Bryce and Me

Queen Victoria is sitting on her throne, use your imagination!

I had such a nice day in Bryce Canyon today. Compared to the last time I was here this was a piece of cake! I got the horses sorted out, lunch eaten, hikers set off and then I had a nice hike myself as well. It was great fun. Then we went on a quest for Utah Prairie Dogs (which are on the endangered species list~is that the craziest thing you've ever heard?) So we drove further south than I've driven in the park and it was really nice actually. The scenery changes. We saw Antelope on the side of the road and no prairie dogs. It wasn't until we turned around and were almost out of the park that one of the boys spotted a dog on the side of the road and so I had to turn around and park and they were so thrilled! It was hilarious! And the p-dogs were so entertaining! So that was good fun. After we recovered from the thrill of dogs we stopped again for some deer with babies. Oh so cute and fuzzy and eating right by the road! My photographer guy got some great shots. The bambi would look up at him and eat so he got it chewing. He has an amazing zoom lens on his camera.

This evening we all hurried to the buffet trying to beat the buses in and guess what? No buses this time. The season really is ending. Having alot of parking places left in the park should have been my first clue! So we ate and ate and ate! Then we waddled over to the Old Bryce Town and had a hilarious time with the photos. I'll post some here. But needless to say, this group has been amazing! I hate to say it (again, I'm sure) but I'd like to come back and do these same tours again next summer. So that I can do more of them and they will really be good ones. I wish the pay was better. It doesn't make sense in any way to work for explore again but I am having fun at least. And hiking like a mad woman! Its been great.

View from Observation Point, looking down on Angels Landing

In Zion I did an 8 mile round trip hike. I went up to Observation Point. Ouch! About mile 3 on the way up I thought I was going to die and I really had to mentally battle with myself to keep moving. Then on the way down I had to keep from crying and then cussing aloud (lots of echos there) because my knees were really hurting. I thought for sure my knee caps were going to pop off. Oh man! But the view was amazing. Really worth it. I was looking down onto Angels Landing and I thought that hike was pretty much the toughest one I'd do.
At the end of the day we all met up and went to the Bit and Spur and had dinner, it was great fun. And really good food. Don't get the burrito though it was gross. The rest was good!
Tonight in Bryce when I finally got us all checked in I realized I'd been given a voucher for dinner (after I'd already paid wah!!!) that sucks. I didn't think I'd get that sort of thing this time around. Boohoo!
Tomorrow morning sunrise is at 6:53am so I'll drive my peeps up and see what we can see. Should be good fun. Its a big day tomorrow and not my favorite one. I like Capitol Reef but its just so much driving and the group will be tired and so it makes it tough to stay awake.