Vegas Vacation Day 3: Zions National Park

After a nearly sleepless night, we woke up and packed up camp in preparation for a day of hiking. We had planned to do just one or two hikes, but that turned into three.

Weeping Rock Hike
Our first hike was at the Weeping Rock. It was short, but steep; however, the view was quite fantastic. Here are a couple of pictures from this hike: 

River Walk

When I came to Zions with my mom 8 years ago, this was the one hike that we did. It is a very easy hike, but also very pretty. Kevin’s inner photographer took over and he had fun with the water. He also decided that he wants to hike the narrows someday. I’m not so sure I’m crazy about that idea, but it could be fun. Here are some of the best pictures:

Emerald Pools

Our last hike was the Emerald Pools. We were originally going to just hike to the Lower Pool, but as we got to it and the Middle Pool, we just decided to keep on going. Despite the fact that there were times on the hike up that I was sure death was near, I am glad we pushed on to the Upper Pool, as it was the most scenic. The hike down was much easier, other than tripping at one point. Once again, this hike was good motivation to stay on the fitness bandwagon as I was kind of wimpy. However, my thinking was that if little kids and people with canes could do it, so could I. I just felt a little bit embarrassed that I had to push myself to do as well as these two demographics.

 
Here are some more pictures: 

Day 2

Kolob Canyons

Our first stop on our trip was Kolob Canyons. I had been here before with my mother, but it had been a long time, and we also did not do the hike. The hike was relatively short, but apparently my half-hearted attempts to get in shape doing Zumba and strength training, plus hound exercising did not appropriately prepare me for it. However, the view made up for my near asthma attack. Here are some pictures from the top:

Kolob Reservoir

Our next stop was Kolob Reservoir. It is also a part of Zions National Park, but it is a lot more remote. Tiffany and Shane had told us how amazingly beautiful it was, so we decided to take a look since we were ahead of schedule. I’m sure it was a lot more beautiful than it seemed, but we had endured an hour long drive on a very curvy and narrow road, and I was ready to puke by the time we got to the part. It is basically a typically small, high altitude lake. There is a road around part of it, but we didn’t go the full distance because it didn’t completely connect. After looking around for a little bit, we moved on to our next destination. Unfortunately, we did not take any pictures. But here is a picture I found on here: <-- My first link ever :)

 

Mt. Carmel Highway

Our next destination was the Mt. Carmel Highway and tunnel. It always amazes me what people were able to do with limited technology back in the day. Apparently my step-grandfather was from the area and worked on the tunnel, so it was nice to somewhat have a connection. We enjoyed the majesty sandstone scenery, but unfortunately, no pictures were taken.

The Rest of Our Evening/Night

Other stops of the day included  visiting the animal exhibit at the Majestic Lodge (a lot like Cabelas). Kevin’s favorite was the jackolope. We also went to see Zion Canyon: Treasure of the Gods, which was interesting because it showed parts of the park that I will most likely never see in my lifetime. I also enjoyed learning more about the park’s history as well. After the movie, we ate dinner at a little Mexican restaurant, which was yummy, but included way too much food.

We stopped at a tiny grocery store to buy some breakfast items before we went back to our campsite to set up camp. We spent the night playing two person Phase 10, which was quite a bit more speedy than the normal version and called it a night. Sleeping in the tent wasn’t too bad, but it was quite windy and I kept dreaming about killer mermaids/sirens (not really sure why, but since when do dreams make sense), so I didn’t get the highest quality of sleep. However, I woke rested enough to enjoy the next day.

Here are some pictures of our accommodations:

Some Needed R&R

Kevin and I were able to take a much needed break in May. We decided to head south and enjoy some sun. We left on May 15 and came home on May 21. To prevent a super long post and help me get everything caught up, I’m going to write about this vacation the same way I did about Lithuania and break it up into smaller sections. I promise there will not be as many posts this time.

Day 1:

Whenever I go on vacation, I like to have the day before off so I have plenty of time to pack and do laundry, as I don’t like to be stressed while preparing to recreate. I had planned to spend all day Tuesday packing, but we ended up leaving that day. After attending Zumba that morning, I spent the rest of the day packing. Once Kevin came home, we loaded up the truck and took Luna to Kevin’s parents’ house. They dog-sat for us, which we were very grateful for. Fortunately, she didn’t cause too much havoc, just a minor attack on a geranium in Glenda’s back yard. 

While we didn’t leave as early as we had hoped, we were able to make it to Salina by 7:30ish. Kevin showed me his parents’ new rental house and took me to dinner at a diner in Salina. We spent the night at the Aurora house (Kevin’s parents’ have a rental there too, and they have kept the basement for themselves.) We had halfway hoped to make it down to Zions this day, but I do admit it was nice to sleep in a bed, rather than a tent.