1) In addition to Bryce Canyon, we took Mom & Dad Huxter (a.k.a. Ken & Cheryl) on a day hike up into the Zion Narrows (for more photos of the Narrows see the post from September). The water was silly cold. The kind of cold that makes you bend over, grab your knees, and stare angrily at your feet - partially to make sure they are still there and partially so they can look you in the eye while you swear directly at them. Ken had it the worst. His skinny little chicken legs offered him no protection at all from the cold. Cheryl is built like a twig too but apparently has no feeling below the knees and said she was fine.
2) The drive out the east side of Zion National Parks is spectacular. In addition to the twisty road and tunnels through the mountains it is chock full of big horn sheep, deer and buffalo. It is a bit like driving through a really scenic animal farm - on another planet.
3) While Stephanie was out of town for her birthday I did two day hikes - Spring Creek Canyon (see earlier post) and the South Fork of Taylor Creek in Zion National Park. Unfortunately some tool in charge of the National Park Service believes that "outdoors" is no place for a dog, so I had to leave Maggie at home. More unfortunately I forgot to charge my camera. This is one of the few shots I got before my camera went dead causing me to thump it repeatedly and call it nasty names.
4) What passes for law enforcement in small town Utah? No need for actual police officers, when a mannequin will do. We found this guy snoozing on the job, manning a police car in the bizarre little town of Kanab (which we still like to call "Kabab"). It may have been the least odd thing we saw in that town.
5) While in Kabab over Thanksgiving, we kicked back at this awesome little roadside hotel. Far less creepy than it initially appears, instead of trying to ignore the fact that is is clearly an old outdated motel, with a neon sign and a crooked deck, they ran with the retro theme. Turned out to be a great spot.
6) Thanksgiving dinner 2012. We thought St. George was small and sleepy. Then we came here. Kabab makes St. George look like a metropolis. Finding anything open on Thanksgiving was a challenge. We were lucky to find this place. Our Thanksgiving dinner consisted of open faced turkey sandwiches and fries, complete with cranberry sauce. The waiter insisted it wasn't a sandwich, it was an open faced turkey "meal". Hilarious.
7) Just outside Kabab, is Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the largest "no kill" animal sanctuary in the country. Founded by a group of friends in the 1980's it's ongoing purpose is to work towards a time of "No More Homeless Pets". Sitting on 3700 acres in a beautiful canyon, it is now home to over 1700 pets saved from various shelters and missions around the country. Most importantly to Stephanie, it is home to about 270 bunnies, many of which (in her opinion at least) were clearly in need a good petting, and she was more than happy to volunteer her time to do so. I spent all my time reminding her why we couldn't bring them all home with us.
Up next.... Hangin' with my bro.
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