Road Trippin' 2008

Welcome to Zion National Park
aka Our New Favorite Place

Flora and Friends, Critters and Camp

This is going to be one of the few times that I will be a girl of a few words. I know, I KNOW, I tend to be a bit wordy (just a tad), but it's the only way I can convey/describe/spew forth what's rolling around in my brain. Those of you who know me well know this to be true...and then some... Having said (typed?) that, I'd really like to show you a shitload of pictures with some descriptions on the side. Though I do have one neat-o story about our first day in Zion.

So we really wanted to camp rightoff, but the weather was not cooperating (see previous post), we decided to spend a few days at the Best Western Inn in Springdale, approx. 1 1/2 miles from the park entrance. It was a great hotel complete with pool, hot tub and lots of climbers and foreigners making for vivid conversation. And because I/we were so, oh so exhausted from the first couple of days, my heart decided to go into A-Fib, aka Atrial Fibrillation. Nice. What does that mean exactly? Well, I'm tired, my heart feels a little thumpy, I drink something cold and BOOM!, my heart goes out of rhythm. And what do we do now, you may ask? Terry called the on-call doc (of course it happened on a Sunday and of course half of Utah is closed on Sunday), the on-call doc called a prescription into the big-ass WalMart in the town of Hurricane, about 40 minutes away...and they were going to close in about and hour. Fine. Okay, Jack outta the pool. Mama's needs her pills! So we loaded up into the Yukon and sped our way to Hurricane. And how fast were we going? Well, fast enough to get pulled over 5 minutes away from our destination. Yes, boys and girls, we were able to talk our way out of a ticket. When we explained our situation to the officer, he just shook his head and said, "Man, I HATE medical emergencies." Thanks again for letting us go. We got to the big-ass WalMart just in time. I got my meds and my heart got back in rhythm by the next morning. Moral of the story: Sleep is good.

So, onto the slide show...

We must always attempt and self-portrait. This one was the best of 3...imagine what the others looked like...

My kitchen for the next several days...notice the lack of shower facilities?

Our view from our shanty. Honestly, could you ask for a better view?

The shanty at night, complete with cooking fire.

The wildlife tended to be a bit grumpy in the morning, even though it got 11 hours sleep...

Okay, one more pic of our morning/evening view.

A late morning bike ride that turned into an early afternoon flat tire...and we had already used our spare tube. No worries, though, the scenery made for a nice walk back to camp.

The local extreme Utah Mormon or FDLS camp in the park. How many tents can you count?!? And I couldnt' fit the whole scene in one frame.

Jack made friends with 2 of the girls from the "extreme" camp. They were very, very cute with huge personalities. Every morning they appeared properly dressed, hair done in pigtails, bows and hairspray and non-camping clothes. They preferred to be called Steph and Stephanie as they had friend (or maybe she was a cousin, they confessed) who had that name. They dug so they used it. They honestly had no idea how many cousins they had or if they even were cousins. Ewwwww, so weird and icky... Their parents' made no attempt to say "Hey" or even introduce themselves. The "mom's" wore their hair up with curly tendrils and matching outfits. Ewwwww, again... When I camp, I ALWAYS wear curlers to bed :-)

Be aware that when buying alcohol in Utah, they lock it up on Sunday's...pleasant. You cannot make liquor that is over 5% alcohol in the state of Utah and all alcohol sold that is over 5% must bear a sticker like the one above. And you cannot remove it. Like HELL I can't! Don't force me to rip off my pillow tag, dammit!!! Goin' ta hell, straight ta hell!!!

Our friendly camp gopher who insisted on dragging every piece of weed into his nest. Had we been out in the wild, he woulda been dinner. I LOVE Survivorman!

One of many species of beetle we encountered in our camp site. It was beautifully colored in blues and black and quite large.

"And one day, I'll be a beautiful butterfly."

"Daddy, I want a squirrel. Not just any squirrel one of those squirrel's." Thanks, Veruca. (If you haven't seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, this joke is lost on you.)

Can you spot the 2 frogs? It was amazing to see such full bodies of water in these remote areas.

Can anyone please tell me WHAT the hell is this thing? It was quite prehistoric looking and very creepy. Anyone? Bueller?







Lizards were everywhere and probably considered the state bird. They were not scared of humans...and could have made for a great skewered dinner...

The local flora was abundant as we were fortunate enough to visit in the spring. It smelled of a spring garden wherever you roamed.


And you must meet Madelyn. She pierced her ears at 65 and decided to get a tattoo at 70. She and her husband were quite a hoot on the bus ride into the park. The tattoo looked so fresh I just had to ask about it (shocked, aren't you?). Loved chatting with her. Suggested maybe skydiving at 75. Any other ideas?