Utah Day 7: Bryce and heading home


The best part of travel is the little thing, that small event or anecdote that is unanticipated, unpredictable, and utterly memorable. The big things are easy, and Bryce Canyon, which we visited yesterday, definitely fit into that category. Renowned as one of the world's spectacular spots, it did not fail to live up to its glorious billing (and more on that in a minute). But as we sit in the Las Vegas airport waiting out a flight delay, the Carlos / Ania clan already safely home in Boston and the Lily / Alex group (hopefully) well on their way to Arnold, it is the little things that make me smile:
  • Sasa, proving that she doesn't cheat at Marco Polo by swimming head on into the pool wall as she pursued one of the other kids. She wore the red welt in the middle of her forehead with pride for the rest of the week, the other kids thinking that maybe cheating just a little bit isn't such a bad idea.
  • Alex eats lunch for breakfast and is very impressed by children who are so dedicated at Marco Polo.
  • There is nothing finer than the sound of kids playing Marco Polo or just about any other game in a pool on a warm summer evening as the sun meanders below the horizon.
  • Our dinner at a little Mexican restaurant in Cedar City, on the way home from Bryce, where we ordered nachos, beers, tacos and the like in a rapid fire mish-mash of four languages.
  • Driving the mini-van full of 6 kids, the girls braiding their hair, the boys doing ... well who know what they were doing, as everyone intently listens to a Charlie Bone book on tape.
  • Ania's the mayor!
  • When you've been to so many cool places that you need to take pictures of your kids in front of the signs from those cool places, you are one well-travelled guy ... Alex.
  • Carlos calling his Dad and listening late into the night.
  • Who knew blisters could get that big?
  • Andie finding a frog on the pool cover and carefully carrying it out to the golf course.
  • Sasa finding an ant on the pool cover and warning the boys not to hurt it.
  • The bird working all week to build a mud nest above the deck.
  • The dozens of rock cairns in Bryce, so many mini-hoodoos.
  • Racing around the lawn by the Zion Inn, I can't tag a child to save my life. I'm not slowing down, they're speeding up!
  • No Baja stories, and only one what's up with that? What's up with that?
Bryce is like a diva who doesn't show her face until the absolute last moment. We started our hike (a figure 8 combination of Queens Garden, Peekaboo, and Navajo loops) at Sunrise Point, where you don't see any part of the canyon until you are right on its rim. We paused for a group shot, and the ranger told us that we were visiting Bryce on one of the nicest days in weeks. Crystal blue skies and mid-70s temperatures accompanied us for the next 4 hours and 6 miles. It was simply fantastic.


The drive home passed by quickly, punctuated by a fine and festive dinner at the Don Miguel restaurant in Cedar City, where we all ate too much. Belly brothers live!


This morning we sent Ania & Carlos & clan on their way, then straightened up the house and headed out ourselves. With a day to kill, we hit a couple of fine little St. George museums, enjoyed lunch (with iced tea!) and then a movie. It turns out that when the temperature hits mid-90s and the desert winds blow hard, as they did today, St Georgians go to the movies! We waited in line for the matinee!

We are happy to head home, as always, to dreams of our next "adventure travel" trip. May there always be another one!

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