Sometimes cafes with WiFi are hard to come across

Location: Austin, TX
Mileage: 12500
# of Tumbleweeds seen: 4
# of Tumbleweeds run over!: 1
Number of times one of us has broken into the chorus of "All my exes live in Texas" since entering the Lone Star State: Far too many.

We hit Zion National Park just long enough before the sun set to book a campsite and set up tent. We had no firewood that evening so our camp night was not the typical meal-wine-fire sort of evening, but we instead utilized the cell signal (in the middle of a national park!) and caught up with friends for awhile. That was nice to chat with our friends but we were also appreciative of the fodder for conversation it provided over dinner. Sometimes Paul and I run out of things to say to each other, so it was nice to just be able to talk about the lives of whomever we had spoken with instead of trying to think of something interesting on our own. We retired to the tent and, it being close enough to Thanksgiving, we finally watched the copy of Home for the Holidays that we had brought with us. Between the phones and the laptop, this was probably our most technology-dependent camping evening. However, we were both awake and alert after the movie and it was one of the warmer camping nights we had had in a long time so we decided to walk around the campsites and admire the canyon walls surrounding us by the still nearly full moon. (See, we like nature, too.) It was stunning.

Our campsite as the sun went down

The next morning we tore down camp and hit the park. We picked out a scenic drive through the canyon and two medium-lengthed hikes to fill the day. The drive was lovely, taking us through gorgeous rock formations with varying colors. The sights were particularly special due to the trees. Dozens of yellow-leaved trees framing the reddish multi-hued rocks made for striking sights. After our drive, we stopped at the Emerald Pools trailhead and hiked up to the middle and upper pools and falls. At this time of year, the falls are little more than trickles, but the pools were calm and glassy and attracted a lot of photographers.

River, Rock, yellow leaves -- what more could you ask for?

Reflecting Pools

All the photographers even looked the same

Our next hike was Sandy point loop, which didn’t take long to confirm its name. Steep hikes are difficult; steep hikes on sand are much more so. We worked hard to make it up the hills on the sand but thoroughly enjoyed the views we got for doing so. We settled down on a rock about halfway through the loop to enjoy our lunch and the views. Zion is magical; after hearing less than favorable accounts of the park, we realize that it is a park that must be visited and appreciated later in the year. This is partly because of the fall colors but also because the park, which is purportedly packed during the warmer months, feels as if it is nearly empty during this time of year.

Paul, proudly wearing the fanny pack

Zion and the moon (hey, that would be a good name for a bad band)

After our full day of appreciating Zion, we hopped in the car and made the short drive east to Bryce National Park. This day also happened to be Election Day and our plan was to find a bar somewhere along the way for us to sit in to watch the results come in. Well, folks, we discovered something about Utah — they don’t have any bars. Or if they do, they’re cleverly disguised as tiny houses with Republican candidate signs in their yard. So no bar for us; but, we did find cheap firewood! Two big bundles for $5, which sure beats the standard $7-one bundle that most national parks provide. We set up camp at Bryce and called some friends (again cell signal in a national park – maybe Utah does have a couple perks…) to plead for election news. The rest of the evening was spent anxiously around the campfire awaiting cell phone calls. Needless to say, every time a call came in, Paul and I were excited and happy with the news we received. We were left that evening waiting to hear about our home state’s election results but pleased with everything else.

The next morning, we embarked first on Bryce’s scenic drive, blasting NPR the whole way. The park certainly is lovely, but Paul and I were actually hesitant to leave the radio in order to check out the viewpoints. Between the news of taking the House, possibly taking the Senate, and Rumsfeld’s resignation, you can imagine how we might be eager to listen, as everything we were hearing was such good news. We were able to pull ourselves out of the car finally to hike down into the canyon, passing through multiple hoodoo formations. It’s hard to describe exactly what hoodoos look like, if you haven’t seen them, but they are rocks that have been weathered away on the sides, forming what somewhat resembles all the drip castles I used to build at the beach. We hiked back up, out of the canyon, and headed back to our campsite with an hour of sunlight to spare. We enjoyed some reading before having to put our books away and enjoyed a more typical camp evening that the prior two evenings.

A Bryce arch

NPR was more important than getting out of the car. Hey, I could see the sights from there anyway...

Hoodoos

We had planned a very long day of driving that morning, taking a very loopy route over to Colorado. After packing up the car, we headed south out of the park in order to catch a drive through some more national park beauty. We headed down toward the Grand Staircase and Glen Canyon for some views. We took a slight detour into a state park before righting ourselves and getting directions from the woman at the entrance booth, who had kindly taken our $6 only ten minutes before. I showed her the road that we were trying to drive on, having initially believed that said road ran through her state park. She directed me towards the dirt road that Paul and I had not taken, assuming that the little dirt road that we passed could not be the 45 mile-long road that was on our map. It was and the guide assured me, “that road’s just been re-done and is in the best shape it’s ever been in. It’s 45 miles and will only take you 2 hours!” We were moderately worried about driving Speedy on the bumpy, dusty road, but the sights were enjoyable! We pulled off for a stop at an arch (whose name I’ve just forgotten,) just another of Utah’s interesting natural formations. Who knew Utah would be so pretty?

Memorable arch, unmemorable name

We finally hit the highway and were relieved to have our wheels on firm road again as we headed east, dipping down into Arizona briefly before heading northeast through Monument Valley. Our stop at Monument Valley Memorial was gorgeous, looping through massive formations that truly resembled their names (just ask Paul about Elephant Butte, which made him exclaim at least 5 times, “Oh my god, it actually looks like an elephant. Look at it!”) After Monument Valley, it was late enough that we decided to forgo the Four Corners Memorial for that day and head straight to Cortez, CO. We arrived late, having driven all day, through three states, seen so much, but we were welcomed kindly by Peter, his mother, and his sister, Francesca. Our first piece of business: showers. Campfires, good hikes, and no showers for several days make Paul and me pretty disgusting. Multiple shampoos and a few games of foosball later, we sat down for a delicious meal at a real table! (Picnic benches also get old.)

A very happy driver (wearting the BEAUtiful necklace of drink wrapper that I created for him)

"Oh my god, it actually looks like an elephant!"

The three sisters. Notice the sun shining above them. I like to think that it is because they are so holy and wonderful. Much like three other sisters that I can think of... ;)

Mexican hat (not in Monument Valley)