Cold Showers

I misspoke on yesterday's blog when I said our primitive camping had no showers. As it turned our, we had showers almost all night long (but no storms). Our tent got drenched but our bedding and us stayed "fairly" dry.

The upside is that we were awake before the sun. Why is that an upside you wonder? Time was our bonus today. We drove into the Grand Canyon North Rim with the sunrise and the deer were waiting in the meadows to greet us. Also, as we made our way into Utah and lost an hour due to the time change we still had a full day!

We have visited the Grand Canyon before but always from the south. Coming in from the north gives an entirely new perspective to this beautiful place, although the miles of forest fire damage we drove through was sad. The little "Lincoln log" cabins were as cute as they could be and the view from the lodge patio was inviting, I imagine a night sky here is impressive too. I think we'll be returning here someday.






With the added time, we were still able to make it to our assigned destination (Bryce Canyon) by noon. Our thinking was we would get the tent and bedding all dried out. It was clear blue skies as we were driving in, but as soon as we rolled into the campground the clouds joined us. Things were starting to dry so we started our driving tour of all the scenic overlooks. Of course, while we were gone doing that a small rain came through to dampen things again (but only a little so we were able to pack them away to avoid tempting fate).



We are so appreciative of Jenny Krattli and Jessie Cobb sending us to this amazing place. It is beautiful and hauntingly eerie all at the same time. The spires are called HooDoos which means cast a spell and then are ravens everywhere. I told Donnie they want my soul. He laughed - I know what he was thinking!



We were ready to tackle our missions! We started with a 3 mile hike into the canyon (equal parts grueling and gorgeous). Once more dark clouds rolled in and I was convinced we would be drenched and freezing but we made it ALL the way down and ALL the way up without rain or heart attacks and earned mission number 2, a nice dinner (including dessert) at Ruby's Inn Cowboy Buffet and Steakhouse.






Afterwards we moved on to mission 3; finding, purchasing and sampling Utah made Polygamy Porter (motto - Why Have Just One?). As I write this we are enjoying our brew by the campfire. Our final mission (ATV wildlife adventure) will be tomorrow morning. I LOVE the personality that comes through from each of the people choosing adventures for us. Once again I feel awed and humbled at the end of the day.



Well we are at the end of week 4. If you could see all the photos I have taken in the past few days you would know I have gotten past my fixation on water and trees. Now I am obsessing about rocks!

We have had a few challenges but they are part of this grand adventure. Sunrise in the Grand Canyon, sunset in Bryce Canyon - that has got to be a great day!

Stats:
259 miles
Gas $43.35
Camping $15
Dinner $23.61
Coffee badly needed this morning $.95
Postcard, beer, firewood $19

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad