Southern Utah Memorial Weekend Tour

We hauled it up to Kaibab National Forest to camp on Friday night. Then we saw Zion all day Saturday and half the day Sunday. All campgrounds and motels were 100% booked so we begged leave to throw down our tent on some random earth in some random ranch/resort near the park. They let us! It was not the ideal spot considering we were on a hillside during the windiest night I've ever experienced. But it was just outside of the park, and therefore perfect. Sunday afternoon we drove up to the Kolob Canyon part of Zion and then to Cedar Breaks National Monument and Bryce Canyon. We motelled it on Sunday night in Kanab. On Monday we swooped down on downtown Kanab for some espresso, and then took a dirt road into Escalante National Monument, before heading home. But of course we stopped in Flagstaff at Macy's for even more espresso con panna. Traffic was light for us both ways. We were trying to guess if it was "this economy" that kept folks from heading up north. Selah in Zion Nat'l Park. We had to stop several tourists from throwing Doritos at her. PLEASE DO NOT FEED WILDLIFE, even pink hungry-looking bear cubs.

Pointing at the killer squirrels. If you don't feed them, they help themselves.

Selah flips out over three friendly deer grazing in Zion Nat'l Park.

Beautiful biking/walking path along the clear blue Virgin River in Zion. Considering that the park was flooded with tourists, this was kind of a rare shot.

Overlooking Zion from Dixie Nat'l Forest.

The pure green forests of Dixie Nat'l Forest near Cedar Breaks Nat'l Monument.

GIANT BABY EATS MOUNTAIN. Escalante National Monument, near the "old Pareah Townsite," if you are fans of early Mormon Settlement history, which I am becoming.

Everyday there is something new to do

Yesterday it was holding a spoon in her mouth...

Today it was walking with the stroller...

Saturday it was ringing the toy thing, and falling over gracefully...

Catalina Mountains

Only YOU can prevent forest fires. I can't. I'm too little.

A forest fire cleared the Coronado Nat'l Forest on the Catalina Mts a few years ago. But the undergrowth is coming back strong.

Biosphere II. Our friend Mike got chosen to live here for three weeks this summer and learn about science. He's a teacher, so it's for professional development.

Payson and Horton Creek

Found Camera

I found my camera. That is, a woman named Orva Aukes found it yesterday in Payson, and reported it to the police station property department, and made an announcement on the Payson local radio. Fortunately, after driving to Payson again today to see if the camera was still in the grass, I got an idea that I should have had hours earlier (to save the drive), call the police station. Mrs. Aukes is mailing it to me so that I don't have to drive up there again tomorrow. A family on top of Squaw Peak took this picture for me with their own camera and then emailed it to me. So even if I never had found my camera, at least there are people in the world who follow through on their digital promises.

Lost Camera

Until further notice, this blog is suspended. I lost my camera in Payson yesterday, after taking the best best best pictures of Selah playing in the forest at Horton Spring. Then I took pictures and videos of Casson walking her around in circles on a beautiful lawn at Green Valley Park in Payson. I just want to cry. This has been my only hobby for the last 10 months. Cameras fall out of pockets. Cameras lie in the short grass until someone else comes along and picks them up. Then they look at the photos, erase them, use the camera until the battery is used up, and throw it away because they don't have the right size battery charger available anymore. I'm so bummed. I even emailed Town Hall in case they have a lost and found. I want to drive back up there, but I know it would be a waste of my time. It was a busy park.