Zion

The Utah landscape is truly amazing. You have the Great Salt Lake (the largest salt water lake in the Western hemisphere), the Wasatch mountain range--known for it's extraordinary quantity and quality of snow, and of course, the absolutely unique geology and stunning landscape of Southern Utah.

We have visited all of the major National Parks in Southern Utah, and Zion is my favorite (Bryce is a close second). The contrast of jagged red rock peaks, with almost-always blue skies, with the lush green of the Zion canyon make the color absolutely gorgeous. Plus, the hikes are wonderful and it has a neat little village with really good lodging and dining options (that's not the case with all National Parks).

Keith had a conference at Zion this past weekend (a 4-hour drive from SLC), so naturally I wanted to join. Since we did some of the major hikes in the park years ago, it was OK that this was a more casual family weekend. Plus, some SLC friends were in the park for the weekend too, so we had fun hanging out with them. Here are a few snapshots from the weekend:

Keith did a challenging mountain bike ride with some friends and returned with some battle wounds to prove it...

Is that a great view from the pool or what? Luke had a blast swimming...

 Hiking with some friends was fun for us, and for the kids (i.e. what a relief to know that Luke isn't the only kid who occasionally throws himself down on the trail whining. This one is a very kid-friendly PAVED path, by the way... Luke - we'll let you know when you're on a trail that deserves real whining :) ...

 These photos actually don't do the color or scale of the place any justice. It is stunning...

Hey Keith, get a photo of me and the kids sitting on a bridge over a river...right...

 Our hotel must cater to Europeans because the bathroom had a bidet... Luke loved the pool, but the jury's out on whether he liked the bidet better. Anna enjoyed splashing around in there too.

We really have some beautiful scenery and natural treasures in this big country of ours.