Today was our day at Zion. We got a fairly early start because we heard about the potential crowds. We arrived at the parking area a little before ten and there were already very few parking spots. We were prepared to be underwhelmed by the scenery after everything else we've seen but we were wrong. This was completely different! We didn't try to take a lot of pictures of the cliffs and mountainsides but trust me, they were impressive. Another difference wa...

On our way down to Glendale, we took a short stop for lunch at Bryce Canyon National Park. We are becoming somewhat desensitized to the vistas so, though this was pretty, it wasn't as awe inspiring as some other places. One thing that made this park very different is that it was wooded, mostly ponderosa pine. This was a nice change from the barren rock hillsides and deserts of our last few stops. We will be spending the next several days in the south Utah are...

We spent our day at Capital Reef National Park. Assuming no one else knows much about this place, I will provide some basic information. The name comes from the dominant feature of the park, a 100 mile long uplift (called a monocline) in the earths crust. The early settlers called these features reefs. Additionally, they thought the white rounded rock tops looked like the dome on the capital building (see cover picture) and those two features led to the park ...

Tuesday was a bad weather day so we had little opportunity to get out and explore. We did make one stop at the mining and Railway Museum in Helper Utah. We are realizing that every small town has some type of museum, some of them pretty good. However, the best thing about going in is talking to the staff who are so glad to have someone stop they talk a blue streak with great information. This was the case today. Helper Utah was founded as a railway crossroa...

Sunday was another travel day, mostly through large expanses of desert. It was very dull. Around noon we entered Utah and drove through Flaming Gorge National Recreation area. This was gorgeous! Beautiful rock formations, deep gorges and a beautiful lake. We ate lunch by a small inlet of the lake, very quiet and peaceful with an eagle soaring overhead. Sorry, we only got the one picture. You will just have to take my word for it that it was great. I will...