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We went back to the Park this morning to see the Emerald Pools and the Court of the Patriarchs.The park was a little more crowded and we had to wait “Disneyland” style for about 10 minutes to get on the park shuttle

The trail to the Emerald Pools was a little steep, but worth the effort.  We also saw “Bob” the boulder, who recently feel as part of a rock slide and blocked the trail in February. The views as we walked the trail were wonderful.

After we finished that trail we took the shuttle to the Court of the Patriarchs. The trail was short and the view from the top was great.

After the Court trail we headed back to the Visitors Center and said good-bye to the main canyon.

We then drove to the Kolob Terrace Road on the west side of the park. The road climbed about 3000 feet and went into and out of the park but ended at the Lava Point Overlook.  The long distance views of the park gave a different idea of the park.

We are off to Bryce Canyon Park tomorrow.  We hope to also visit Cedar Breaks national Monument along the way.

 

 

 

There are no words to describe Zion, you just have to come here to see for yourself. Everywhere you look is a beautiful view of the canyon. We started the day by taking the shuttle (the park road is closed to private vehicles much of the year) to the last stop where there is a walk along the river (Riverside Walk). It is paved, although there are a few alternate trails that are sandy right next to the Virgin River. The canyon narrows as you go north along the river. At the end of the walk, some folks continue in the river to go thru the Narrows.

We took a guided tour of the north end of the canyon. It stopped at the Great White Throne. It was spectacular in the early evening.

We hiked a number of “easy” trails. One of them went to the Weeping Rock. There are a number of places in the canyon where the rocks “weep” water. It is a result of water finding an impermeable rock layer and this causes the water to go sideways thru the rock. Not only was this very interesting, but the view from the rock was wonderful. The sparkles in the video are the water drops falling from the rock.

We are returning to Zion tomorrow to hike a trail to the Emerald Pools and we are also going to take a ride to Lava Point, a part of the park most people don’t visit.

We are at our hotel near Zion park.  It was a long and beautiful drive. We started the day with breakfast on the road.  We were able to get a picture of a saguaro cactus in bloom near the restaurant.

Saguaro Cactus with blooms

Bill at breakfast

Linda at Breakfast

Along the way, we stopped at Sunset Crater and Wapatki National Monuments. The loop road connecting the two parks is amazingly beautiful, plus the lava flows and the pueblos

Linda at the lava flow

View of painted desert from loop road

Linda at Wukoki pueblo

Blue sage at Wukoki pueblo

View of San Francisco mountains from Wukoki pueblo

Wupatki pueblo

We had seen comments in travel books about how beautiful US 89 is. Much of the drive from Flagstaff to Page, AZ is hard to describe. The colors are stunning and the change as you drive is amazing.

On US 89

I took a video at an overlook stop near Page, AZ that shows some of the beauty.

We got to the East entry of Zion about 7:00 PM and the sun setting on the formations gave us a taste of what we hope to see over the next few days.

Linda at Checkerboard Mesa

Hills near the Zion – Mt. Carmel tunnel

Got to our hotel and checked in and walked to a smokehouse restaurant for an nice BBQ dinner. Looking forward to seeing the Zion canyon tomorrow.

We decided to celebrate Mother’s Day a day early with a brunch at The Herb Box in Downtown Scottsdale. Had a lovely time eating outside as the day was not as hot as it has been.

After brunch we walked around and did a little shopping in Old Scottsdale.

Had dinner at Debbie and Darrell’s apartment and watched our last sunset in Phoenix. We set out for Zion National Park tomorrow.

 

 

Started the day with a relaxing breakfast that included some of the best gluten free pancakes I have ever had. We were at the Cafe Tryst near our hotel and we enjoyed eating outside before it got too hot here.

Linda at Breakfast

We went to the Heard Museum and learned a lot about Southwestern Native tribes and people.  The jewelry, pottery and baskets we spectacular. Travel note, if you are visiting someone who lives in Phoenix and you want to go to one of the many museums, have them get a Culture Pass from the Phoenix Library.  These are good for admission for two. There is a limit at each branch and they are good for 7 days. This tip saved us $27 at the Heard. Afterwards we went to an Indian restaurant near the Paradise Valley Mall called Marigold Maison.

Debbie and Linda at the Heard Museum

Bill, Debbie and Linda at the Heard Museum

Finished the day with a belated birthday dinner and one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, El Encanto in Cave Creek.  This is the original one and is very charming.  The margaritas are great and so is the food.  We had a nice table next to the pond inside the restaurant.

The interior pond at El Encanto

Darrell and Debbie at El Encanto

All of us after a great dinner

More adventures tomorrow in Phoenix. It is supposed to only be in the low 90’s!!

 

 

Got up way too early this morning to get a 5:05 AM flight from Milwaukee to Phoenix. Everything went smoothly and we had lunch with our daughter, Debbie and two friends from Wray, Colorado where Linda grew up, Patty and Bette.

Patty is on the left, Linda in the Middle and Bette on the right. It was great catching up and having a nice lunch to start our trip on the right foot.

 

We will be taking a western swing this year, visiting Debbie and Darrell, plus other friends in the Phoenix, AZ area, followed by a “Frank Road Trip” to the Utah National Parks and then on to Colorado to visit friends and family. We will be posting a few pictures to Facebook, but most pictures will be on daily Blog postings.

Bill & Linda

It was our last day touring before we drive back to London tomorrow.  The day turned nice and we enjoyed seeing Conwy Castle. We had the opportunity to walk on the walls and go up the towers of the Castle. The views from the top of the towers were stunning.

After seeing the castle, we walked in Conwy and did a little shopping.  We also took a river cruise and had great views of the castle from the river.

The last thing we did was to see Plas Mawr, an Elizabethan town house in Conwy. It is exceptionally well done, but it was difficult to get good pictures of the exterior. I took a few views from the top of the house of the castle.

We finished the day with a great dinner at the Castle Hotel.  I had terrific Welsh lamb and Linda had local seafood.

We will be on the road to the London area tomorrow and turning in our car.

Had a rainy day today and while we drove through Snowdonia National Park, the clouds were too low to see much of the mountains. We did pass by a steam railway and of course we had to make a short stop.  It was very interesting but the ride was too long for us to stop long.

Caernarfon (pronounced car-nar-von) Castle and the town were interesting.  There was a museum for the Royal Welch Fusiliers inside the castle and it was very interesting. This unit was only somewhat involved in the Revolutionary War and was the last unit to hold out at Yorktown when the British surrendered.

Linda had Welsh Rarebit for lunch and it was wonderful (unfortunately it is made with ale so I can’t have it)

We are able to walk into Conwy and had a nice dinner at an Indian restaurant.  I have had Vindaloo before but it wasn’t as hot as it was today.  Looking forward to walking around Conwy tomorrow and seeing the castle, an Elizabethan townhouse, and the rest of the walled town.  This is our last day of touring in Wales before we drive back to London on Sunday.

We had alternating rain and sun, but fortunately the rain happened mostly when we were in the car.

Powis Castle didn’t open until 11:00, so we went to Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. It is a world heritage site for engineering.  Amazing to see what was done in the 19th century.  The views from the aqueduct were wonderful. You can walk across the aqueduct.

Then we went to Powis Castle.  The place is spelled Powys, but the Castle is Powis. The gardens were great and we got some ideas for our garden, The rooms in the castle are quite nice, but you can’t take photos inside.

We had a little time so we went to Montgomery Castle.  This is a ruin of a border castle held by the English in the long running dispute between the English and Welsh kings.  I know it sound like a broken record by the views were cool.  I think Linda’s comment about castles sums it up “why are all the castles built high on hills?” Tomorrow we are off to north Wales to see Snowdonia and Caernarfon Castle before ending in Conwy.