Today was full of canyons and good food. We started out with a bit of a wander round Bryce Canyon before driving over to Zion National Park. This was my first long drive in the States and it was pretty easy. The route was mostly straight and with cruise control activated there's not much you have to do aside from constantly remind yourself to pay attention to the road!

At Zion NP we stopped quickly to look at the Checkerboard Mesa. The wind and weathering have caused a criss-cross pattern on the side of this mountain making it look like a giant chess board!

Back in the car, Dan took over the driving as I'd had enough (it's fairly boring driving in a long straight line...). To access the park, you have to drive through the 1.1 mile long Zion-Mount Carmel tunnel which goes right through the mountain. There were windows cut into the tunnel at regular intervals but it's not safe to stop anywhere so we didn't take any photos. The guy in front of us obviously hadn't got the memo about not stopping and we could have easily hit him a couple of times (good job Dan was driving and not me!), so best to obey the rules on that one, kids!

After the tunnel you drive right down into Zion Canyon before arriving at the visitor centre. We decided to head out of the park and grab lunch in Springdale at the Zion Canyon Brew Pub. If you find yourself here in autumn definitely try their pumpkin ale, it's delicious - sweet and aromatic with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg. You should also treat yourself to some chimichurri fries - regular fries but cooked up with garlic, parsley, olive oil and I could swear there was a hint of chilli in there too. Yum!

As we entered St George from Highway 15 we found ourselves on on weird bit of road that crosses over and has you driving on the wrong side. That was an odd feeling, it was almost like being home again for a second!

After that excitement we decided to check into the hotel and make the most of the pool. We spent the evening playing Black Light Mini Golf and finished up the day with pie at the Village Inn (well I did, Dan was good and just had a sandwich). Bliss!