Snow Canyon Park & St. George

After eating our Hawaiian lunch we went to Snow Canyon State Park, which is not too far from St. George. There is a sand dune area that is like a giant sandbox. Unfortunately, it was too hot to be enjoyable. (It felt weird that just the day before we were hiking in snow!) D did manage to find a little bush that provided some shade so we played for a little bit. The sand was so fine it felt like silk. Although the top layer was hot, just an inch below it was quite cool. We drove around the rest of the park and stopped for some rock climbing. To cool ourselves down we went to Nielsen's Frozen Custard in St. George. We had an oreo concrete (like a DQ blizzard) and something with bumbleberry but I can't remember the name. I *think* n liked it! ;) Could not resist taking a picture of this sign. For dinner we ate at Smashburger. I was happy because I hadn't been able to use a coupon the entire vacation until now. I had registered online and received a BOGO coupon! The hamburger meat tasted fresh, rather than processed and the smashfries were sprinkled with rosemary, olive oil and garlic. I wonder if this chain will be in Southern California soon. This concludes our Utah trip recap. On the way home, k got carsick (again) so I'm really going to make sure she takes Dramamine for all our long road trips from now on. Also, our camera stopped working less than a week after we returned. Thankfully, I was able to get all of our pictures off the camera before it died. It is in the "shop" now, and the repairs should be paid for by our credit card company. I am reluctant to borrow my parents' camera because last time I did that, I broke their camera too! So for now, our blogging will be taking a (hopefully) short hiatus.

Bryce-->Kolob Canyon-->St. George

Monday morning we ate breakfast at the hotel and it was actually quite good: scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, waffles, pancakes, biscuits, gravy, and mini danishes. The kids liked the hot chocolate machine and pretended it was their "coffee". We drove back into the park, but D had to take a picture by the sign first: We hiked from Sunrise Point to Sunset Point and back which is one mile round trip. The path was nice and paved. This is the part of Bryce I remember most from my own childhood family vacation. Doesn't that hoodoo look like it could break off at any moment? Thor's Hammer Our last night was spent in St. George. On the way there we stopped at Kolob Canyon, which is a less-visited part of Zion National Park. We made it to St. George in time for lunch. We ended up at Honolulu Grill. It seemed to be quite popular with the locals. Who knew St. Georgians like Hawaiian food so much? The food tasted very "homey". For example, the teriyaki sauce tasted like it was from scratch, not a bottle. D liked how there was an option to have cucumber salad instead of mac salad and thinks that all plate lunch restaurants should have this option. **Please excuse the formatting of this post. Blogger was "updated" and I'm not sure what is going on.

Easter in Bryce Canyon

During our drive from Zion to Bryce we confirmed that k is prone to carsickness, and that we should always have her take Dramamine as a precautionary measure on road trips. She was not doing too well, so we stopped at a small cafe in Hatch. I gave her some Sierra Mist and it worked like magic!

We entered Bryce Canyon National Park and drove on the scenic drive all the way to the end to Rainbow Point.


There we ate our sandwiches on some picnic tables (caprese and roast beef). Next we hiked the Bristlecone Loop Trail. There were a few patches of snow in the beginning, but we did not let that deter us. We kept going, and there was even more snow. I wanted to turn back at that point, but D was determined. We made the 1 mile roundtrip with many stops to carry the kids over snow patches/ice. If the Riverside Walk in Zion was the longest 2 miles I have ever hiked, this was definitely the longest mile I have hiked.






It wasn't until I looked at this picture later that I realized how far n is leaning over the edge!






We drove back along the scenic route, stopping at the Natural Bridge and Bryce Point.






Then we went back to the Visitor's Center where I stamped by National Park passport and we watched a short film about Bryce.

Although it was past 3 p.m. by this time, when we tried to check into our hotel, we were told that that the room was not ready (check-in was officially 4 p.m.). We killed some time by going across the street to fill up on gas and go to Ruby's General Store. D noted that the town just outside of Bryce is much more hokey/kitschy than Zion. D stayed in the car while n took a nap. Meanwhile, k and I filled a bag with polished stones as a souvenir from the general store. After some more hassle, we finally checked into our hotel room. Since we hadn't showered in a couple of days, this is just what we needed.

Waiting in the lobby...



Watching Netflix on Kindle Fire.


"Clean Remote" with a disposable cover. I think there was some sort of study that determined that the remote control is one of the dirtiest things in a hotel room--ew.

After washing up/relaxing we went to Bryce Canyon Pines restaurant.


I ordered the hot turkey sandwich (Thanksgiving on Easter!)


D ordered a chicken sandwich with ham and cheese (yes, there is chicken underneath all of that cheese)


The kids shared our entrees with us and then we all shared a slice of blueberry banana cream pie.


Although there is not much choice in Bryce, restaurant-wise, we enjoyed this meal.

We went back to the hotel and enjoyed sleeping in beds. After camping in such cold temperatures, the hotel room actually felt too warm!

One More Zion Post

Sunday morning we packed everything up and drove to our next leg of the trip: Bryce Canyon National Park. But first, let me include some more pictures of our camping trip in Zion. This was our first night camping for two nights and our first time camping in a state other than California. Despite my worries, it was fun!

In preparation for high winds, I did some research and it seemed that "guy lines" would make our tent more stable. D asked one of his "rugged" co-workers about them (he camps in snow!) and he let us borrow some rope and carabiners. Turns out we didn't really need them (although it was gusty at night, our tent was fine), but D rigged up a convenient clothes line with them. This actually came in handy when some water accidentally spilled on some of our clothes.


Our campsite was covered in rocks, which did a good job of keeping the dirt from blowing everywhere. They were also a good source of entertainment for k and n.




Inside the tent, we hung these cute mini lanterns that n received for his birthday.


We brought plenty of sleeping bags and blankets to keep us warm at night. n doesn't like to stay in his sleeping bag, so I found myself waking up just to make sure he was covered. I also wasn't too sure how n would do with the toilet situation since he hasn't been trained for too long, but he did just fine.



Static!

D did some Easter devotions in the tent and we taught k how to play 20 Questions. Then she kept on wanting to play and we regretted teaching her.

For breakfast on Sunday I wanted to go to the Mean Bean, but it wasn't open, so we went to a cafe/gift shop called Elements that had caught my eye on our previous trips up and down Zion Blvd. We sort of a did a repeat of the breakfast from the day before, ordering a blueberry muffin, breakfast sandwich, milk and a mocha for D and me.

Although this muffin may not look like much, it was vastly superior to the one at Cafe Soleil. It was made from scratch and had a nice crunchy top. There were a half dozen on display on the counter and they let D choose which one he wanted. We also had it warmed up in the microwave.


Ordinary "McMuffin".

I had read there is not too much food-wise in Bryce, so we picked up some sandwiches to-go at Sol Foods Supermarket.

There is a nice upscale deli/bakery that wasn't too expensive.

On our way out of Zion, we stopped at Checkerboard Mesa.


We also went through the famed Mt. Carmel tunnel--1.1 miles long!