On the way from Jackson Hole, Wyoming to Salt Lake City, we took our morning break in Afton, Wyoming. Afton is a very small town known for having the largest arch made from elk antlers in existence.
In Idaho, we made a stop in Montpelier. In 1896, Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch robbed the bank in Montpelier. I took a photo of the plaque commemorating the heist. The gang took the money supposedly to spring one of their members from jail. Most of them managed to abscond with the money, but one of the gang was captured and held in prison until 1912. Nearby was Bear Lake. We drove through Logan Canyon to Logan, Utah to have lunch.
When we arrived in Salt Lake City, we took a tour of the Capitol and Temple Square. We could go inside of the Tabernacle, but not the Temple. Non-Mormons are not allowed inside. We could take a look at a model of the Temple, however. We had dinner at the Roof Restaurant that was in a hotel near the Temple Square and had a great view of both the Temple and the Tabernacle.
On our way to Bryce Canyon the next morning, we took a morning break at Scipio, Utah, which had a petting zoo. I made some new friends with several bunnies and baby goats. There were some Ostriches on hand which I was quite content to look at through the fencing. I had once had an experience with an Ostrich back in Texas when I was growing up who was just a tad too friendly.
Then I joined an interesting trio – an Ankole-Watusi (a type of cattle), an Alpaca, and a Peacock. The Ankole-Watusi seemed like he was much more interested in a nap than in people. The Peacock strutted around making noises but did not spread his tail feathers. The Alpaca was just plain adorable. The face was so cute, what with long bangs sweeping across his large, long-lashed eyes.
We made a stop at Red Rock Canyon and took photos of the Salt and Pepper Shakers. We continued on to Ruby’s Inn at the entrance of Bryce Canyon to have lunch. We were also staying at Ruby’s Inn for the night. We hiked into Bryce Canyon to see Bryce Point, Inspiration Point and Sunset Point. A couple of us also went part of the way down the Navajo Trail. We knew that we would have to come back up that same trail at some point and that it was steep, so we only ventured as far as we figured we could return from without giving ourselves heart attacks. Bryce Canyon was really beautiful.
The next day, we went to Zion National Park. The tour coach could only go as far as Zion Lodge. From there, we took a tram to what was called the Temple of Sinawava. I chose to hike the Riverside Trail, which was about a mile long. The temperature was about 102° F. Fortunately the Riverside Trail was relatively level and even had some good shade in places. I had a couple water bottles with me (one for going in and one for coming out) and managed to finish them both by the time I returned to the tram pickup point. Back at the lodge, I had some ice cream and downed about three more bottles of water back on the coach.
We stopped off at a Subway Sandwich shop to pick up lunch to eat along the way while crossing the Mojave Desert. The temperature there was about 112° F. We did take a pit stop along the way and it was like trying to breathe in an oven. It was even hotter than Egypt had been in September/October of 2008.
When we got back to Treasure Island in Vegas, we had a farewell dinner before getting repacked to fly home the next day and into bed. Repacking for the plane home was an adventure due to all of the Native American items I had purchased along the way. But I managed and it all arrived safely with me back in Minneapolis. It helped that I had packed some bubble wrap which I then used on the Kachinas (two of them) and the bowl of the peace pipe. The Lakota breast plate and the horsehair and bead dancer’s bustle I got in Jackson, packed pretty well since they were relatively flat. Also had several pieces of jewelry purchased in Monument Valley, the Black Hills, and Jackson which I placed in plastic sandwich bags I brought with me and tucked in among my clothes.
Next time – a 2014 trip to Greece and the Greek Islands, where we spent 8 days on the mainland of Greece and 8 days on a cruise in the Aegean.
Elk antler arch in Afton, WY 
Montpelier, Idaho 
Bear Lake in Idaho 
Utah Capitol Building 
Morman Tabernacle Interior 
Temple with Tabernacle behind from Roof Restaurant 
Colors along the highway 
New friends in petting zoo 
Red Rock Canyon 
Bryce Canyon 
Along the Navajo Trail 
Tunnel was as far down as I got before turning back 
Part of Ruby’s Inn 
Zion National Park 
Another part of the park 
Along the Riverside Trail 
Further along the trail 
Mojave Desert