We arrived in Arizona, we are dazed and confused....
Check out our phones, we can't figure out the time here in Page, AZ. It turns out that there are two time zones in AZ, Mountain Time and "Res" time or reservation time. AZ the state does not follow Daylight Savings Time while the Indian Reservations do follow Daylight Savings Time. The cell tower location determines the time displayed on your phone. We are going to have some problems here. My phone is on the right, Lester's is on the left. Anybody see an issue here?
No matter, we are on vacation!
We woke up to yet another beautiful view. Our balcony faced pretty much due north. The view last night was to the east, lighting the mesa with the setting sun to the west. This morning's balcony view is facing west, being lit by the rising sun.
Noteworthy for last night is the rain we received. So much for a dry desert. The treat received in exchange for the rain would naturally be a rainbow. It was a triple rainbow, but I think this is the best rainbow photo and it doesn't show it in its glory. This is getting to be a common refrain on this trip, photos falling short of life.
Last night after the sun finished setting and the skies turned completely dark we drove back into Capital Reef Park for a gander at the moonless night sky. The moon seems lately to be showing itself during the day and hiding at night, all to our benefit. For the second time on this trip we were clearly able to see the Milky Way. The jury is still out as to the more spectacular nighttime sky, VT vs. UT. In favor of VT is the lack of air traffic messing with the view. In favor of UT is the balmy night.
When we returned to our room we found these lovely lamps did a fine job providing light, but lead us to question the decorating choices of the proprietors.
www.SculpturedFurnitureArtandCeramics.com
On the final leg of route 12 we stopped at the side of the road because we love when the clouds throw shadows on the hillside. We just had to take this picture and share it.
Welcome to Bryce Canyon National Park
Where to begin? Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, it does. I'm bordering on sensory overload. The thing that I find most striking about Bryce is the variation in vegetation and topography. Bryce had everything we had been seeing for the last few days wrapped up in one tidy package.
When we arrived at the visitor center seeking insight from the rangers about a place to picnic we were told to avoid a particular site since there had been a forest fire there about 5 years ago and it wasn't as picturesque as other available sites. The park seems to be recovering nicely from that sad event, however.
When we first started to talk about this trip many, many people told us Bryce Canyon was not to be missed. And, we must concur. Repeat after me, these pictures do not do it justice. Not even close.
Some observations about the collection of National Parks we just immersed ourselves in, in no particular order.
A&L
Noteworthy for last night is the rain we received. So much for a dry desert. The treat received in exchange for the rain would naturally be a rainbow. It was a triple rainbow, but I think this is the best rainbow photo and it doesn't show it in its glory. This is getting to be a common refrain on this trip, photos falling short of life.
Last night after the sun finished setting and the skies turned completely dark we drove back into Capital Reef Park for a gander at the moonless night sky. The moon seems lately to be showing itself during the day and hiding at night, all to our benefit. For the second time on this trip we were clearly able to see the Milky Way. The jury is still out as to the more spectacular nighttime sky, VT vs. UT. In favor of VT is the lack of air traffic messing with the view. In favor of UT is the balmy night.
When we returned to our room we found these lovely lamps did a fine job providing light, but lead us to question the decorating choices of the proprietors.
The route for today was Scenic Byway 12. It took us from Torrey, UT to Bryce Canyon, also in Utah. It is not for the faint of heart. Parts of the ride reminded us of our trip on Mt. Washington. This road had grades posted at 12 and 14 percent. Although there was the occasional guardrail they were really on an as needed basis. Apparently the guy making the guardrail decision doesn't agree with me on the definition of needed.
Our first stop en route was Boulder, UT home of Hell's Backbone Grill. Our plan was to have lunch at this Zagat rated locavore Buddhist run restaurant. Sue from my yoga class told me about this place. Sadly, we arrived too early for lunch. Although they would have happily served us whatever meal we asked for, breakfast was still firmly taking up the required real estate in our stomachs. We opted for a couple of cookies for the road.
Once again serendipity landed firmly in our path. Attached to the grill is an inn, and it is hosting, for 3 days only, a gaggle of Tibetan Buddhist monks. (If anyone knows the proper plural noun for Tibetan monks please let us know.) They are spending their time creating a sand mandala for world peace. It is quite an amazing process. They take what appears to be a foot long copper funnel/straw combo with a ribbed top edge similar to that elementary music class instrument that you'd rub a stick over to make a sound. They fill it with brightly colored sand and then scrape the ridges on top and tiny grains of colored sand fall out onto the table to create the mandala. The final design is outlined in chalk on what appears to be a surface like a blackboard laid horizontally and then they deposit sand atop that outline.
Our first stop en route was Boulder, UT home of Hell's Backbone Grill. Our plan was to have lunch at this Zagat rated locavore Buddhist run restaurant. Sue from my yoga class told me about this place. Sadly, we arrived too early for lunch. Although they would have happily served us whatever meal we asked for, breakfast was still firmly taking up the required real estate in our stomachs. We opted for a couple of cookies for the road.
Once again serendipity landed firmly in our path. Attached to the grill is an inn, and it is hosting, for 3 days only, a gaggle of Tibetan Buddhist monks. (If anyone knows the proper plural noun for Tibetan monks please let us know.) They are spending their time creating a sand mandala for world peace. It is quite an amazing process. They take what appears to be a foot long copper funnel/straw combo with a ribbed top edge similar to that elementary music class instrument that you'd rub a stick over to make a sound. They fill it with brightly colored sand and then scrape the ridges on top and tiny grains of colored sand fall out onto the table to create the mandala. The final design is outlined in chalk on what appears to be a surface like a blackboard laid horizontally and then they deposit sand atop that outline.
 |
| That design is entirely made of sand. |
Next we came to the teaming metropolis of Escalante, UT and if I recall correctly there were 6 cross streets in town. On the way out of town we stopped at a combination potter and woodworker's studio. The wife was the potter and the husband, the woodworker. The wife's pots are made using ancient techniques including a three day pit firing. The husband's work was quite unique. He creates laminated wood blocks and carves furniture from them. I cannot describe his work so I am including a link to his website. Take a look.
www.SculpturedFurnitureArtandCeramics.com
On the final leg of route 12 we stopped at the side of the road because we love when the clouds throw shadows on the hillside. We just had to take this picture and share it.
Welcome to Bryce Canyon National Park
Where to begin? Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, it does. I'm bordering on sensory overload. The thing that I find most striking about Bryce is the variation in vegetation and topography. Bryce had everything we had been seeing for the last few days wrapped up in one tidy package.
When we arrived at the visitor center seeking insight from the rangers about a place to picnic we were told to avoid a particular site since there had been a forest fire there about 5 years ago and it wasn't as picturesque as other available sites. The park seems to be recovering nicely from that sad event, however.
When we first started to talk about this trip many, many people told us Bryce Canyon was not to be missed. And, we must concur. Repeat after me, these pictures do not do it justice. Not even close.
Some observations about the collection of National Parks we just immersed ourselves in, in no particular order.
- All the parks were beautiful, but in their own ways.
- Each park, much to our amazement, was different in personality and topography.
- The parks seemed empty. Frequently we had marked vista sites or main park roads to ourselves. We found this sad.
- We heard lots of French, German, Asian and Indian being spoken around us. Our national parks attract visitors from every part of the globe, justifiably so. Lester was initially quite surprised by the number of foreign visitors, but after touring the parks himself he now understands why.
- A very large percentage of the children we encountered we not happy to be visiting these parks. We heard a lot of snarky comments from teenagers, whining from the grade school set and uncontrolled bawling from the little ones. The lesson, unless you know your kids will enjoy it, leave them home and enjoy the trip yourself.
A&L
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