Utah Rocks!

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I must admit, the title is not mine. It's on T-shirts that we bought today. It's absolutely appropriate, though, because today was fantastic.

Our first stop was Cedar Breaks National Monument east of Cedar City. It is not huge, and is a drive-through kind of place, not that unlike how we usually do parks. We first stopped at the visitor center/bathrooms/southern view. We didn't see any hint of what was coming (aside from the snow!) until walking up a short hill to the viewpoint. It was breathtaking, literally (>10,000 feet) and figuratively. I cannot honestly think of anything that has impressed me this much, except perhaps my first view of the Grand Canyon 9 years ago. The boys agreed, although they weren't impressed by the mud caked on their shoes, a result of the big storm that came through last night. We stopped at a couple more viewpoints for more angles and continued to be impressed.

Our second destination was Bryce Canyon National Park. It took us awhile to get there, since we did some geocaching on the way. The boys' favorite was Birch Spring Knoll, where they climbed on what look like lava rocks like in Idaho. We're not sure what they are, but they are plentiful and great for climbing, apparently.

Five minutes before arriving at Bryce, it started to pour. This would've been the first time our plans were cancelled for weather (excluding being lazy from heat), except for it stopped as we entered the park. We drove to the southern part first and planned to catch the viewpoints on the way back up. The views were nice, but it was nothing spectacular. We then got to Bryce Point, where I realized the reason this place is so popular. My goodness! The hoo-doos were amazing to see and seemed to go on forever. Someday, we will hike down in there, but not today.

We cached a bit on the way home until the boys got sick of it. After promising that Undershot Power would be our last, Jeff noticed Hamburger Patty's across the street. It's in a renovated service station/general store type place and had fantastic burgers, including Jeff's buffalo burger. Yum!

All three boys are now swimming, while I'm posting this listening to the tattooed Italians arguing next door. Did I mention the rain started again as soon as we left the park boundaries?

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Today, we learned that Natural Bridge in Bryce Canyon National Park is actually an arch.

We forgot bagels.

Conversation of the Day:
C - My bird is injured and needs to see Dr. Mom. He needs an x-ray.
K - Unfortunately, today is Saturday, so he'll need to go to urgent care.
C - I've been to urgent care. I don't like it.

High Temperature: 73, in Panguitch UT
Low Temperature: 51, in Brian Head UT

Miles: 229

Geocaches Found: 17

Projects Knitted: October is for Spinners

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