Day 16: Zion and Vegas

We woke up in Bryce, packed up the tent, and did a ranger program for kids about bats. Kiddo got to play both roles in a 'blindfolded bat tries to catch a moth' game, and she really seemed to dig that. Then we were in the car and off to Vegas.

I kept seeing Zion National Park mentioned in NPS literature, but after the bulk of trip planning had happened. However, I realized it was near Bryce Canyon, and not even very far out of the way (well, at least on a map). So... we took a detour through the park.

There's a pretty neat scenic drive, including an incredibly long tunnel. Unfortunately if RVs or other oversized vehicles are coming through the tunnel, you'll get to sit and wait. Awhile. Kiddo was still feeling the effect of too much driving the previous few days and said she didn't want to go to another park, she just wanted to make it to the city. But she perked up at the idea of walking on a trail.

Zion allows parking in a few places but makes you take a shuttle up the main canyon. We parked, got a junior ranger book, watched the park movie, and hopped the shuttle up the canyon. It was brutally hot. The museum listed the previous day's high at 105, if I remember right... I can't find the actual recorded temperature for that day (weather.com seems to list the top of the canyon, where it's cooler), but it was just downright brutal on us for our hike. Also, kiddo fell before we even got on the trail, so I was carrying her more than usual. Factor in those two things and it was hard to even make it to the end of the 'easy' trail. But we did, and it was worth it. There was a waterfall (possibly all coming from inside rock rather than over the top, unsure) and a pool. A nice little oasis at the end of the trail.

Zion has some really crazy trails that would be wildly inappropriate for someone scared of heights and for a kid... and especially the combination. We didn't go all the way up the canyon, so I don't think I have a very good sense of the park as a whole, nor do I think I have very representative pictures. Ideally I would like to come back here with an older child (or no child), but regardless I'd like to spend a bit more time in it.

We pulled into Vegas later than I had hoped, at 6:something local time (and that was after shifting from Mountain to Pacific). I knew visiting Vegas for one night with a 5 year old in tow was going to be different than I always figured visiting would be like, but we didn't even go to Vegas proper. Our hosts were in North Las Vegas, and we pretty much just ate dinner and hung out while Kiddo relaxed by watching Fantasia. I had hoped for a drive down The Strip (wanted to show the fountains to Kiddo), but it just didn't seem worth forcing.

As amusing as it is, Vegas is the westernmost part of this trip. Had the trip been two days longer we could have made it to the Pacific, but we didn't have those two days, and seeing California just didn't seem that important to me - I've done it before. But at some point on the trip I started wondering if I can truly call it a "cross-country" trip (you know, if I'm trying to be a purist or something). I decided that making it to Pacific time counts. So there. From Vegas, east!