I can not even begin to tell you about the beauty we saw today.  Never in my dreams would I imagine what I have seen today.  I feel like I am on another planet.

Today we tried to get up early and grab breakfast and get on the road by 8:00am for Zion.  Okay, I think we were on by 9 or 9:30 or so.  Don’t ask me how long the trip took becuase I can not tell you and I don’t care.  It was so beautiful that it doesn’t matter how long it took. For all I know, it took 1/2 hour.  But, it was most of the day  (never mind that there was a time change difference when we entered Utah and I am all messed up anyway so that didn’t help).  Beauty Trumps Time.

We made several unplanned stops, all of them worth it.

One of them was to check out the Navajo Indians who were selling jewelry and other things.  Nanette has a pair of turtle earrings made of opal and turquoise for when she has her ears pierced!  And now that I know what the turtle symbol means, I am all for it!!! (see my other post)

Another stop was at the crossing of the Colorado River near Lees Ferry.  There were a few rafting expeditions that had just put in and they were coasting down the river.  We walked out onto a footbridge that was built recently that is just a magnificent piece of architecture.  The view of the Colorado was AMAZING – blue river, white beach, green brush, red canyon, and blue blue sky.  It excites me now to think of how beautiful it was.

Then we stopped at the Cliff Dwellers.  See my post about the Navajo woman.  There were these HUGE boulders that William and Nanette could climb on and run under and hide in.  It was really a true wonder of nature.  So beautiful.

We stopped to top off the gas tank – look at the photo of the gas station – can you imagine if this is what you looked at every time you filled up?  Magnificent.

We drove by bison resting alongside the road.  They are magnificent creatures and I am not sure why Bill ate one last night.

Tonight we arrived at the Zion Lodge.  We did an hour hike to the Emerald Pools and then ate a wonderful dinner with wine from Moab, UT.

Today was a great day.