Grand canyon

Agua Canyon

Paria View.


Does this look like a dragon to you? Mossy Cave.





Fairyland Canyon

Grand Canyon natural Bridge

Planes of Fame Museum

This museum is located 24 miles south of the Grand Canyon. Price of the museum also includes the car museum. Not many planes or cars, but sure enjoyed the ones that were in the museum. Cost was $5 per adult.


This is the plane used by MacAuther during WWII.


Japanese zero


This was my favorite of all the old cars. Sure was beautiful with all the gold on it.


Hudson pick-up.

Grand Canyon - South Rim

Lots of points to see. We made good use of the shuttle system. We got off at each point and stayed as long as we wanted. We also drove to the points towards the east side of the park. Before we toured the park, we saw the movie about the Grand Canyon at the IMAX theater. We had lunch at McDonalds and picked up a discount ticket for the IMAX. Be sure to see the show.


Condor flying over the canyon.


Gary was really excited about the Grand Canyon. He had always wanted to visit it. We were there a few days after President Obama and found out what chair the president sat in.




Colorado River from the Watchtower.

Grand Canyon - North Rim

Gary and I spent 2 days exploring the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We camped out in the boonies about 34 miles north of the park. This park does not have any shuttle service. You have to drive at least 15 miles to see Cape Royal and Angel's Window. Gary says that he enjoyed the North Rim of the canyon more than the south. There was a fire over by Cape Royal which started in July. Fire was caused by lightening. In some of the pictures, you can see the smoke from the fire.

We were greeted by the buffalo about a mile into the park. A couple were in the road and were in no hurry to get out of the way.




This is Angel's Window. You can see the Colorado River through the window. We walked out to the overlook on top of the window. What a view.


Colorado River.

Cedar Breaks National Monument

Very small National Park but very beautiful. There were only about 4 view points in this park. It has a campground, but the sites are not large enough for us to park in.

Kolab-Zion

When we checked into our campground, the owner told us about Kolab. It is the northwest section of Zion National Park. So, since we had the time, Gary and I drove over to check it out. We were not disappointed with the many views we were treated to.

Zion National Park

We enjoyed our afternoon at Zion National Park. We drove in from the east side of Zion. Beautiful drive. Once we arrived, we got on the shuttle and rode it to the various points. There were lots of people there because it was free to enter that week-end.




This is weeping rock. We stood under it and enjoyed getting dripped on. Helped to cool us off.


The last stop of the shuttle led to the River Walk. It was about a mile or so to where one would have to wade the river to keep on going. Sure was a beautiful walk. We saw a few flowers and even a snake on our walk.

Paunsaugant Wildlife Museum

This is one fantastic museum. It is located on Hwy 12, just past the turn-off for Bryce Canyon. Cost was $8 per adult, but Gary and I believed that it was worth every penny. We spent a lot of time looking at the exhibits, which were numerous.


The exhibits were displayed in scenes with many things to see. Lots had birds in the trees, squirrels, lizards, etc.


Had a great display of birds to see.


This is one section of the Africa Room.


Over 1600 butterflies to be seen in the museum. Lots of bugs also. I know one thing for sure, I do not want to run into a bug in Brazil, they have huge bugs there. There were also bird-eating spiders.

Bryce Canyon National park

Bryce is my favorite of all the parks that we saw this year. I could take a chair and sit at any of the view points and watch the view all day. When the sun hits the Canyon, the colors change. I have included a view from most of the points. I took lots of pictures, so if you want to see more, be sure to click on the links underneath each photo. There were a lot of people in the parks. Most were from Europe. The California car rental business was sure doing great. So was the RV rental business. We did not run into very many Americans in the park. The pictures do not really do justice to the beauty of the park. We spent 10 days camping in the park with Jim and Sherri.


Chipmunks were a hit with the Europeans. They would follow them around trying to get a picture. This one just happened to be sitting on the rocks as we passed by.

Rainbow point


We hiked up to Inspiration point. Beautiful, Beautiful.


This is a view of Sunset point.


Sunrise point.

Red Canyon National park

Red Canyon National Park is located on Utah Scenic Hwy 12. There are hiking trails and lots of places to pull over to take pictures. A small visitor center is located in the park.

Two tunnels were made in order to allow traffic to travel from Zion to Bryce National Parks.

Utah Scenic byway 12

Wow!!!! what a beautiful drive from Boulder, Utah to Bryce Canyon, Utah. We went down some 14% grades and up at least 1 14% grade. Lots of pull-outs along the route.


As you can see the road is not very wide. This section goes right across the rim of two canyons.


The motorhome in front belongs to our friends, Jim and Sherri Reed. They have driven this road many times.


You can see how the road meanders across the mountain.

Anasazi State Park Museum, Boulder, Utah

After driving the Burr Trail Road, Gary and I stopped off to tour the Anasazi State Park Museum. Cost was $4 per adult. They had a wonderful 23 minute video. Not very many items in the museum. You can view the Coombs Site Ruisn and a life-size replica of part of the pueblo.




replica


pitt house


Coombs ruins.

Burr Trail Road, Boulder, Utah

Jim, Sherri, Gary and I, drove the Burr Trail Road today. Sure was a beautiful drive. Made lots of stops for pictures.

Capitol Reef National Park, Scenic drive

If you have never been to this park, plan on going. What a beautiful National park. Everytime we went around a bend or turn, I would catch myself saying "wow" or "this is awesome". The pictures below were taken while Gary and I toured the Scenic drive. We drove down the two washes and even walked down one of them. We saw a mine where uranium was mined and more petroglyphs. It was an experience driving between the walls of the wash. The colors of the rocks were wonderful to behold. We stopped at the Griffin house where they sell homemade ice cream, fresh baked pies-apple, berry, peach, and rubbard-strawberry. They also sell salsa, pickeled jalapenos, chips, muffins, jams, and other things that are made especially for the park. Gary bought a jar of salsa and a jar of the jalapenos. We had a very enjoyable day.


This is Echo Cliff. Yes, we did test to see if we could hear an echo.


We enjoyed looking at all the rocks. We thought this was very interesting.


The rock in the background is called the Golden Throne.


This is called Cassidy Arch. It is rumored that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid hid in the wash where this arch is located.

Driving hwy 24 through Capitol Reef National Park

We enjoyed the drive on hwy 24 through Capitol Reef National Park. Lots of things to see from the highway. Lots of places to pull over to enjoy the view.


This is Castle Rock. The reddish-brown rock below the castle looks like a submarine. This is across from the Visitor's Center.


Chimney Rock.


Twin Rocks.

Navajo Dome


10 people lived in this house.


Fluted Wall

Trail to Hickman Natural Bridge

Gary and I hiked the 1 mile trail to Hickman Natural Bridge. The trail was mostly uphill-the park brochure called it a moderately strenuous hike. Sure seemed longer than a mile to us. The scenery along the trail was beautiful. We made a lot of stops to be sure to see everything. Most of the trail is open which means that if the weather is warm, expect to sweat alot. Take plenty of water and be sure to wear good shoes. Lots to see, so don't be in a hurry. Go early in the morning before it gets too hot.


It was cool under this section. Nice breeze blew beneath this rock. Don't know if it is a cave, bridge, or arch.


Lots of neat rock formations. The colors were very beautiful.


We passed this painted hand along the way. Saw more painted hands by the bridge.


This was built to store the crops of the Pueblo people. Click on the link above the first picture if you want to see more photos.

Hickman Natural Bridge

We made it to the natural Bridge. Quite a hike. Lot easier going back as most of the trail was down hill.




Looking up at the natural Bridge.

Capitol Reef Petroglyphs

Pulled off the side of the road. Short walk on 2 wooden walk-ways.



Some of the petrolgyphs are on this rock.

Chuckwagon show, Moab, Utah

Great way to spend an evening. The food was good and the show was great. Gary and I had a lot of fun. If you have a chance, see the show when you visit Moab.


These two characters did a great dance.


The main entertainers.




Gary with his hero.

Arches National Park

I really have a hard time describing the beauty of Arches National Park. Gary and I really enjoyed trying to see different shapes in the rocks. We took a lunch and spend most of the day in the park. I took so many pictures. It was hot when we were there so we did not do very many of the trails. We enjoyed the Visitor's Center and the short video that is shown. This is a park we will return to.

The three rocks are called "The Gossips", the one on the right is "The Sheep"


This is known as "Balanced Rock"


This was in the section called "The Garden of Eden" Can you see the owl with it's head turned?


This is the double arch. You can walk under these arches.