Zion National Park

At this point in our trip it has become apparent to Jason and I that if we want to see a small sampler of all that the western States has to offer, we have to speed it up significantly. Utah has so many amazing attractions, it is hard to pick and choose, but this is what we must do. We heard great reviews on Zion National Park so we tried to fit it into the schedule before heading to eastern Utah. We set our alarm for 6:00 am to tour the park before driving east to Monument Valley. Alarm clock rings, day trip snacks packed, but we are greeted with a flat tire on the truck. Fortunately we were able to get it fixed at a gas station close to the campground, but it cost us precious time.

When we did finally get to Zion, we were definaltey not alone. It was so busy. The only way to see the whole park is to take a shuttle bus from the visitors center. It’s about 80 minutes if you never get off the bus. It is actually a really good system with buses running every 7-15 minutes with a stop at each major attraction along the way. So onto the bus…

Normally I am not so good in a crowded, non air conditioned bus situation. Here comes the Gravol and ginger ale?! This was not an a problem on the Zion bus as the scenery was so amazing; no time for motion sickness! The shuttle takes you deeper and deeper into the canyon with high red rock pillars on each side. Each mammoth red rock mountain is completely unique from it’s neighbor. It’s a great experience and the time on the bus just flies by. I won’t go on much more. The pictures again don’t do justice to the size of theses mountains.

Even though most people would take a full day to experience Zion, we had no extra time. Back on the road with another 6 hours to Monument Valley. We got into Monument Valley just as the sun was setting, so we were limited in our photo opportunities. I recall seeing a picture of Monument Valley before and thought that its seemed unbelievable. Imagine a flat, dessert prairie and then suddenly a red rock monolith rising many hundreds of feet up into the air. It seems so out of place, but I guess that is what makes it so special. Time to move on. We are finally pointing our truck north!!