A sunrise to remember

9/12:

We woke up super early this morning to go see the famous Bryce Canyon sunrise. Because we were staying at the lodge, it was only a quick 5 minute drive to Bryce Point, one of the best places to see the sun come up. We got there pretty early (about 30 minutes until sunrise) and no one was around. But just 5 minutes before the sun came up a few tour buses pulled up, and we were suddenly inundated with Japanese tourists. Everyone crammed themselves along the fence and we didn’t really mind when they were close to us – they traveled across the world to see this sunrise, after all.

I have to say, it was pretty spectacular. Bryce Canyon is known for its limestone hoodoos – giant spires created by wind and water erosion. And when the sun comes up and you get to see hundreds of them for the first time, it’s really something. Pictures, of course, do not do it justice.

We popped back to the lodge to get a nice breakfast, then headed back out to do a hike down into the canyon. We figured that the Navajo / Queen's Garden loop would be a good one to hike - not too challenging, but plenty of incredible views. And we were right!

If this isn't incredible, I don't know what is.

Dad in the Queen's Gardens

After our hike we had lunch and then decided to take a horseback ride! My dad always jokes that he has ridden a horse in every national park that our family's been to, at me and my mom's insistence. And it's pretty much true. In our defense, the horse rides here go on paths that we weren't allowed to hike on, so this was a good way to see more of the park.

As it turns out, all three of us were mounted on mules, so we all got to see the park through sets of big floppy ears. My dad was on Porky (named that for good reason), my mom was on Socks, and I was on Bungie. Bungie was known for being... special... and taking advantage of his riders. So I was warned about him beforehand and told to make sure he didn't go off-roading because if he thought he could take advantage of me, I would end up in the bottom of the canyon. With that in mind we set off! And sure enough, after the first five minutes he decided he wanted to go right up the side of a steep hill. I let him go up it a ways, and then I forced him to turn around and go right back down it (which was not fun for him apparently). After that we reached an agreement to stay on the trail. He did have a habit of walking right on the edge of dropoffs though, as if to remind me that he could step off any time he wanted. But that was okay! He was a lot of fun to ride. So here's some pictures from that adventure:

A hoodoo that looks like E.T.

Taken by my dad - I'm in blue and my mom is in pink

Love the ears in this picture!!

Simultaneously taking pictures and keeping Bungie on the trail was quite a feat

Family picture!

The ride lasted for 2 hours and took us through some stunning country. It was over all too soon. We headed back to the lodge where my parents decided to inquire with the concierge about travel times to Vegas. They were supposed to fly out of Vegas tomorrow afternoon, and planned to leave at 9AM tomorrow to get there in time. But that was before the 100-year-flood wiped out a lot of road. It was a really good thing that they asked, as they learned that 2 miles of Highway 15 were totally washed out and out of commission - so the 4 hour drive had turned into an 8 hour drive on alternate roads. What a bummer! They decided that it would be best to split the travel time in half and leave Bryce and go to St. George this evening, then head on to Vegas from there in the morning. It was very unfortunate as they had wanted to see the sunrise one more time, but it just wasn't a good idea to try to stay. So we had an early dinner and then they took off, leaving me once again to travel solo.

And that's where I'm at now - just me and Jane again. Tomorrow I'm going to hike more of Bryce and then we'll see where I go from there! I have no plans, and that is totally fine with me. Kelly signing out.