Zions National Park

So we went to Zions National Park in June and it was a fantastic trip!!

On our way there we listened to the book, Robinson Crusoe. It was a really entertaining book which had a lot of religious discussion. We watched a tv series based on the book which had completely eliminated all notions of religion so I was surprised that it was such a prevalent topic. Though Robinson was stranded on the the deserted island for about 28 years, which is a whole lot of time to make peace with oneself. Really it is no wonder and it should not have been surprising. The language used in the book is so formal and so elegant and we learned a new word "videlicet" which I had never heard before but was used very frequently throughout the book.

   Our first stop was in Cedar City to see Tyler, Debra, Claire and Caroline and we had a blast. We had dinner and breakfast with them and then took off to see Zions the next day. When we got to Zions we tried to check into our hotel and we were too early so we went on a drive through the Zions canyon and through one of the most incredible tunnels EVER! Then we went back to the hotel to check in and it was still not ready. By this time Ellis and I were getting pretty cranky because we were hot, hungry and tired - Not a good combination. We found a park and had a picnic in the park which turned out to be one of my highlights. These are some reasons why:

We were sitting under this tree that made a perfect little bench for our little guy. So yes we stuck our child up in a tree BUT what you don't see is Ted right underneath him with open arms and laser like focus. He seemed to really like it up there. This was the view from the park:

  Breathtaking!

After this were able to check into our hotel and later go on an evening"hike" We took the archeology hike trail which was really short walk uphill. But this is what it looked like from the top.

This night we had the yummiest pizza EVER! It was soooooo good. It was called the "White Sun" it had garlic infused olive oil, spinach, pineapple, tomatoes, mozzarella, cheddar & Parmesan. I want to try to make it myself because it was a little piece of heaven.... Mmmmmm pizza.

The next day we went hiked the Emerald pools trail. The middle pool was closed so we did the lower and upper pools which were just beautiful.

 This is the at the lower pool.

Ted took this picture - I wish I could claim it as I think it is beautiful but all the credit goes to Ted. Later that day we met up with Debra and her girls and we went up to the Riverside Walk.

I told Debra that people were going to think we were polygamist. When we were on the shuttle up the canyon I kept trying to emphasize the word "Uncle".

I am sure I said "Uncle Ted" five times before & immediately after this picture was taken.  

The Riverside walk made me want to climb the Narrows which I have never done before. Sometime in my life I would like to do it. If I  had a bucket list, hiking the Narrows would be on it.

I recently watched a clip from Suzy Orman who said that instead of thinking I wish we had not, to be able to say I am glad we did. I am SO GLAD we went on our family getaway. Especially to Zions, it is hard to describe the majesty and beauty that surrounds you. Even from the pictures that we took its beauty is indescribable.