Out West, Part 2

Dear Child-to-Be,

Well, after three great nights at Zion National Park, we packed up our campsite in the rental car and headed to Bryce Canyon National Park, which is to the northeast of Zion. It is also at almost 10,000 feet elevation, compared to 4,000-7,000 feet for Zion. On the way we went through the mile-long tunnel bored through the cliff face in Zion:

The drive to Bryce Canyon was beautiful, through quite remote areas. When we arrived, there was nothing like the mad scramble for a campsite we experienced at Zion- we mostly had the place to ourselves. In fact, we got one of the three campsites recommended by our guidebook, right on the rim of the canyon, with views from our tent of some of the hoodoos.

Hoodoos are weird rock formations created by the combined effects of erosion and water freezing and cracking the rock, and are Bryce Canyon's claim to fame. They are definitely weird, and we spent lots of time walking around the rim of the canyon looking at all of them. They look especially striking at sunset, when the red rocks start to glow.

After two nights in Bryce it was time to head home. We drove back to Vegas, had an amazing 2-hour dinner at a Moroccan Restaurant, where your mom had to get up and dance with the belly dancer! It was a fantastic trip, made even more so by the fact that you were along, even if you didn't help with the cooking or campsite setup very much. We kept talking about how we want to take you on a similar trip in a few years, perhaps to Arches or some of the other national parks out West. This might be the last of our big trips for a while, so we were so happy to get out on the road for a little while. Now, the third trimester is upon us, and your arrival is getting closer and closer. So, we hope you enjoyed your first trip as much as your parents did!

Jess is at 24 weeks!