Riding the Short Bus

Saturday, March 22, 2008 7:15 am
Having went to bed so early, we decided to wake up early to make the most of our day. Our hotel gave us a discount on breakfast next door so we headed over. We walked in, and the staff looked at us funny and told us they were closed, although the door clearly stated they opened at 7:00 am, 15 minutes before. Apparently, EVERYONE was late for work and they would not be ready until 8 am. Slightly irritated, we hit the road. Everything turned out great, because we stopped at a restaurant just outside Zion National Park. They had the greatest hostess ever (telling us about her bird feeder and giving us candy when we left). They also had the second best cinnamon roll I’ve ever had (after my mother’s, of course!).

We arrived at the Visitor Center and Jessica and I picked out the sites we wanted to see for the day. We went to drive to the first one, but then we realized we were required to use the bus shuttle system inside that part of the park (oops). We parked the car back at the Visitor Center and hopped on the shuttle. We were entertained by the shuttle’s tour guide sound track. You felt like the bus driver was talking, because it was timed so well. The most entertaining part of the shuttles were the male or a female soundtrack that was matched with the gender of your driver.

Our first stop was the Court of the Patriarchs, where we admired Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob Peaks. Next we stopped at the Emerald Pools Trails, where we hiked to the Lower, Middle, and Upper pools. The pools were filled by tall waterfalls. The Upper Pool was the nicest, so with the help of Adrian, we boosted ourselves onto a big boulder so Jessica could sketch the falls. (Jessica was diligent about sketching along the whole trip, Frank Ching would be proud).

After the hike, we got lunch at the Zion Lodge. We ate our lunch and later our ice cream on the lawn under a really great tree. I felt like we were the only people there not tugging around at least two children.

The next stop on our journey was the Weeping Rock. It was a short hike up to the rock. I don’t really remember the exact geology of it, but I think it was caused by water seeping through one layer of fairly porous rock and reaching a layer of less porous rock. The less porous rock forces the water out to the edge. We were told by the bus tour soundtrack that the water was over 1000 years old by the time it makes its way out.

At the end of the main path we did a hike by the Temple of Sinawawa. The last part of the hike is through the river, so since the water was like 40 degrees we did not venture up that part of the river (though Adrian and Jessica were considering it). My attention span had peaked by this point and without the water part of the hike, it was a pretty anticlimactic end to our Zion Visit.

We headed to our hotel in Kanab, Utah. We walked part of the town in search of dinner and a grocery store. We eventually found both. At the restaurant, true to the western experience, our waitress had a belt that housed both straws and a replica revolver. Nice.