We took this one on our cell phone from our hike today (Sun). It's hard to tell how high we were... you can barely see the road we drive on when we leave the rv park on the far side. There were boats on the water but they are too small to see! We good see for miles!

This is a very Awsome National Park....we have seen nothing else like it in our travels!

A Bryce Canyon overlook point

A view from our Bryce Canyon hike.....these hoodoos are everywhere you look

We found a few snow banks at Rainbow Point, the highest peak in Bryce National Park

Sunset at Bryce Canyon National Park

Dixe on the Trailride in the Red Canyon

Mike & 'Ben' in the corral before the trailride

Dixie on our 3 mile hike to the floor of Bryce Canyon....just taking a break!

Bryce National Park - WOW!!!!!

May 19 – May 25, Mon-Sun ... We got up early Monday morning and got on the road for the Bryce Canyon National Park, a 125 mile drive from the rv park near St. George, UT. Once in the park, the first thing we did was to drive through it, stopping at several overlook points to view the magnificent landscape. After having our picnic lunch outside at the uppermost stopping point (about 9,000 ft) we took a 3 mile hike, from a lower entry point, to the bottom of the canyon. The sights were, without a doubt, breathtaking to say the least. While the weather was sunny, it was also warm at about 85 degrees. Fortunately, we had taken plenty of water because it took us just over 1.5 hours to complete it. We drove back into the park at sunset to get a different view...the colors are different once the sun goes down. It was Awesome!
We stayed over night at the Bryce View Lodge so that we could partake in a horse back trail ride on Tuesday morning. Even though neither of us had been on a horse in many a moon, we had a good time. It was a ride into the Red Canyons of the Dixie National Forest and lasted an hour and a half. This was plenty of time to be on horseback because we were getting a little sore toward the end of the ride. The guide was personable and answered all of our questions. He had spent time on the rodeo circuit in Texas and Oklahoma when he was younger. Of the 12 people on the ride, only 4 of us were from the USA. The others were from Germany. We would highly recommend a trip to Bryce Natl Park if you have not been before.
Wednesday brought cooler temps and rain. We took a short hike and visited with some neighbors in the morning. The afternoon was spent on the computer and doing some house cleaning.
Thursday was another cool, wet day so the exciting part of our day was driving into Hurricane for some supplies.
Friday we drove up to Snow Canyon State Park, north of St. George and hiked the lava rocks. It wasn’t a very long hike (about 45 minutes – two miles) and not very strenuous. However, the mountains in this area are very beautiful. We had brought along a picnic lunch but with thunder and lightening in the area, we ate inside the car while listening to the radio.
Saturday was another cool and wet day so we decided to drive into Hurricane and go to a movie. Even though the new Indiana Jones movie was showing, in a weak moment, Mike agreed to go with Dixie to see the chic flick “Made of Honor” with Patrick Dempsey. He said it “wasn’t bad” and pretty entertaining.
Sunday was a beautiful day with sun and warm temps with no rain in the forecast so what better time than to take another hike. This time it was the mountain behind our rv park. We walked several hundred feet up along an ATV trail to the peak of the mountain overlooking Quail Lake, a smallish lake in the Utah State Park system. Later that afternoon, Dixie cleaned the interior of the car while Mike cleaned the exterior of the motorhome. Tomorrow we plan to go back to Zion and on Wed. we hit the road again.

A little graffiti on the mountain.....no it wasn't us that did it. This area is called the "Dixie" of Utah. Everything seems to be named Dixie something. I had to take a photo of this!

This was on our hike in Red Cliffs Recreation area. The camera is sitting on a rock! Another beautiful view!

This is one of the Double Arches from our hike in Kolob Canyon. The other one was about this one but couldn't get them both in a photo.

A view from the 5.4 mile Kolob Canyon hike. It was long but the scenery was definately worth it.

More from the St. George area!

May 12 – May 18, Mon-Sun ... The car battery had been acting like it was not holding a strong charge so on Monday Mike took it to a garage in Hurricane, UT and had a mechanic evaluate it. He replaced a cable and charged the battery and we thought it was fixed. Dixie cleaned house and Mike walked to the lake for our daily exercise.
Tuesday, we walked about 2 miles from the park (round-trip) to the Quail Lake State Park. The park consists of a small but very beautiful lake. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing so hard that it made walking difficult and quite unpleasant. Later that day, Dixie got a haircut in St. George while Mike roamed around in Walmart. Dixie later called me because the car would not start yet again. Fortunately, I was just across the road from where she was. We called AAA for a jump and we then drove back to Walmart and I had a new battery installed.
We decided to hike a trail on the mountain behind our rv park on Tuesday. We’re not sure how long it was but the climb was steep and long. We decided to turn around before reaching the peak because we had been walking for awhile and had not brought enough water for this kind of hike. Nevertheless, it was a good workout.
On Thursday, we drove back to the BLM land for yet another couple hikes. One was relatively short but the view from the overlook was outstanding. The second hike was to some Indian ruins.
Friday, we drove about 20 miles to the Kolob National Park, a park that is part of the Zion National Park system. The weather was sunny with a forecast temp of 78 degrees.
We went on a mountain hike of 5.4 miles to what’s called the “double arches”. The trail meandered along a mountain stream the entire way. We counted crossing the stream 48 times one way and, needless to say, the scenery was simply beautiful. Once there we had our picnic lunch. The 2.7 miles back got a bit long and hot but we made it with no problems other than some sore feet and legs. We decided that in the future, we would start out much earlier in the day when it’s cooler now that the days are getting increasingly warmer.
Saturday, we again walked to Quail Lake where we watched some rescue divers set up for practice dives. Later we made a trip into St. George for shopping!
Sunday, we walked towards Red Cliff Recreation area. It’s a hot one already. The forecast is for 101 degrees today and tomorrow. Looks like it will be an inside day and some time at the pool. Early tomorrow we are driving to Bryce Natl Park where we will spend the night.

Here's a photo from our hike near the park. It's called Red Cliffs Canyon

Mike posing at Red Cliffs Canyon. This is where we saw the people repeling.

Entrance to Zion National Park

A view from the Big Bend stop

A view from the "Overlook Canyon" hike

This photo is from the top of the "Overlook Canyon" hike. You can see the switch back road in the distance

Zion National Park

May 5 – May 11, Mon-Sun ... Monday was another day on the farm. Mike got a little bored so he decided ‘we’ should clean out Denita & Steve’s garage. Tuesday, we road with Doug in the tractor while he was seeding a field. He has a GPS & Steering system that we had to check out. It’s similar to an ‘auto pilot’ on an airplane. It’s pretty cool how you can just sit there and let it drive the tractor (of course that is after programming it). The marvels of modern farming is something to behold.
On Tuesday afternoon we headed back to Great Falls. We had dinner at Borie’s where we enjoyed their wonderful broasted chicken.
Wednesday we got on a plane at 610am. We had a 2 hr connection in Salt Lake City and then arrived at St. George at 11am. We got settled into to our RV Park, which is located in Harrisburg, UT (between St. George & Hurricane which is just off I15).
Thursday we caught up on laundry and hit the Walmart for groceries.
Friday we drove 32 miles to Zion National Park. Although you couldn’t say it was crowded, there were quite a few people in the park, many of them from foreign countries. We visited the museum and then boarded one of the shuttle busses up the mountain to the eight stops it makes along the way. The scenery in this park is difficult to describe in words. It’s absolutely awesome in every sense of the word. We went on two different hikes; one to the “weeping rock”, a short hike of about .5 miles and another hike to the “canyon overlook”. This hike was about a mile in length and the view at the top was simply beautiful to say the least. You could see for miles, including the canyon road we came up on. There is so much to see in this park so our plan is to come back another day next week.
Saturday, we drove a short distance from our rv park to BLM (government} land called Red Cliffs and hiked along a stream back into a canyon that led to a small water fall. Once there, we watched some young people repel down a cliff of about 100 feet. It was exciting to watch as the guys (and gals} came over the top and easily let themselves down the side. It was a sport neither of us had witnessed up close before.
Sunday we went to a Mother’s Day breakfast at the park where mother’s ate for free and received a rose. Later in the day we went to a fellow rv’ers campsite to visit with them and another couple.

Levi, our soon to be 14 yr old nephew on his Confirmation Day

Levi with his Godparents (minus Danny as he couldn't make it).... Doug, Levi, Dixie, Mike

Our trip to Montana

Apr 28 – May 4, Mon-Sun ... Monday we parked the motorhome and drove about 30 minutes to the St. George, UT airport where we flew to Great Falls with a change of plans in Salt Lake City. We arrived in Great Falls a bit late but with no other problems. We are saying at Dixie’s Mom & Dad’s until Thursday. Dixie went with her Mom to a very entertaining Community Concert on Tues. evening. The rest of the time was spent running errands around town, and of course, shopping.
On Thursday we drove Doug & Fran’s new car (a 2002 Subaru Outback) the 180 miles out to the big city of Hogeland, MT. We are staying at Dixie’s sister and husbands home and have been really enjoying the visit, especially with the kids.
On Sunday, we attended nephew Levi’s confirmation into the Lutheran Church. After church, a delicious luncheon of lasagna and salad was served. Dessert was a very tasty decorated cake. Needless to say, it was a special time for him (he will be 14 in a couple of weeks) and the family. He will also graduate from the 8th grade on May 17th. He has a very busy month!