Over Spring Break I went camping with Megan and Tom (a.k.a MegaTom) and some friends. Since Southern Utah is the only place in affordable distance that had a tinge of warm weather in residence, we headed there- to Zion's specifically. I love going down there- there is the coolest little town at the base of the National Park (Springdale) and the scenery, of course, is spectacular.
The trip took much longer than expected. Besides getting off to the inevitable late start, we also stopped for dinner in Nephi at a place called "One Man Band". An hour plus something later, we began to believe their name was true, although we could see various workers standing around in their open-view kitchen. We came to the understanding that they were just props; for what reason, we do not know. Our food came to us about an hour and a half after we arrived. Mind you, we ordered things like chicken strips, french fries, eggs. They were pre-cut, pre-breaded, pre-mixed food items. And there were only four other tables in the restaurant with people sitting at them. Do not go there. They take as long as their name implies. You have been warned.
As we drove down it become increasingly windy. By the time we got to Zion’s and found a campsite (it's late, Zion's doesn't take reservations and it's Spring Break) it was 2 a.m. Due to the late hour the only vacant campsite was, of course, inevitably snuggled up next to the bathrooms. We set up our tents in the now howling wind which was mercifully blowing opposite from the restroom facilities. The guys set up the tent in the wind for us. I am sure they were cold, but the girls were colder, so we stayed in the car.
Despite the winds knocking the tent wall against my face all night, I was able to get a decent amount of sleep. The others weren't as lucky.
The next day was rainy but pleasant. Starting out late-ish, we headed into town and hit up the traditional breakfast spot, "Bumbleberry" but were extremely surprised and disappointed to find it had closed (been there for forty years). We decided to give the new place a try. The result: they improved on terrific. We're keeping the tradition.
After a VERY filling breakfast we headed to the glass/rock shop that purchases leftover glass from a glass factory and then resells it. The glass pieces look like big rocks and come in many different colors and have the craziest inclusions. It's an inexpensive place so a number of purchases were made but only totaled $10 which made up for the $40 dinner at One Man Band the night before. One Man Band that sells pre-made, pre-breaded, pre-mixed food. That takes an hour and a half to make.
We finally headed into Zion's to hike. By this time I think it was about 1pm or 2... lazy, lazy. No one could decide on a trail. I was being chided for never having done Angel's Landing so I couldn't offer any input as to where we should hike as I was busy defending myself. Our car stopped at the end of the road and there we were: at the River Walk trail. The easiest trail in the park. The trail that takes about 15 minutes to walk. The trail that is paved the entire way. The most crowded trail in the park. The trail that I have done 15 times. Why did we end up at this one? Because no one made a decision. Lesson learned. Anyway, we ended up taking a lot of pictures here because Lexi found a fat squirrel who thought we would give it food. It came RIGHT up to us- I thought it was going to crawl up Lexi's leg a few times. She began to chase it away after a while to try and get some fear into it, but it wasn't alarmed. It wanted food. Someone will have to shoot that squirrel.
After the very easy walk, we headed into some town with a store. I picked up my first pack of seeds there (earlier post) and everyone else got food to cook out with. We headed back to our campsite and cooked hot dogs, had potato salad, root beer, and, of course, s'mores. The mighty camping dinner. Nutrition at its best.
We slept well that night because temps were much warmer which was odd as when I awoke there was snow falling heavily from the sky. Didn’t we come down here for warm, sunny days?
I haven't been in Zion's while there was snow so I up and ready to head up the canyon and take pics before anyone else had unzipped their sleeping bags. We ended up only having time to drive up through the tunnel, but luckily there were beautiful clouds covering the red rock so there were plenty of pictures taken.
Cloud/mountain mixes are among my favorite things. It evokes a feeling of loneliness, mystery, etc.
We got to church on time- we were half cleaned up, as Lexi offered her shower to us when we got back into Cedar City. Still a little grubby and I probably smelled like campfire smoke somewhat, but eh, no matter. Everyone was cool, it was good to go. We headed back in a crazy snowstorm; people sped past us, but we saw several accidents along the way (cars flipped in the highway's median, one car was something like 200 feet off the road with no visible track leading up to it- just out there in the middle of the sage brush). We took it easy.
Ryan, my brother, also mentioned that I need to update the blog with the progress my plants are making. I'm sure no one else is actually as fascinated with these plants as I am, although I thank you all for humoring me. I think part of the obsession lies on the fact that I LOVE to cook, so having the food fresh and ready to eat right from my front door (or in my house) is an exciting prospect for me. One: it will make my meals taste better; Two: I am planting things I haven't tried to cook with yet (some things) so it's going to give a new spin to my meals; and Three: I am hoping to learn how to can, which will be a new form of "cooking" I haven't tried yet. Besides, growing a garden is cool and all the rad kids are doing it.
I haven't taken pics yet, but I will, just for you, Ryan. Coming soon.
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