Stop 8: Zion National Park (Kanab, UT) -- WOWZA!

After a quick peek (that said, no stop is a quick peek with Andy and his GoPro cameras) at Bryce before leaving town, we headed toward Zion National Park, just a 90-minute drive away. I had started getting a migraine earlier in the morning so I took some meds to fend off crampy brain but this made me very tired so I switched seats with Sarah and napped a little on the way.

Andy is rarely seen without this appendage

When we got to Zion, it was clear we had entered a different zone. This place is MAMMOTH! The rock formations stand upwards of 8,000 feet tall! Andy said it felt like we were on a different planet! It was just rock walls as far as the eye could see! The winding road took us through mazes of different formations and to the park shuttle. We are required to ride the shuttle versus self-guide throught the park like in Bryce but it worked out okay. The bus was a little warm but we did get to chat with a few nice people along the way.

That rock behind us stands over 6,000 feet tall. We watched someone rappel down it.

Waiting for the shuttle

Hiking down from Weeping Rock

At one point, Andy, Charlotte, and Alex detoured down to the river that helped create this canyon and had some fun there. Sarah and I stayed above and watched someone rappel down the side of a 6,000+ foot rock. Whoa! We took photos and at pone point, noticed that we could see the others at the river's edge. We saw them taking photos so we decided to mimic one of the photos they took, but not tell them. You'll notice two similar photos below. If they read this post, the jig is up. If not, they'll keep believing that we somehow took the same photo at the same time even though we were in two different places. Love you guys!

Andy was in awe of this place and kept stopping to take photos. The family was almost in consensus that we liked Zion more than Bryce, based mostly on sheer size/height/magnificence but Alex was holding strong for Bryce at last count. The only thing that Bryce has over Zion is the ability to drive through in one's own vehicle which is a nice feature for a leisurely visit.

Our hotel here in Kanab has the best wi-fi signal of any hotel ever. Well, as compared to our NO SERVICE phones and our last hotel with wi-fi service being provided by mice running in wheels, it is really great here. Kanab is a small town with lots of hotels, all servicing visitors speaking many languages. We've had fun communicating with lots of different people. This trip has many benefits and this is definitely one of them.

**An added note about this trip: the common phrases heard in the Murphy family are "What day is it?", "What state are we in?", "Where are we going tomorrow?", and "What time zone are we in?" I suppose these are travel hazards when a family embarks on a trip like this. It seems like we've been traveling for 3 years; it has been 10 days.

Today we leave for the Grand Canyon, then Las Vegas for two days. As Andy keeps saying, "The hits keep coming!"..in a good way.