We still have 10 days until we plan on being home and it already feels like we've done more on this trip than we've done on all of our other trips combined.
Last night was an adventure. Since we left Moab early, we needed a place to stay. Everywhere we called was out of our price range. Finally, as we were about to give up and consider sleeping in the car, we found a place in Kanab, UT that only cost $40 tax and all. The owner looked like Randy "Macho Man" Savage's hippie twin, and he was just as lively and outgoing as the former wrestler. The continental breakfast consisted of stale bread & motor oil that he tried to pass off as coffee, but the experience of staying there and being able to brag that we survived it was well worth the price.
We later learned that the town of Kanab is also known as "Little Hollywood." Several famous movies & tv shows were filmed there including The Outlaw Josie Wales, Planet of the Apes, The Lone Ranger and Gunsmoke.
We arrived at the Grand Canyon's North Rim around 9 AM and hiked out to Bright Angel Point where we had a nearly 360 degree view of the canyon. The view was incredible. The North Rim is less touristy and much more secluded than the more famous South Rim, but to me, that made it an even better experience. The weird thing about the Grand Canyon is that it's so big, you really can't grasp it's size just by looking at it. Pictures simply don't do it justice. I know that's an oft used phrase, but I feel it applies here more than anywhere else. I hesitate to even add any because unless you've seen it with your own eyes, they just look like pictures of rocks that are far away.
After a few hours we headed out of the Grand Canyon, and decided we had enough time to make a detour through Zion Canyon on the way to Interstate 15 which would take us to Salt Lake City. It was well worth the 1 1/2 hours it added to our day's trip. If they ever make Jurassic Park 4, it needs to be filmed in Zion Canyon. I expected a T-Rex to come charging out of the brush at any moment or to see a Pterodactyl soaring high above the canyon walls. Sadly neither of those happened.
One thing about the state of Utah. It's always seemed like a misfit among the states, but from what I've seen, it's easily the most stunning area of our country.
We're staying just south of Salt Lake City tonight. Tomorrow is a rest day and it's a much needed one. Overall, we were in the car for nearly 10 hours today. We'll take it easy, sleep in, see Timpanogos Cave National Monument, and continuously bring up how big of a choke artist Karl Malone was to anyone wearing a Utah Jazz shirt. We'll spend the night in Logan, UT, which is only about 2 hours north of where we are now before we head to Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday.
It's 11:00 here and the alarm is set for 6:30, time to sleep!
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