June 2, 2010

We both slept like logs last night.  We didn’t get up until 7:00 AM.  After breakfast, I went out and began checking our brake light problem.  A motorcyclist told us yesterday that all of them were out except the one in the middle.   I checked fuses and bulbs but could not locate the problem.  I will take it to the service center in the morning and have them troubleshoot it.  Hopefully it will not be something major.

We took a bike ride around the park this morning.  On the way we passed two mule deer grazing right next to the road.  They were only 20 feet away.  They watched us as we passed by and went back to grazing. 

We stopped at a canyon overlook for awhile.  The scene just captivates you.  We stood there for a long time looking at all the different shapes and colors.  

We planned a tour for this afternoon.  It took us to the far reaches of the park.  Cliff, our driver-narrator was a real card.  He made the trip very enjoyable.  At one stop there are two ravens that come and greet you.  They sit right next to your and pose for photos.  They are much larger than crows.  Cliff had named them Vinnie and Minnie.  He said they have been there the ten years he has been working here.

Our neighbors in the park also went on the tour.  We got to know them and exchange stories.  They are retired school teachers from North Dakota.  They have been camping for 44 years.  This is their third trip to Bryce.  They have been to every state but Hawaii and all the Canadian Provinces. in a camper.   They are both in their late sixties and hike everyday.  They had just returned from a hike to the bottom of the canyon.  It is a hike I would like to do but I am afraid someone would have to carry back out.

We cooked some chicken outside over an open fire.  Things sure do taste good when you eat outside.  

We will be staying here until Friday.  We had Peter, our son, send us an Express Mail with Darlie’s medicine and some mail that had come to the house.  Hopefully it arrives on time.  We were planning to go over to Zion as it is near.  The roads are under construction there all summer and delays are running up to three hours.  We will pass and head for the north rim of the Grand Canyon.  

We are both tired.  It has been another full day.  We are in bed before it is dark outside.  Maybe it is the thin air up here, 8000 feet.   We both are having problems with the dust and dry weather.  We sneeze all day and get shocks from static electricity every time we touch metal.  Utah is beautiful but it is very dirty dust wise.  We have a carpet outside, a carpet on the outside step and another on the steps coming in and still we are tracking all kinds of dirt in here.  Our carpeting is showing the dirt.  We will have to scrub it when we get out of the desert.