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So this past week was Fall Break and I decided to head out of town and see some more of the National Parks.  I left on Friday Oct. 8 and headed to Bryce Canyon.  I drove in along scenic Hwy 12 through Dixie National Forest and Red Canyon.  I enjoyed Bryce but hated that the trail I'd wanted to try was washed out from the 4 inches of rain they'd had earlier in the week.  That evening I drove to Kanab, UT and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express (and thank goodness I'd made reservations in advance because they were sold out the entire time I was there!).  Janae at the front desk was really helpful.  She warned me that there would be three tour groups eating breakfast from 6-7 and when I told her I was actually planning on leaving out at 5am and she realized I'd miss the breakfast completely, she took to their prep room and got me a couple of bagels and some fruit to take with me.  It was very thoughtful of her and greatly appreciated!

So Saturday, I did indeed get up and leave at 5am.  I was in the state of Arizona for the first time less than 10 minutes later.  I remembered having a gentleman come into the office at AAA and talk about going to see the sunrise over the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and what a sight that was, it always stuck with me.  I made it in good time, though I didn't realize until much later that the time had changed when I'd crossed into Arizona, and took the trail out to Bright Angel Point.  It was chilly, the North Rim is at least 10 degrees cooler than the South Rim and I think 1500 feet or so higher in elevation.  And there were a number of people out there to watch the sunrise.  A lot of them left shortly after the sun popped up over the horizon, luckily I was not one of them.  I'd started talking to a lady from Phoenix on the walk out and she told me to wait, that everyone was leaving too soon to really see the beauty of how the canyon changed with more and more light.  It was something spectacular to see!  When I got back to the Lodge, I bought a postcard to send to my parents, there is actually a post office at the lodge.  And I got something for lunch at the deli, it was in the deli that I realized I was an hour ahead of everyone else.  Arizona doesn't follow daylight savings time.  So for right now they are the same as Pacifici time, in a couple of weeks they will be on Mountain time (which is what I was on).  I went to Cape Royal point and walked to Angel's Window and all the way to the end of Cape Royal.  I got my picture made sitting on a cliff!

I think the people who took the picture were more worried than I was!  And the drive to get to Cape Royal and Point Imperial were absolutely beautiful this time of year.  Mixed in with the Ponderosa pine were lots of Aspen in full fall color.  I could only go 30 mph and I was absolutely okay with that!  It seemed like there was no one on the road in front of me (to slow me down) or behind me (to hurry me up) and I met very few cars, the drive was definitely part of the fun!

Sunday was the day I hadn't really planned ahead of time.  There were a lot of other options and I just didn't know what to do.  I stopped at the Bureau of Land Management visitor's center in Kanab on my way out of town to get some ideas.  I intended to drive this loop that went out to Page on 89 and then come back to Kanab via Jacob Lake (which is the turn-off to head to the North Rim).  And I'd be able to stop and see whatever I wanted along the way.  I stopped at Paria View that's part of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and went off-road for a bit.  It was pretty rough road because they'd had heavy rains as well in the past week.  The scenery along the way was still really pretty and colorful! I got to a point, however, where it said 4wd and high clearance vehicles only.  I decided not to risk going further and damaging my car, but the minivan that'd been tailing me decided to go on.  I certainly hope that it was a rental or that they have great insurance.

I ended up at Lake Powell and Glen Canyon.  I went into the Lake Powell Resort, initially for lunch only, and decided that taking a cruise to see some of the canyon and be out on the water sounded great.  Plus, since I'd changed time zones again, I had plenty of time for lunch before the boat left.  We went into Navajo Canyon and Antelope Canyon before going to see the Glen Canyon Dam.  I wanted to go further into Antelope Canyon because on the other end is where the slot canyons are, but because of rains and the debris that the rains had washed into the lake, we couldn't without getting into a lot of muck.  I'll have to leave the slot canyons for another trip (a drier time of year too).  I drove on to the visitor center for the dam, where I became a tourist attraction, or rather my license tag did, before heading into Page, AZ for dinner.  By the time I left, it was dark so rather than the loop, I went back the way I came.

On Monday, I left Kanab and headed to Zion National Park.  The roads getting into Zion are under some pretty heavy construction right now, so keep that in mind if anyone is planning on going.  But the drive in is beautiful and their shuttle service into the canyon area where all the major points of interest are located runs smoothly and efficiently.  I wasn't too thrilled with the idea of the shuttle, but I was very suprised and I enjoyed the commentary on the way out about each of the sections.  I rode to the end and got off at the Temple of Sinewava.  The trail there is mostly paved and a very easy walk that ends at the river, which is where people pick up the trail to the Narrows.  I couldn't wait to get in the water and didn't even think about getting one of the hiking sticks they had sitting along the rock wall (not so smart of me).  I went up 150 to 200 yards before I realized that as much as I wanted to continue, I just was not prepared.  I hadn't brought my backpack, no lunch and again no stick.  I headed back in, reluctantly, vowing that I will go back to Zion and be prepared to go all the way up.  I had lunch at the picturesque Lodge before heading back to the visitor's center and hitting the road towards, you guessed it, Vegas!

Tuesday morning I woke up to the Strip!  I was excited to be in Vegas for the first time, mainly because I wanted to see the hotels!  I just love themed hotels (must come from working at Disney)