Home from Utah

We decided to go through Zion National Park on our way home - it's a beautiful drive, and April is a perfect time to travel through the windy 2 lane road. 

The Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel connects Zion Canyon to the east side of the park.  It's over a mile in length, with "windows" cut out of the rock to view the magnificient scenery outside.  Since it was built in the 1920's, large vehicles  require one-lane traffic control through the tunnel, which can tie up traffic, but we were lucky not to have to wait this trip.  The fee for a car to drive through the park is now up to $25.00, but we have our handy dandy  "Golden Age Passport", which allows us free admission to any National Park or Monument!  What a wonderful deal!  I paid $10.00 for mine several years ago - mom's was actually free many years ago!  One of the few perks for growing older - you must be 62 to acquire your senior pass, and it gives you free admission to all federal fee areas for life! 

The park is famous for big wall climbs on the sandstone cliffs, and hiking in the canyons.  Some of the hikes involve walking in the streams, and I just saw that 2 hikers were rescued recently when they were unable to navigate through the deep water in one of the slot canyons.  The last time I visited Zion it was in July and was about 100 degrees, so this trip was much more pleasant! 

Once out of Zion, we continued on through St. George, Utah; Mesquite, Nevada; Las Vegas, Nevada, and spent the night in Barstow, California, finishing up our trip the next day.

Blogger is giving me some trouble loading photos, so I'll try to add some more later.  In the mean time, if you want to view more photos of Zion, check out:  www.flickr.com/photos/zionnps