Hi Everyone,

Well this is the back straight, so to speak, before we turn the corner and head towards San Francisco and the end of our journey, however, there are quite a few twists and turns before we can get there.

We have found yet another fantastic Motel, I know I keep saying that but honestly, but honestly this one is straight out of your most vivid imagination! Parkway Motel, East State Street, P.O.Box 52, Orderville, Utah is the place and Dixie is the hostess with the mostest!

If I tell you that our rooms are like something out of a cave and the bathroom is just a piece of art, I am not exaggerating. The main double bed chalet is unbelievable & I am going to say that any 'couple' coming to visit Bryce Canyon or Zion National Park simply HAS to stay here in room number 1. This is on the understanding that you are prepared to let your imagination run riot, do not expect convention. It should also be understood that you are prepared to share a shower with one another as the shower IS a room and has been designed to resemble a rain forest with about six different outlets which all come on at the same time. It is quite surreal and is described as showering in the rain, you can make your own minds up on that one.

Okay, plugs out of the way, 28th June. Bryce Canyon had been recommended to us as a 'must see' by an Australian couple we met back at The St Helens Motel. Having insulted us with cricket and then rugby they started to talk some sense. The lady, whose name I do not recall, but will from here on in be known as Matilda, ah see you thought I was going to say Sheila didn't you? No, it's Matilda, very kindly gave us the low down on the Grand Canyon area including Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park.

She also gave us an itinerary which they had put together with accommodation and a route, which was exceedingly helpful of her.

We set off early from Dixie's to arrive at Bryce where we took the shuttle bus around to Sunset Point where we then walked the figure of 8 trail through the base of the Canyon. On paper it is a serious trek and the decent is a long way down to almost the base before taking you up and over many ridges. Personally I felt absolutely done in. It is by far the most energetic thing I have done for many weeks. It was also extremely hot, the average daily temperature has been between 82 and 93*. I carried over 3 litres of water and a load of fresh fruit, all of which had gone by the time we finished. It totalled a five hour non-stop trek which was not for the faint hearted.

I would still say that this was the best trek to do but would qualify that by saying, without the amount of water we took, I would really have struggled, the lower you go, the hotter it gets. The photo opportunities are endless but the selection I took will have to suffice as I really didn't have the strength or inclination in the end, to take more! Bryce Canyon is as stunning as everyone had told us. It is as hard to trek as the guide book suggests and it is as hot as the weatherman predicted, but, it is truly wonderful and I'm glad we did it.

Everything about the place is impressive and has to be seen rather than described. A really good time to visit would be late May or early June when it is not so hot. We are reliably told that Bryce is actually hotter than The Grand Canyon, We'll see!

28 June,

Today was our visit to Zion National Park, believing that yesterday at Bryce was going to be the hardest day, we were ready for anything, well almost. The drive to Zion from the motel is a short one, 20 or so miles. Like many areas out here, the indigenous population are native Indians and we visited a really good (bit touristy) centre which sold a lot of crafts made by the Indian people. You have to be careful because many things you pick up look genuine until you see that they were actually made in China, nothing against the Chinese of course, but I wanted the real thing. Then onto Zion Park.

We thought Bryce was the most stunning place visited so far, wait until you see Zion. Amazing, truly, truly Amazing. You have to drive through a very long tunnel which seems to go on and on, is pitch black, even with headlights it difficult to make out everything, it has quite a gradient on it as well and obviously causes a few people problems. You exit into another world, huge red and orange rock faces, boulders bigger than buildings hang from the sides as if just placed there by hand. Some defy gravity and belief. The mountain road turns and twists, cuts back on itself, goes through ravines and drops thousands of feet until you finally reach the basin of the Canyon. The temperature has now sored and any thought of doing another long trek evaporated as quickly as our water! Another consultation with the visitor centre was called for and the only trek which made any sense at all was through the Canyon river to some caves, this was the one for these boys!

Off we set with a little knowledge of what to expect but still able to be surprised and so it was. The path ends abruptly and you are directed to the water. Yep in you go, boots socks and all, pack, shorts, shirt you name it, if you have with you, you take it. It was a real hoot. We trekked the river for approximately a mile and a half, maybe a bit more. It was wonderfully cool, even when not actually in the water. The side are quite shear and there are warnings of flash floods and what you should do, I'm not sure whether white water rafting qualified us for this one! We found a nice beach type area where we sat with a dozen or so others and had a bite to eat. There was thunder in the sky high above us so in company with others we made our way out. There are sections of water where I was wading up to my waist holding the pack out of the water, it has to be said that this was really great fun and the kids who were there were having a great time getting all their clothes wet, and not being told off either.

We exited the river and the temperature suddenly went up and up, I am not kidding you when I say the sense of the increase was tangible. We got the bus back to the car and the temperature gauge registered 109*. Our clothes were now dry and it was so hot that we simply had to move on. I drove out of the park and the temperature was constant. We went through the tunnel and out the other side into a micro climate, the temperature had suddenly dropped 41* and it was now 68. A storm had passed through not a minute prior to us and as we climbed higher out of the area the temperature then started to come up again. Eventually it settled at 86 but it was quite unreal an experience. We stopped at a coffee shop on the main road just short of Orderville and spoke to some local people, they told us that it was quite common to have sudden fluctuations in the temperature such as this, very strange, little wonder then that you created a rain forest in the bathroom Dixie!

Zion National Park is another natural wonder. There are so many here that I must sound rather boring by now. The colours are spectacular and the rock formations are completely different from anything we have seen thus far. The drive in is a real experience and the drive out, well if you have anything like what happened to us, it's quite remarkable.

Tomorrow we move onto the BIG ONE - The Grand Canyon. See you then, Chris