Air Prayer

Day 2 was really our first day camping. We spent the night but really didn’t get to enjoy our surrounding until the next morning. The campground and it’s surroundings were beautiful. I woke up before everyone else (nothing unusual there) and started cooking pancakes and scrambled eggs. We got to enjoy our breakfast with stunning views in every direction.

We decided that we wouldn’t be able to see much with our dog along with us so we borded her at a local kennel and spent the rest of the day on the shuttle bus going up through the canyon.

One of the most stunning views was at the three patriarch’s overlook. Apparently a Methodist minister named the three highest peaks in the area after the three patriarchs; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But by far our favorite spot was the weeping rock. It is a short uphill hike but the views are exquisite and the sound of the dripping water is so peacful and cool during the heat of the day.

Here is a view from under the overhang at Weeping Rock.

Some of the hanging gardens at Weeping Rock.

And one of my favorite shots.

After Weeping Rock we rode the shuttle up the canyon some more and did some exporing. I’ll leave you with some of my favorite pictures of the area.

On day 3 we moved from Watchman Campground in Zion National Park to Zion Camp RV Park located about one mile from the park. We decided to move so that we would have access to showers. By this time they were sorely needed. Most of this day was spent packing up our campsite, visiting at the visitor’s center while we waited for check-in time at the RV park, setting up camp at the RV park, and then having lunch. Since we were still sore from hiking on day 2, we decided to just clean up and hang around the camp site and enjoy a “down” day of doing nothing. We were treated to a beautiful sunset that evening as the sun turned the cliffs from red to golden.

My family and I just returned from a week at Zion Canyon in Utah. When you see pictures of national parks you can usually bet they’ve been doctored up a bit to enhance the beauty of the place. I was expecting the same of Zion. However, I was taken aback by the rugged beauty of the place. Those photos aren’t doctored folks, it really looks like that.

There isn’t a whole lot to write about Day 1 of the trip. We packed up the van the night before. I hitched up the mini-van to the trailer and parked it out front ready to go. We stumbled out and piled into the van at 4am and drove. And drove and drove. Before the trip I was a little concerned with how the van would tow the trailer. The trailer is a bit on the heavy side for our van but it turned out there was no need to worry. The van had plenty of power for all but the steepest hills. I was a little concerned with the wind but I was able to hang on and we eventually arrived.

We pulled into Watchman Campground in the park at around 4:30pm. I was beat, the kids were grumpy, and, well, I was pretty grumpy too. All that changed after the hustle and bustle of setting up the camper and transporting suitcases and pillows to the trailer. It was after we all sat down and just looked around us that we (even the kids) were awestruck by the beauty of the place.

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