June 2, 2010 Bryce

June 2, 2010

Bryce is beautiful. I had forgotten how nice it is to walk among the pine trees. They smell so sweet. Behind the campground, there is a lake. There is one tent campsite right on the lake. I am not sure if we could fish the lake. I love to fish… kind of. I like catching them, I don’t like killing them. I always throw mine back unless Spouse gets involved. He can do the killing if he wants!

It was cool overnight, into the 40s. I must admit, Hannah is getting smaller by the minute! We set up the satellite dish just to see if we could do it. Neither of us wanted to watch TV… that is until we got a good connection. Let the wars begin! I noticed Spouse is infringing on my half of the dresser top. And his hat was on MY side of our cabinet. Because of the temperatures, he closed all the windows. As soon as I heard him start to snore, I opened one of them so I could breathe. Severe discipline must be administered… Darn… he is such a good cook!

Cleared up the territory issues and got ready to go on a free tour of the canyon. I am not really too much of a fan of tours, but it was free, and it goes to a part of the canyon that the shuttle doesn’t go to (but you can drive to them, and maybe find a parking spot). I felt like Elroy and Doris and that we needed buck teeth and Hawaiian shirts! For many on the bus, they were exhausted just getting off the bus! But the driver told good stories that made it fun. His stories about Butch Cassidy were especially entertaining. And, the canyon itself is a magnificent treasure.

Bryce was formed by the extreme temperature changes it experiences most of its days. Over 200 days of year, below freezing temperatures occur, then it heats and the rock formations are formed. Many of the spires are called ‘hoodoos’. The Indians felt they had evil spirits in them. It is fun to find the faces in them… the lion, the horse, Marge Simpson, etc.

The last stop on the tour took us to Fairyland Point. I saw a sign for the Rim Trail 2.7 miles, and told Spouse that I would take his backpack with the few snacks we had, and take the hike. With his plantar fasciitis, he couldn’t do it, so I left him behind and took to the trail alone… all by myself… prey to the local wildlife… I saw evidence of the wildlife… deer scat; or was it antelope scat… I wasn’t going to taste it to find out!

The trail was somewhat even, and had some decent ups and downs, but the vistas were breathtaking. But that also could be the 8000+ foot altitude! I figured it would take about 2 hours to do the 2.7 miles of this part of the trail. About 40 minutes into the hike, Spouse called to tell me he had lunch ready for me. What a guy! But, I may be a while… I passed a few people here and there and ultimately got to Sunrise Point in just over an hour. I so love the smell of pine trees! Hopped on the shuttle and rode home to my lunch.

After the quick lunch, we hopped on our bikes and pedaled the 3 or 4 miles to the Bryce visitor center. We hung, watched a film and pedaled back. You never realize a road is uphill until you get on a bicycle! Spouse put these Harpo Marx horns on our bikes so we can honk to each other and keep tabs. I lost him once and realized when we got back, he had stopped to pick up these overgrown sandals that we saw on the side of the road. He just couldn’t pass them up! HE IS SUCH A TRASH MONKEY!

RV’ing is like boating in one respect. Everybody likes to see what the other person has. They like to compare improvements they made. It is quite amazing the budget on which some people do this. We are on a budget too, but food and entertainment is part of that budget.

And of course, Spouse has met all sorts of people in our campground. We will be sharing a campfire with our neighbors tonite.