Sept. 19, 2016 going to Zion Nat. Park for the day with a stop at Red Canyon Park on the way back to Bryce Canyon hotel

Beautiful day today.

We are leaving a bit early today because of the long drive and possible delay at the entrance of the park.

It's a 75 mile drive but the road is narrow and winding at times.

Not much to see - open land, some homes, horses and cattle.

8:45 am we stopped  at White Mountain Trading Post in Orderville, UT for a break- 20 mins. We were met by an employee who gave us 10% discount cards for souvenirs.

The bus left at 9:15 and we arrived at the lodge at 10:30am.

There was a traffic backup at the park entrance and then there is a one way tunnel and the road down into the canyon was winding. The tunnel had several windows cut into it and per the guide were created as a way to discard the rocks that were blasted out to make the tunnel.

We were dropped off at the Lodge and told to be back at 12:50 for lunch and then to be on the bus at 2 to go back.

The park is auto free so we took one of the many shuttle buses to go towards the trail for the Temple of Sinawava.

We hiked along the trail and really enjoyed the scenery and saw some wildlife. Photos and words cannot describe the beauty of this trail.

On the way back the bus stopped at a view point so we could take a few photos of the canyon.

We made another stop at White Mountain and then arrived at the Red Canyon Visitor Center so we could take photos of hoodoos close up.
We also took photos of the arches here.

Dinner tonight was at Ruby's across the street from the hotel. The restaurant had a buffet and thats what the tour company provided us. Ruby's was a one stop shopping place- liquor store, gift store, camping supplies, post office, groceries and more.

Sept. 18, 2016 Leave SLC and go to Bryce Canyon, UT

Today we leave Salt Lake City to go to Bryce Canyon Utah- approx. 285 miles.

Weather sunny and mild. We are leaving at 7:45 AM to go to the Tabernacle to watch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearse and then watch the live broadcast.

At 10:20AM we boarded the bus and at 12:15 we stopped in Fillmore, UT at a gas station/Subway for lunch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fillmore,_Utah

We got on the bus at 1:25 and headed for Bryce Canyon. We drove through Red Canyon https://utah.com/bryce-canyon-national-park/red-canyon and got our first glimpse of the red rock formations. We will be stopping here tomorrow on the way back from Zion Nat. Park.

At 3:45 PM we arrived at Bryce and the bus took us to sunset point so we can see the canyon and the hoodoos and hike to sunrise point.
Bryce Canyon National Park has the largest collection of hoodoos in the world. Hoodoos are large skinny spires of rock.

https://www.nps.gov/brca/index.htm
https://www.nps.gov/brca/learn/nature/hoodoos.htm


We were supposed to go in the opposite direction but the parking lot was jammed and the Ranger sent us to sunset point.



We had until 5pm to hike and explore and take photos. It was really beautiful and breathtaking.

Due to lack of time we did not get to go to the visitor center. If I ever get to come back here, I will go to the visitor center and spend a day here.

At 5 we got on the bus for a 15 min ride to the Best Western Hotel in Bryce Canyon City.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryce_Canyon_City,_Utah

The tour co. set us up to attend a dinner show at Ebenezer's at 7pm. There were a lot of people who were there for dinner and the place was packed.

http://ebenezersbarnandgrill.com/

The dismissal table by table to go into the food lines was very organized and the servers dished out the food quickly.

The steak dinner was very tasty as well as the fruit cobbler desert.

At 8:30 the Bar G Wranglers started the show with some western tunes. The show was about 45 mins and really good.

Tomorrow we go to Zion Nat. Park.

Sept. 18, 2016 Leave SLC and go to Bryce Canyon, UT

Today we leave Salt Lake City to go to Bryce Canyon Utah- approx. 285 miles.

Weather sunny and mild. We are leaving at 7:45 AM to go to the Tabernacle to watch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearse and then watch the live broadcast.

At 10:20AM we boarded the bus and at 12:15 we stopped in Fillmore, UT at a gas station/Subway for lunch.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fillmore,_Utah

We got on the bus at 1:25 and headed for Bryce Canyon. We drove through Red Canyon https://utah.com/bryce-canyon-national-park/red-canyon and got our first glimpse of the red rock formations. We will be stopping here tomorrow on the way back from Zion Nat. Park.

At 3:45 PM we arrived at Bryce and the bus took us to sunset point so we can see the canyon and the hoodoos and hike to sunrise point.
Bryce Canyon National Park has the largest collection of hoodoos in the world. Hoodoos are large skinny spires of rock.

https://www.nps.gov/brca/index.htm
https://www.nps.gov/brca/learn/nature/hoodoos.htm


We were supposed to go in the opposite direction but the parking lot was jammed and the Ranger sent us to sunset point.



We had until 5pm to hike and explore and take photos. It was really beautiful and breathtaking.

Due to lack of time we did not get to go to the visitor center. If I ever get to come back here, I will go to the visitor center and spend a day here.

At 5 we got on the bus for a 15 min ride to the Best Western Hotel in Bryce Canyon City.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryce_Canyon_City,_Utah

The tour co. set us up to attend a dinner show at Ebenezer's at 7pm. There were a lot of people who were there for dinner and the place was packed.

http://ebenezersbarnandgrill.com/

The dismissal table by table to go into the food lines was very organized and the servers dished out the food quickly.

The steak dinner was very tasty as well as the fruit cobbler desert.

At 8:30 the Bar G Wranglers started the show with some western tunes. The show was about 45 mins and really good.

Tomorrow we go to Zion Nat. Park.

Sept. 17, 2016 Left Jackson, Wy and on the way to Salt Lake City, UT

Today we are on the way to Salt Lake City.

Weather sunny and mild. We got on the bus at 8 am and the tour director told us it would be a traveling day with stops before lunch, after lunch and then a break before we arrived at the hotel.

The highway went along the Snake River and the countryside. Not much to see and we passed through a bunch of small towns.

At 9:25am we stopped in Afton, Wy  (which is the largest town in Star Valley) at a gas station/market for a restroom break and snacks. Across the street were a couple of fast food places.

9:50 am we were back on the bus.

Along the way we saw a herd of sheep on the side of the road with 3 sheep dogs herding them. Amazing.

30 mins. later we entered the state of Idaho.  Here the hills had some green trees but the land was barren.

We were on highway 89 which took us through the city of Montpelier, ID and going towards Logan Ut.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montpelier,_Idaho

Then the bus drove through Cache National Forest along a winding road.

https://www.visitutah.com/places-to-go/state-and-federal-recreation-areas/northern/uinta-wasatch-cache-national-forest

It was almost noon and we were going to have lunch at Angies restaurant in Logan, Ut.  Four miles before Logan the bus broke down. Neither the driver or tour guide could get cell phone reception to call for help. About 10 mins. later another tour bus stopped and got the info from our driver on how to contact our sister bus in Logan and asked that a message to that driver be passed to come and get us.

About 40 mins. later the other Grand Circle bus arrived and we got on for the short drive to Logan and lunch.

2pm we arrived in Logan and went for lunch and told to be back at 3pm.
 We got on the substitute bus to go back to our bus where our luggage was loaded and left for Salt Lake City.

We arrived at our hotel at 5:40 pm and were told to be ready for dinner at 6:15.
Our guide warned us not to venture out of the hotel after dark as it was not safe even though the hotel was near downtown and several restaurants. We did note several vagrants lounging around in the park across the street and on grass in front of the hotel (Hampton Inn).

After dinner we took a walking tour of the Tabernacle grounds before we went back to the hotel.

The Lion House restaurant where we had dinner was terrible. So bad I had a frozen pizza after we got back to the hotel. Due to safety reasons I didn't go to the McDonalds across the street.