Zion and Bryce Canyon Nat'l Parks

June 27

Glen Canyon Dam

Arrive Zion, drive in, play in creek

Lillian - The dam was very, very big.  while we were there Mom started talking to some kids who were from Kenston.  It was weird that they knew Mariel.  I got really excited that Spain won the semi-finals (we listened to the end in the McDonald’s parking lot).  Zion looked real compared to the Grand Canyon.  We played in the creek which was pretty fun.  i pretended I was Chuckie and scared of the sand so I had to avoid the sand when I got in the creek.

Elliot - It was weird that we met Mariel’s friends.  The dam was pretty big and cool.  Playing in the creek was pretty fun.  My favorite part was when I tripped and went floating down the river until Lillian caught me.

Adrian - We were deciding whether to go to Glen Canyon or on a scenic drive.  We decided to go to the dam and ran in to Mariel’s friends.  They happened to be the Precious Cargo bus we had seen at 2 other of the parks.  We went to McDonald’s so we could listen to the Spain vs Portugal game in the Euro Cup.  Spain won 5 - 3 in PKs and Cest Fabregas scored the final pk off the post.  Then we drove to Zion.  We played in the creek and played a game blood in the water and had a cold walk back to the campsite.

June 28

Hike Weeping Garden, Narrows - Zion NP

Arrive Bryce, set up, ranger program

Lillian - At weeping rock it was very cool and exciting because you don’t see water coming out of rocks everyday.  The plants there were cool as well.  We ran in to the Kenston group again!  From there we went to the Narrows where we hiked through the river, sometimes it was ankle deep and sometimes it was waist deep and higher.  I made a cairn.  It was really cool to see a waterfall part way where the rocks were red and there were pine trees.  It was fun watching Adrian, Elliot and Dad jump off a rock into the river.  I would have gone but I had just gotten in to dry clothes. 

Elliot - the Narrows was fun and scary.  The scary part was when I was in a place where I couldn’t stand and there were rapids and I had to swim to the closest place I could get and I went under water and Adrian and Lillian thought I sank and Adrian thought about all the Disney movies where there are hats floating on the water with arrows in them like in Robin Hood.  But I had made it to the side and Dad ran in and grabbed my sock and shoe which had come off.  The fun part was when we got to play in the creek and there was a little waterfall there that we could see and I named it the rat waterslide.  There was a rock that we got to jump off in to the water.  Zion was really fun!

Adrian - we rode on the tram to the weeping garden wherer we saw the droplets falling from the gardens.  The river walk was really fun and started off with some excitement with Elliot’s plunge in to the creek.  Then we creek walked through water up to our chest.  We saw cool alcoves in the walls of the canyon and we could look up and see the formations of the rock.  We walked through rapids, jumped off the giant rock, swam in some parts.  We were very tired!  We saw the Kenston group multiple times that day.  We drove to Bryce.  We went by campgrounds with pools and teepees but unfortunately didn’t stop.  We went to a ranger program about alien life which was a little goofy.

June 29

Showers

Hike Bryce Canyon, drive through park

Lillian - The hike was cool with the rocks all in different shapes, sizes and balancing on each other.  There was one that looked like a chicken with a giant egg.  It was cool to see Thor’s hammer and to see all the different viewpoints with arches and bridges.  We met Rex Kwan Do and he looked and acted exactly like the character in Napolean Dynamite!  Now  I’m swinging in the hammock at our campsite drawing in my journal.  We were going to have a campfire tonight but they just put a ban on them today!  I’m so disappointed!  We haven’t had one since the Great Sand Dunes.

Elliot - Today was fun when we went on a couple of hikes and we saw Thor’s Hammer, which is a hoodoo which is pretty famous!  I made Adrian’s vacation when I climbed up a 15 foot tree to get the frisbee!

Adrian - Today was fun hiking through Bryce canyon.  We got to see many cool hoodoos  formations such as the Indian Woman and Thor’s Hammer.  We got to make cairns.  Meet Rex Kwan Do from Napolean Dynamite who was pushing his kids to the limit just like in the movie.  After the hike we got ice cream and went on a driving tour of the park.  After that Elliot and I played frisbee.  Our catch record was 87.  We got the frisbee stuck in a tree.  Elliot climbed the tree to the applause of campers nearby.