Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort Mount Carmel

... what do you call a young deer?) on the path as I headed (limped!) back to the car. I expected her to run like stink like they deer in the UK do but no – she did not budge and the only thing she moved was her head and followed me all the way round – she was spoiling for a fight and as I don’t know what deerspeak for ‘don’t worry I am a pinko vegetarian’ I just kept on moving!

What I listened to. More of the same.

... walked into town to meet Mark. He wanted to take some photos of the fall colors in the morning light...that was the real reason for his visit to Zion...;0) That was fun. There was a whole troop of photographers tripping over each other to take the same photograph. Zion is a mecca for photographers. It's hard to get an original photo, as it has been captured and recaptured from every possible angle ...

... on rocks and side hills. The scenery certainly is inspiring and I would be right there beside them if given the opportunity.

Hwy 9 leads us out of the park then we turned on 89 north toward Bryce Canyon. November is definitely past the camping season here as every campground that we passed was closed for the season. We kept on north as the sun was setting over the mountains and from the road saw the perfect camping site. There was a flat ...

... br>
For dinner, we took the town shuttle bus into Springdale, the town at the south entrance of Zion. Yeay! Civilisation!! We had dinner at a restaurant called Pizza and Noodle and it was yummy! I was already having noodle cravings, so my Teriyaki Linguini really hit the spot. It tasted like a combination of pad thai and teriyaki noodles.

Then it was back to our campsite, where we could just hang out and wind down for the night.

... set and it got gradually darker, and all the stars came out. It was fantastic; we loved everything about it, and can't wait to back again some time. I'd go back and see the same show again tomorrow if I could! At different points in the show a horse walked over the stage, there were 2 goats involved, a motorbike ridden around the rocks behind the stage, a car ridden on stage, and 2 diggers racing behind the stage. Mad!

... week. On the positive side, the canyon and cliffs are spectacular. I just have to keep thinking "Thomas Moran". Later, we discovered the Whiptail Grill, a converted gas station (you still need to ask for the key for the bathroom around the side of the building). We supped on nouveau Mexican - I had spaghetti squash enchiladas with goat cheese and a verde sauce, I think Jane had the spicy prawn tacos, and both were accompanied by house salads with spicy chipotle dressing. A sure find.

... die Kellnerin brachte die Kreditkarte nicht mehr zurück). Die Tische füllten und leerten sich den ganzen Abend - meist leerten sie sich nach 15-20 Minuten, weil niemand eine Bestellung aufnahm. Meist stand auch noch das ganze Geschirr auf den Tischen, weil der Abräumer iiirgendwie sehr unorganisiert war. Wenn er mit einem Tablett rauskam, dann hat er es meist auf den Tisch gestellt und ist mit leeren Händen wieder ins Lokal oooder er hat nur einen Teller mit reingenommen ...

... walk, slightly strenuous and worth every step! The hanging gardens occur when water seeps through the sheer face of the wall of the canyon. Flowers, I recognized Columbines, and many others grow seemingly out of the face of the rock. We noted how quiet and reverent most people were on the trails. It is a hush brought on by the sheer magnitude of what is around you and what you are blessed to be seeing. When people were speaking, we heard ...

... 5 hours for 2500 ft elevation gain), Observation Point (6 hours for 3000 elevation gain), and the Narrows. I unsuccessfully tried Angel's Landing in 1997 as the shear vertical 2,000 drops on each side of this narrow ridge got the best of me. 10 years later I was able to do it - luckily.