!
Day 17 (11/23) – On to Pendleton to visit my sister, Linda, and her family.

Carl (and his puppy, Spot :), Linda, Jordan, Hope and Carl and Girl.
 
I had to sneak a shot of Caleb before he left for work. Hope, Savannah and Girl. Hadden and Carl.
Thanks Carl, Linda, Caleb, Jordan, Hope and Carl for the nice visit, good food, and fun cousins game of Pictio*nary!
Next up: Idaho