(a mostly cloudy day at) Zion National Park

Sorry for the long delay between posts! I have been lazy about blogging lately, but I'm back and I'm ready to post like crazy about the trip back from Utah to New Jersey.

I took the above picture a few miles from the entrance to Zion National Park. I like crazy weather pictures. Maybe one day I'll be lucky enough to photograph a tornado.

Just driving to the park from the highway I saw some pretty hooked up scenery; I only wish the weather had been a little better. The sun would have really made the red cliffs stand out. Even with the clouds and rain showers, Zion was an absolutely amazing place to visit. I will be sure to go back there in future summers. You should too. Make it a priority. Please.

There are two ways to see the sights at Zion. There is a scenic route that does not allow private vehicles, so the good Zion people have a free shuttle that stops at 7 different points along the road. These next few shots were taken along that scenic road. Unfortunately it was a little overcast, and at one point was actually raining. Ugh. There are some sunnier pictures I took on my way out of the park (which would be on the second way to see Zion -- on the road that DOES allow private vehicles).

Wild Turkey

There are even domesticated elk that hang out outside of Zion. I thought that was pretty neat, until I ate at the diner next door and saw the elk burger on the menu...

Ah, here we are as it starts to get sunny! Of course this coincided with my leaving the area, but at least I was able to take some pictures as I was leaving on the other road through the park. And when I say "some pictures" I mean about 200 of them. Don't worry -- they're not all on the blog.

RU LDS 2? Hmmm.... nope, don't think so! Even though the plates are Arizona, this was the most Mormon thing I saw in Utah. Of course, I didn't look very hard... I like Big Love and all, but something tells me I'm not going to find Bill Hendrickson and his wives visiting Zion. Obviously. Because they're TV characters. Duh.

Tunnel! This isn't it, but there is a rather long tunnel, perhaps over a mile or so, on the road out of the park. It's a groovy tunnel. Once you get to the other side, you feel like you're in a completely different park. The landscape is so drastically different that, I dunno, you think to yourself, "Wow, this is so drastically different!"

Look -- even the road is reddish!

This is the Checkerboard Mesa. Hmmm... I wonder why they call it that?

Below you will see the pride and joy of my trip: my driving arm watch tan. It has faded some since its most drastic, but I'm still proud of what I accomplished!