As I mentioned, the park is simply gorgeous, and it's hard not to be happy when you wake up among those towering cliffs. It did get hot quickly, but after a pancake breakfast in the shade of our canopy, we got to work on making a plan for keeping cool.
The first step was for the kids to ride their bikes to the nearby river as I tagged along on foot. (Brian was off to fill the RV tank with water, as we had electrical but no water hook-up at this spot.) I toted along the Super Soakers, and with Evan riding ahead to scout the best path, we soon stumbled on a serene riverside spot.
Foxy made use of a nearby boulder to practice her Ariel siren song. (It's a Little Mermaid thing.)
The kids spent a bunch of time filling the Soakers and firing away at each other. Then, when Brian finally met up with us, he taught the boys how to skip stones across the water.
They had differing form, but they both successfully learned how to skip those little buggers.
Success!!
Foxy spent some time making mud gloves and mud leggings and singing silly made-ups songs to herself. I think she was up to a combination of all three in this shot here:
Once the kids had eaten up the turkey sandwiches that Brian had made and brought over, they saddled back up on the bikes and we made our way over to the nearby Visitors' Center.
Then we loaded the bikes onto the next available shuttle and made our way out to see more of the park. The great thing about Zion is that for most of the scenic areas of the park, cars aren't allowed and the only way to get around is by foot, bike or shuttle. This cuts WAY down on traffic, obviously, and makes the surroundings even more calm and peaceful.
I snapped a few shots as the wound our way to a stop that we felt like making. As I said in the last post, I struggled to capture the grandeur of this place, in large part because the cliffs rise sharply around you and seem to cradle you in a big, red rocky bowl. A photograph from the ground level -- even with the fisheye lens -- just doesn't adequarely show the height, scale and might of the surroundings.
When we got off the shuttle, we ditched the bikes and the Soakers and headed along a flat foot path. It was short and easily managable, and it led us to another section of the Virgin River -- this one well-shaded and perfect for splashing around.
Here's a snapshot I took to try and document the cliffs all around:
This was looking directly up from the river. You can see that water continually drips down from above and leads to the creation and sustainability of what the rangers call "hanging gardens."
The kids quickly got their feet (and more) wet in the river.
The boys were soon leaping off of a boulder and into a deep part of the river. Fortunately, a group of bigger kids had tested the spot and deemed it suitably deep, and Brian and I were able to position ourselves just downstream as an extra safety measure.
I know that my mom is reading these updates, so I'm not going to tell you what this wet little goof is grinning about. But if you really want to know, you can refer to the photo of Evan above and draw your own conclusions. ;)
After their swims in the chilly river waters, the kids walked on the sun-warmed stones and got right back to a comfortable temperature.
When they wandered back, Brian grabbed a shot of me with them. It came out horribly underexposed (not his fault; I didn't set him up for success), and my quick edit here is far from great, but Brian said that I should show up somewhere in this post.
At that point, my camera battery died, so I packed it away and we walked back to the shuttle stop. We decided to let the kids ride their bikes back down to the previous stop, which was the Zion Lodge. We Super-Soaked them (and ourselves) periodically as we all made our way. Again, there was no car traffic, only shuttles and bicycles, so it was quiet and safe. Abiding by the park rules, the kids stopped at the side of the road when a shuttle did approach.
Eventually we made it to the Lodge and stopped in for some soft serve and smoothies. We sat on the big, expansive lawn in the shade of a huge tree and the kids ran around us playing various versions of duck-duck-goose. When we'd had our fill of both treats and unchecked kid energy, we loaded the bikes back onto another shuttle bus and road it back down to the Visitors' Center and our campground.
Next we decided to play family game of Monopoly Junior in the air-conditioned comfort of the RV. It's slightly more bearable than the regular version, and totally playable for our 5-, 7- and 9-year-olds.
When the game concluded and after the camera battery was charged back up a bit, I walked around and snapped a few more photos. These are of Watchman Peak, which looms over the campground, and of another RV filling up at the water station.
We were getting close to making dinner -- it was spaghetti on this night -- but since it was still hot and the Soakers were filled, the boys decided to engage in an epic battle.
They even tried sneak attacks on their dad... When will they learn that they will never, ever win when they try to take him on??
But all was well, if a little bit wet, in the end. And after we made and ate dinner, we busted out the Uno cards and played a few rounds... and another great vacation day was in the books.
This is a spectacular park. It's breathtaking in so many ways.
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