Here is Lynn's last letter, sent after our trip to Zion national park, which is one of my favorites. The night before Zion we had a tour of a few casinos, not for gambling but for gawking. I gawked and enjoyed it. Our tour included a real wedding performed by a real Elvis impersonator.
Bill
What a good day we had today! Another early start: 7:30 am. We are usually up by 6:00, but it takes longer to be ready to go out when you have to have breakfast in a restaurant first. (On this trip our luggage usually needed to be ready at least an hour before we had to leave. That means being dressed, teeth brushed, backpacks packed, and nothing left behind. )
The trip from Las Vegas to Zion National Park took about 4 hours, including a break for buying groceries for lunch. The scenery on the trip was very good most of the way, but we've seen so much wonderful scenery on this trip that I don't think anyone took pictures on the way.
Most of what one sees at Zion is from the bottom of the canyon, while several parks we visited were from the top looking down. The rocks are huge, with surfaces ranging from smooth to jumbled. Everyone was deeply impressed as we drove in, but the rocks towered so much that you could barely take pictures of them.
A shuttle drives you around from place to place in the park. We chose to go to the northernmost stop, the Temple of Sinawava, and walk to the end of the trail, where the canyon narrowed a lot. The Virgin River flowed through the canyon with a surprising amount of muddy water for this time of year. Turns out they had a flash flood last night. Trails and roads had a good wash of mud on them. The rains we had been having have covered huge areas. But today was sunny and the high was only about 80, with a good breeze. Perfect. We enjoyed our hike very much, but were ready to stop at its end.
These rocks are about 1,000 higher than the elevation where we were standing. They're actually pretty reddish. Below them, the trees are actually big, tall trees, although they look like shrubs.
One thing that has surprised us is at almost everywhere we've gone is how many people are from foreign countries. Walking around, especially in the national parks, you hear people speaking in many languages, and English is not the language spoken by the majority of people.
On the way back to Las Vegas Kristina sat with me most of the way. We played Crazy 8 and then she played some games on my iPad. When we arrived at the hotel she was very upset about the idea of never seeing me again, so Bill and I both went to the pool and went on the water slide with her. I swam with Kristina and her mother Jan, Bill talked with the grandmother Laverne. A fun evening.
A shuttle to the airport will pick us up at 11:35 am tomorrow. Our flight is at 2:15, and we're scheduled to land in Appleton at 7:47-- about a 3 and a half hour flight. (We're on Pacific time here.) Dinner before we drive home.
If you have been reading these, thanks. It's been fun to write them.
Love, Lynn
Sent from my iPad
The trip from Las Vegas to Zion National Park took about 4 hours, including a break for buying groceries for lunch. The scenery on the trip was very good most of the way, but we've seen so much wonderful scenery on this trip that I don't think anyone took pictures on the way.
Most of what one sees at Zion is from the bottom of the canyon, while several parks we visited were from the top looking down. The rocks are huge, with surfaces ranging from smooth to jumbled. Everyone was deeply impressed as we drove in, but the rocks towered so much that you could barely take pictures of them.
A shuttle drives you around from place to place in the park. We chose to go to the northernmost stop, the Temple of Sinawava, and walk to the end of the trail, where the canyon narrowed a lot. The Virgin River flowed through the canyon with a surprising amount of muddy water for this time of year. Turns out they had a flash flood last night. Trails and roads had a good wash of mud on them. The rains we had been having have covered huge areas. But today was sunny and the high was only about 80, with a good breeze. Perfect. We enjoyed our hike very much, but were ready to stop at its end.
These rocks are about 1,000 higher than the elevation where we were standing. They're actually pretty reddish. Below them, the trees are actually big, tall trees, although they look like shrubs.
One thing that has surprised us is at almost everywhere we've gone is how many people are from foreign countries. Walking around, especially in the national parks, you hear people speaking in many languages, and English is not the language spoken by the majority of people.
On the way back to Las Vegas Kristina sat with me most of the way. We played Crazy 8 and then she played some games on my iPad. When we arrived at the hotel she was very upset about the idea of never seeing me again, so Bill and I both went to the pool and went on the water slide with her. I swam with Kristina and her mother Jan, Bill talked with the grandmother Laverne. A fun evening.
A shuttle to the airport will pick us up at 11:35 am tomorrow. Our flight is at 2:15, and we're scheduled to land in Appleton at 7:47-- about a 3 and a half hour flight. (We're on Pacific time here.) Dinner before we drive home.
If you have been reading these, thanks. It's been fun to write them.
Love, Lynn
Sent from my iPad
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
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