From Lake Powell to Bryce Canyon~

Wow the drive - again was beautiful to Bryce Canyon! 

we drove out of Arizona and into Utah....Welcome to Utah!

As we climbed in elevation we saw more pine trees and valley's with meadows...so pretty!  We really enjoyed the 3 hour drive from Lake Powell!  Easy driving and not a lot of traffic.  Just motor homes...."Cruise America"  so fun to see all these RV's around...we know there are many foreigners visiting here!

All at once we turned a corner and there was all this RED earth and the mountains all RED! 

 Red Canyon - Bryce Canyon - Amazing!

It was gorgeous! 

The Visitor's Center had lots of pretty items to purchase...of course!

We headed towards the Bryce Canyon...and drove right under these rocks...cut out of the mountain! 

There we go Nick...motor home and all!!!













Once we arrived in the Bryce Canyon - we came into the entry gate and we were told there were two State Campgrounds - so we took a chance to see if there was any vacancies...and yes there were!  $7.50 a nite with our Golden Age Senior card....nice!  (62 yrs+ a $10,- one time purchase!) We disconnected the car and drove into the campground looking for a spot and found one!  Early May the schools are not out yet - but already a lot of people traveling ~ so we were fortunate!

We parked the motor home and off we went to look for the canyon..no sign of a canyon yet...lots of pines though!
 
Then we walked up to this Sunrise Point...and WOW! We were blown away...by what we saw!
Our friend Al told us we would love Bryce Canyon.....well we drove to the Rim..and got out of the car...walked up to the edge and saw......????????!!!!!!!!!

Amazing right?  Breathtaking right?  Astounding right?  Overwhelming right?  All of the above and MORE!

We walked & then hiked a trail down into the canyon...and so many people were doing that too!  We think that "Air France Airlines" had just arrived into Bryce Canyon because so many people spoke French! (that's a joke-right?!)

See the trail down below?

Oh the colors were amazing!  It actually looked like a little city down there...

We kept taking pictures...127 of them...and we could not believe how breathtaking it all was!  My!

We hiked way down...and guess what?  Yes...what goes DOWN must go up right?  Ugh! 

"Nick..Nick...Look up!" (my favorite picture!)

 Cool huh those pine trees right there in between those gigantic rock formations!

We truly got our exercise in!  Lost about
5 lbs...for sure!  The weather was cool and we were thankful for the layers we had on!







We decided to have a snack at the Lodge and relax and take in what we all had seen today!

There was a whole lot to "take in!" 

 The Bryce Canyon Lodge was cute!  Rustic...which we love!

 Actually we thought it would be larger - but definitely a cozy place to hang out! 

We had worked up an appetite!

After our late afternoon snack in the cozy dining room - we walked back to the Sunset Point and it was COLD!  Like it was going to snow!  We went back to our motor home and relaxed with a good game of Scrabble...because we were "dry camping" which means no hook-ups - so just using our generator and propane heat to keep us warm!

2nd Day ~  Woke up rested and it wasn't that cold- although we did sleep with some extra layers on just to be sure!  8000 feet elevation makes a difference when you have been in 90+ weather for 4.6 months!  Ha!

 

Well had a good hearty breakfast and moved to another camp spot for our 2nd day!  And off we went to see more sights!  We decided to go along the Rim with the car...viewing all the sights!  We came to Fairyland Point and was just amazed again!







And there was a really nice pathway down into the canyon that wasn't as tough as the one from yesterday...so we did it!  Down we went and we were the only ones!  Couldn't believe it...no one on the trail...all to ourselves!  And the sights we saw...oh you guys...just look again at these pictures....for real?  Yes it is!!!  Here you are driving along and it is just pines and trees and then comes this edge...and yikes you see these formations and the depth down!!!

We are having such fun...and the Sun began to shine...which was a real treat!  Nick & I enjoyed this trail and we took a lot of pictures again!

We drove on to another view point...Gosh 8300 feet elevation! 

 Gosh the views were something to shout about!

Well we had a great day AGAIN!  The weather did a big change...it began to snow...yes!  So we headed back to the motor home to fix early dinner.

The next morning we woke up and

                                   saw.....SNOW!

 Pretty but not in our plans!  Thankfully not loads of it!

Our plan was to head out today anyway - so we packed up and brushed off the snow and headed to the Lodge to have some breakfast before heading out of Bryce Canyon to Zion! 

The evening before I wanted to upload some pictures so we went to the General Store called Ruby's Inn...and enjoyed a hot cup of coffee and had a great talk with a couple from France...celebrating their honeymoon in the US for 3 weeks traveling some National Parks for 3 weeks!  Very cute!
We enjoyed our chat with them!  They had come into the Lodge to warm up...the tent was a bit cold right now with the snow - brrr!

Brave souls!

Nick was very patient with me as I kept writing here on the blog! 

Ruby's Inn Restaurant Bryce Canyon

A really cool place to stay!  Ruby's Inn!

 This place is gorgeous - a restaurant, hotel, wonderful gift shop and a open sitting area with lots of comfortable couches to hang out in - and do your uploading of pictures!