Zion

This past weekend we spent a night up in Zion National Park, about a 3 hour trip from Henderson.  Jeremy had Monday off so we wanted to get out of town and do some exploring.  I found a great deal at a lodge just outside the park in a the cute little city of Springdale, Utah.  We got up and drove there on Saturday morning.  We arrived around 11am.  Since we couldn’t check in yet we went straight to the park, had a picnic lunch and went on a bike ride that started at the visitor center.  It was beautiful. 
It went along the Virgin River and we even got to cross the river 5 or 6 times.  Tyler loved it!  We even got out once and hiked down to the river so Ty could play in the sand at the bank of the river.  It was a pretty 4 mile round trip ride.


Next we decided to go as far as the road would take us and hike the 2.5 mile trail called Riverside Walk.  This trail was also paved, but not big enough for bikes. 

Before we even started down the trail a herd of deer were munching on some grass right outside the bathrooms.  They didn’t even care that we were there and Ty had fun looking at them and wanted to pet them. 
Ty walked for a little bit of the trail but kept getting slower and slower so we eventually put him in the backpack so we could get to the end of the trail before it got dark. 

Along the way water was seeping down the mountain side and Ty thought this was super cool!

At the end of the trail is where the Narrows trail starts.  It’s a 16 mile hike to the end of the canyon and half of the trail is in the river.  It’s only recommended that you go on this trail in the summer since in the winter and spring the water is ice cold and there is a large chance of flash floods.  We saw pictures that were taken on this hike and they are beautiful.  Maybe we can come back during the summer and try it out.
Checking out the water!


On the way back to the truck we saw the deer again frolicking on the side of the mountain!

That night we learned that Ty no longer likes to sleep in the pack n play.  He slept in the big bed with us and played pin ball between Jeremy and I. 

Needless to say, I don’t think any slept very well – except Ty of course.  The cutest thing happened when we went to bed though.  I’m always the last one to fall asleep and Jeremy and Ty both fell asleep and started snoring at exactly the same time.  It was so cute and made me go to sleep with a smile on my face.
The next morning we woke to 4 inches of snow and a lot of fog!

After lounging around we finally got ready and headed off to find some good breakfast.  A lot of the places were closed for season, but we did find a cute little place called Oscar’s Café.
I think it was one of the few places that was still opened and served breakfast because we had to wait 15 minutes to get a table inside.  Ty thought this was great and had so much fun playing with the snow while we waited – until he fell down in it and it soaked right through it pants.  Then he was cold and wet.  The food was delicious and Ty ate his whole pancake!

After breakfast we headed up the mountains to the tunnel that is carved along the side of the mountain.  It’s a narrow two lane road through the tunnel and they actually have to stop traffic if a bus or RV needs to pass through it.  Throughout the 1.5 mile tunnel there are these openings giving you a panoramic view of the canyon and mountains. 

Once through the tunnel we drove another mile or two until we found a good place to pull over and let Ty play in the snow.  It was perfect snow for making snowballs! 

Somebody thought it would be funny to throw snowballs at the camera lady!

So I did what my dad always did to me in the snow – pick me up and rub my face in it!

It was really bright!

Back through the tunnel and down the mountain we decided to hit some hiking trails.  It had warmed up a bit by then so we set off on the Lower Emerald Pool trail that ended at a waterfall that you could walk under.
 
It was little slick in some places along this trail because of the snow and slush but not bad enough that we had to turn back.  Ty fell asleep halfway back to the truck on this trail so we just went across the street and started exploring the Grotto trail.  It basically just went along side the road and ended in a picnic area.  Along the way we saw a family of deer just relaxing in the brush.  We were only 5 feet away from them and once again – they could’ve cared less that we were there.  I don’t have any pictures of this because my iphone had died by this point.  After hiking back to the truck we had a wonderful picnic lunch of black forest ham, avocado and tomato sandwiches before heading back home. 

It was a great weekend and nice to get away for a little while.  Where will we go next?  Ha, you’ll just have to wait and see!