Somewhere along the road in Idaho, we decided to spend less time
there and instead take an extra day or two to do a very quick
tour of the national parks in southern Utah, some of which we
briefly explored back in late 2004. A better decision was
never made! Backing up: On Monday morning, after checking out
of the Boise Doubletree, and following a truck stop breakfast
and a pretty but relatively unremarkable scenic drive through
southern Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains, we stopped for an early
pizza cafe dinner in Ketchum (near Sun Valley), ID. We
found it interesting to note how much of the landscape in Idaho,
western Washington and western Oregon is reminiscent of much of
New Mexico's desert scrub landscape.
Our
original plan was to stay in Twin Falls, ID or thereabouts on
Monday night, but
the hotel/motel scene was a little sketchy/hicksville down there
and we felt like driving. If we drove like crazy, we
figured, we could
spend some time in the Utah parks! And besides, we
typically do very little night driving on our trips so driving
on into the night had an air of mystery and excitement about it.
We drove on and on, hoping to get to Salt Lake City, where
lodging would be easy. But it was getting late and we
ended up in Ogden, UT (about an hour outside Salt Lake City).
No excitement or mystery there. We settled on a busy, east
Indian-operated Sleep Inn with a terrible odor in the room
coming from the air conditioner (Scott believes something died
in there). It was the only room left.
It was late. We stayed. (Luckily, Caroline and her
"super-sniffer" travel with plug-in air fresheners and a highly
scented candle. We entered the room and let 'em rip! The
rest is just a bad memory.)
The next day, Tuesday, we left the offensive Sleep Inn and
headed south. We made a quick stop-off in Salt Lake City,
and ended up touring the "Beehive House", the historic home
and offices of that famous Mormon, Brigham Young. After a
very interesting and informative, private tour (not a busy day, I
guess) by an elderly New York Italian Mormon gentleman reminding both Scott and
Caroline of her Grandpa Bill (not Mormon), we continued on to historic Temple
Square. Unfortunately, a prophet of the church had died
and his funeral was being held right when we were there so we
were unable to enter the Temple or the Tabernacle. We did
however, enjoy seeing several young Mormon couples parading
about in their wedding finery (huh?? on a Tuesday morning???),
having their wedding photos taken on the beautiful grounds
outside the Temple. As we were strolling among the happy
couples, we received a message on our cell phone from our
friend, Crazy Miss Wendy, calling from Mexico. How strange
and ironic and therefore apropos... Hi, Wendy.
Now, on to the parks! We decided to take Highway 89 as an
alternative to the expressway, since our map indicated it as
scenic and there were reportedly lots of quaint, small towns
along the way. Scott liked it and found it to be a
pleasant rural-scenic alternative. Caroline was
unimpressed, although she admits that the section just prior to
the Route 9 junction leading to Zion (where you'll find the
Big Rock Candy Mountain) is not to be missed.
After lunch and a late afternoon pie-and-coffee stop at Mom's
Cafe in Salina (a definite highlight of U.S. 89), we approached
the park in the early evening. As we followed the winding
roads through the park's awe-inspiring scenery, the red rocks
and cliffs began to glow in the early evening light. WOW!
WOW! WOW! It was a sight to behold. In addition to
the benefit of the gorgeous light and colors, crowds in the park
at this hour were few and at a scenic pull-out (with a trailhead
leading to a short rocky hike, which we later took in the waning
light) we encountered other visitors who had spotted some
bighorn sheep in the distant rocky cliffs across the way.
Luckily, we had the binoculars with us and we spent the next
10-15 minutes admiring the majestic, elusive animals in their
impossible-seeming cliff-face habitat. It was an exciting wildlife-spotting
moment, indeed, for this pair of travelers.
We finished up our drive through the park to arrive at our
(poorly located and overpriced) Quality Inn motel in Springdale
just outside the park, in the dark. But no worries, we
were coming back in the morning, as we'll be driving back
through to get to our next destination, Bryce Canyon National
Park, just an hour away.
Zion National Park
Zion National Park - taking a quick hike before it gets too dark
Zion National Park |
Scott, TCB while at our truck stop breakfast in Boise
Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City
Capitol building in Salt Lake City
Had to stop at Mom's in Salina on U.S. 89 for some coffee and pie
Road through Zion National Park - even the pavement is red!
Scott hikes the red rocks of
Zion National Park
Caroline enjoys a sunset hike in
Zion National Park |