In Moab, heading to the Grand Canyon.

It's Sunday morning here in Moab. We had a great day yesterday at Arches National Park. We did a lot of hiking and saw many beautiful sights. I'll post photos later. We stayed in a hotel here in town last night. We cleaned out Geronimo and gave him a good wash. Huzzah! Now we're heading out to the Grand Canyon. We hope to stay there until Tuesday.

Keep on truckin'.

Bryce Canyon.

We arrived in Bryce Canyon National Park early in the evening on Thursday. The drive there was beautiful, especially the drive out of Zion National Park. The switchbacks seemed endless, and we drove through two tunnels. We even saw mountain goats on a huge rock face.

Once we were in the park, we found a great campsite and began setting up our tent. Then Rhoda noticed that someone else had already reserved it. So we picked up the tent and moved it to another site. After a couple games of Quiddler and a snack, we hit the hay. It was really cold out, but the sky was clear and we could see the moon and stars through the roof of our tent.

We woke up early and walked out to the canyon rim to watch the sunrise. It was spectacular, an orange glow growing out and bathing the hoodoos in a warm light. We took it in, walked back to the site, packed up the tent, ate some pancakes, and drove off to another part of the park for a hike. We walked down the Navajo Trail, down and around many switchbacks and into the valley. Huge hoodoos surrounded us and stood tall and stark against the blue sky. Then we climbed up to the rim and hiked along it for a while. The view was fantastic. The hoodoos and rock walls seemed endless. We walked back to Geronimo and hit the road for Moab and Arches National Park.

Zion.

We got in to Zion National Park late Wednesday night. The campsite was crowded, but we’d more or less expected that, as it was Thanksgiving. We set up the tent and went to sleep. When we woke up, we were amazed by the scenery. We were in the Watchmen campground. The towering red rocks were spectacular. We packed up the tent, ate pancakes, and got in Geronimo to go explore the park.

We drove the scenic route and did a few hikes along the Virgin River, the Weeping Rocks, and the Emerald Pools. It was a beautiful day, and we were constantly in awe of the landscape. After hiking, we went to the lodge for some coffee and Internet-ing. Then we hit the road for Bryce National Park.

Las Vegas.

We left Joshua Tree on Wednesday and drove through Las Vegas on our way to Zion National Park in Utah. We were in four states yesterday: California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. Huzzah! Las Vegas was okay, although it left us a bit underwhelmed. Two people asked us for money for the casino. It was a bit depressing. We saw the sights – lit-up casinos, towering hotels, tacky gift shops, variously themed wedding chapels – got some supplies, and got out of town. On the advice of all our friends from California, we ate dinner at In-and-Out Burger. And, as I’d heard in The Big Lebowski, those are good burgers. Then we drove to Zion, set up camp, and slept.