That's Hot!

As many of you know Dave and I took a short vacation last weekend. Because of Dave's frequent travel we had a couple of free airline tickets just begging to be used. Our destination? Zion National Park in Utah. We had been there a few years ago and had really enjoyed our time there so we thought a repeat trip would be fun. Even though I knew where we were going Dave had also planned a couple of surprises along the way.

We left Thursday morning and landed in Las Vegas early afternoon. We got our car and headed for Zion.




It looks nice outside the car window but a glance at this thermometer shows a different story.




You are reading that correctly. It was 112 degrees outside. I know they say it is a dry heat but let me tell you that is still hot. It should come as no surprise that we were driving through the desert from Vegas to Zion.




Though we were driving thorough the desert to get there Zion is the land of canyons and spring fed rivers. If you like rocks you would like Zion. By late afternoon we had arrived at our destination and our home for the next two nights.




This was the view from our front porch. Pretty.




Not wanting to waste a beautiful evening Dave studied the map and picked out a short after dinner hike.




The hike he chose meanders by some emerald pools and small waterfalls. It was a nice break from the heat of the day. As we were walking along we passed a hiker who said, "There's a tarantula on the path ahead". Huh? I told Dave but then added I must have heard that wrong. Why would there be a tarantula on the hiking path? Well, look what we found around the bend up ahead.

Well, hello, Mr. Tarantula.




We stood and watched him for a bit and then he went about his business and disappeared in a rock crevice. We later told a park ranger what we had seen and she became very excited. I guess it is just the beginning of the season to begin spotting them around the park.




We continued on the path and enjoyed the water and rocks until the dark drove us back to our cabin.




Tomorrow: hiking up the Narrows.