Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon and Grand Junction
A few notes:
1) I just re-read my last entry, I apologize for the grammatical and spelling errors. I am surprised that someone did not correct them. ( you know who you are) I am tempted to buy that "eats trees and leaves" Hopefully the writing course I take this summer will alleviate this issue or I will I will just earn an "F" Please, also take in account that is is partly due to my poor typing skills.
2) This day was excruciatingly long which caused the back up in my Blog entries. I will try to catch up by tomorrow
3) THANK YOU so much for your suggestions.
Writer----Nicole Ariola
Director---Nicole Ariola
Producer---Unfortunately, Still Nicole Ariola
Entertainment provided by ---audiobooks- The Bourne Legacy
So I pack up car,throw on my shorts and hiking boots, enjoy my delicious homemade granola and yogurt parfait and head to Zion National Park. I opted out on the cranberry cream cheese stuffed croissant french toast, because I thought I could be more one with nature if I had the granola. My mouth is salivating and I am still kicking myself over that mistake! The ride is only about 45 minutes long. It was an easy drive and went by quickly. The amazing rock formations and colors strewn across this part of Utah was remarkable. There are small towns, with bookstores to checkout, along the way. My favorite town, Virgin, I speculate that this is where they took all the young girls before they got assigned to their new husband and sister wives. It would keep them away from any thoughts or ideas that there other possibilities for this is role and also allow them time to bond with their possible sister wives. The gossip type thoughts just start reeling. I then found out it is called Virgin because it runs along the Virgin River.
I arrive at the gate to Zion and realize that I will probably get hungry while I am hiking around and head to the closest market. The market is where I discover that there are no Americans in Zion just a large number of Italians and French. The Italians were much cooler and more fun to interact with, of course. Now that I have been Euro influenced I am craving a baguette and cheese and some fruit. I drive up to a parking spot and attempt to start my hike. Looking at the map, most of the hikes are over 2 hours long so I do not have much time for this attraction. However, they have made an ingenious decision and have a shuttle bus only route to get you to the trails. ( it is very similar to the "lazy man surfing" in Fiji, how you can get boated out past the reef to the waves. This you get shuttled to trail of your choice) I jumped on this opportunity. (JUST because I was short on time) I head to Weeping Rock. It is called this because the rock is porous, like a sponge and the water starts to run horizontally until it finds an exit. They tested some waters and discovered that they are about 1200 years old. (not a typo) Other tidbits I learned on the shuttle ride: the formations were named by 2 guys while they were hiking around and they just stuck, they get 2.5 milliion visitors a year, they have 271 species of birdsand 75 species of mammals. Not to completely miss out on the hiking aspect, I decide to walk/run back down to my car or a couple of shuttle stops down. My mom did not raise I dummy, I walked down the hill instead of up. A great trail led me next to the river in the middle of this valley. It was quite majestic. I plan to return for at least a 3 day excursion. One of the trails" Angels Landing and trails to the falls take about 5 hours each, I can only imagine how fantastic those sights must be. It is about 1 pm and I hop in my car and head to Bryce Canyon only another 1-2 hours away. My bread cheese and fruit are a delicious driving treat!
On the way to Bryce you go through 1.1 mile tunnel, the Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel. They started boring through the sandstone in 1920 and it was completed in 1930. If you a claustrophobic, they do have areas where they bored "windows" throughout the tunnel. As I close in on Bryce, I notice that the rock formations have changed and there are A LOT of Pine trees. El Verde tells me that the outside temperature has dropped to 40 degree. Sitting in my car in my shorts I realize that perhaps I should have done some more research about this National Park. There are some different and more rounded Rock Formations andv ery brisk air running around me. As I approach the gate to the Park, I look at the time, and think about my arrival time into Grand Junctiion, which is another 4- 5 hours away, the temperature adn more importantly Game 1 of the Laker/ Celtics NBA finals. I smile pretty at the lovely trees, rock formations and make a quick u-turn.
2 hours later, on a very desolate road, I am pretty sick of rock formations and start to re-think my second part of my trip. Just 45 minutes outside of Grand Junction and 1 hour until tip off, I hit a HUGE storm and El Verde starts to tell me that he is sick of Rock Formations, High Altitude and this annoying rain and hail. We pull over for a few minutes, freak out a little. El Verde bucks up and so do I, however, El Verde has several scars. The maintenance required light has started to shine and his hubcaps are very scratched up from the rocks I ran onto when i pulled off the road. Once we got to the hotel,I decided that the both of us should take the night off and I watch the game in my room. I am looking forward to my short 4 hour trip to Denver and staying in 1 place for a couple of nights.
Utah Book stores checked=8
Copies of Under the Banner of Heaven= 0
Grand Junction Hey honey, so sorry about your freak out. That must be crazy going thru a storm alone. Quick note, Easter Sunday many years ago I was on my way back from Telluride to Colorado Springs with my new boyfriend, Marc. Then I was flying back to AZ. In Gunnison, we flipped the jeep and I was helicoptered to Grand Junction hospital. Ahhh what horrific memories.
Denver is going to be awesome. Rock bottom brewery, etc. I went to this restaurant and I must remember the name. You get LIMITLESS shrimp cocktail before the meal and it is like 5 courses. I vomited after I left. good times. It has two letters in the beginning.
I'll get back to you.
HIKING SCOUT Hi Nicole- so fun to hear about your adventures. Once you have gathered all the info, count me in for a hiking trip. You can be Sacajewea. I'm going to break into my copy of Under the Banner of Heaven in your honor. Let me know if you need an excerpt.
wha happen? I thought you were going to pay attention to your grammar, punctuation, and spelling in this latest blog insert? I think you may have a spended too big a much time in dem mormon hills, and contracted dat hippy inbred polygamist gene. what dey call dat?, idunnodanameofdatwife. I am glad you are having fun, and all kidding aside he BlOG is informative and entertaining. Can't wait to hear about the giant hole dems call the grand canyon. My hope is that you enjoyed the view from the platform and didn't attempt to hike down on your own accord. It looks attainable, but actually takes about 12 hours from the northern vista. I love you. Drive fast and take chances! JN
YOU ARE SO BRAVE You are my hero!!! I would never think of going on this trip alone--let alone driving. It's amazing how you still have time to jot down everything. Don't stop doing that, at least we know you're out there safe.
Be careful... and keep on writing. I live vicariously through you.
Love, Grandma
Erin
non-member comment
Grand Junction
Hey honey, so sorry about your freak out. That must be crazy going thru a storm alone. Quick note, Easter Sunday many years ago I was on my way back from Telluride to Colorado Springs with my new boyfriend, Marc. Then I was flying back to AZ. In Gunnison, we flipped the jeep and I was helicoptered to Grand Junction hospital. Ahhh what horrific memories. Denver is going to be awesome. Rock bottom brewery, etc. I went to this restaurant and I must remember the name. You get LIMITLESS shrimp cocktail before the meal and it is like 5 courses. I vomited after I left. good times. It has two letters in the beginning. I'll get back to you.