Updated June 1 !

 Bryce Canyon City

We left Moab fairly early so that we could get to Bryce Canyon City and our campsite in Ruby's Inn Campground early enough to be able to visit Bryce Canyon NP. What a difference in the locations. Moab was all red rock cliffs while Bryce Canyon City and surrounding areas are still red rock but covered in Pine trees. A lot more vegetation but a lot colder. The first night the temperatures got down to 28F

On our way to Bryce Canyon City be passed by Big Rock Candy Mountain

Our campsite at Ruby's Inn Campground

Got into Bryce Canyon city in plenty of time to go visit Bryce Canyon NP. The park is really nice because it has concrete paths along the rim of the canyon for all ages of people and their pets to be able to access the views but it is also loaded with hiking trails for the young and young at heart. We fell into the first category. 

My favorite color combination: Pine Green and Deep Sky Blue

The original gas station in the park.

Just a few more pictures

Zion

This visit did not turn out as we expected but it was still a good day. We were able to get tickets for the shuttle which takes you through the entire park. You can only go a short distance into the park if you take your vehicle and then you can hike to some other areas. We took the scenic route which allowed us to see some of the sites from the truck. Then we arrived at the Visitors Center where we were supposed to catch the shuttled and there were absolutely no parking spots, not even in Springdale where they said there was extra parking. Yes, for $30 there is extra parking, and we still couldn't find a spot. Finally the time for us to board the shuttle expired without us being able to find a spot to park. It was quite disappointing. We finally found a 15 minute parking spot so that we could go into the Visitors Center and get our passport stamped and buy a sticker. 

On our way to Zion by way of the Scenic Route. We had to pass through two tunnels, the second being a mile long. It even had openings in the side as some spots to get a view of the canyon.

After Zion we decided to take a different route home and we had a very enjoyable lunch at a pretty rest area along the road. On the way to the campground we stopped at Red Canyon and hiked one of their trails. It was a most enjoyable hike with a map and markers explaining what we were seeing. 

Found out the rocks that are stacked on top of one another are called Hoodoos.

A closer view from the trail.

A few pictures of us on the trail. 

We had a very pleasant visit at Red Canyon.

Moab, UT

The trip to Moab was uneventful and less stressful. We were still on CO 92 but it was like Crawford was the divide between the mountainous, windy road and a fairly straight road through the dessert. Jim said it was like The Tale of Two Cities, completely opposite roads. 

Grand Junction, CO

Yes, we did this a little backwards. We found the CO Welcome Center on our way out of the state. But it was a very nice Welcome Center and they even gave us information about places in Utah. 

Looks like the helicopter and getting ready to strafe the camper. <GRIN>

Finally arrived at Slickrock Campground in Moab. The whole area is surrounded by red cliffs.

The view from our camper.

Lots of these in the campground. A popular thing to do in this area of the country is to ride these on top of the red cliffs pictured above. 

Our first big activity here was to go into Canyonlands National Park. Yes, another stamp and sticker in our Passport. God's creation is so beautiful and unique. Can't get over it's beauty. 

It was a little windy here today. 20 to 30 mph winds with gusts up to 50 mph. Couple of the gusts almost knocked us off our feet so we decided not to get to close to the edge. 

As we were travelling in the park on the Island in the Sky it was very appropriately named. There were canyons to the left of us, canyons to the right of us, here we were stuck in the middle of them. How many of you sang that? 

Green River Overlook where we met a couple from Colorado Springs. Bob and Diane are friends with Rich Baley. Such a small world. Thank you Amanda for my Way Maker T-shirt. It has allowed us to meet with a number of believers on our trip. 

This was the only road into the Canyon until the mining company came in and built the road that is now used. There was a lot of uranium found here. Lot's of adventurous people still go down into the canyon on this road. 

Big Foot was here.

  

This rock reminded me of Ayers Rock in Australia. This is called the Whale Rock.

Candlestick Tower Overlook

Grandview Overlook

We have good friends, the Wilhites, so we took this picture to send to them. 

Hoping to get to Arches National Park tomorrow. Stayed tuned for more pictures. 

 

It's pouring rain again so I decided that today would be a good day to update the blog.

Crawford, CO

Our trip from Pueblo to Crawford was full of adventure, but not the fun kind, or at least not for us. The Rockies are such beautiful mountains unless you're driving on them in the middle of a snow storm. Not my idea of fun. But God got us through safely. After travelling through Monarch pass we were detoured onto CO 92 because CO 50 was closed. It was a long, narrow windy road that took us forever to travel on because the speed limit was 35, and I thought that was too fast. 

Our next camping spot was in Crawford State Park which was a little disappointing after having looked at the pictures online of what it looked like; a beautiful reservoir with the Rockies as the backdrop. The mountains were there but not the water. Colorado is very dry and their reservoirs are low. While we're hoping for nice weather the people of Colorado are praying for rain. 

The family that is travelling with us got a chance to spend some time with their relatives.

Here is a picture of the boat launch at the park. You can see how low the water is. We found the same thing when we went up Pike's Peak. Everyone told us how beautiful Crystal Reservoir was but when we got there we saw a big brown puddle. 

Next stop Moab, UT