Bryce Canyon National Park

Over the weekend we met up with Craig and Dianna in Panguitch Utah.  We left after work on Friday and the drive down was pretty uneventful.  We had eaten dinner at our house before we left, so we didn't need to make any stops.  Nolan looked out the window for the first couple of hours and then played on the iPad for the last little bit.  We stayed in a Quality Inn, just out of town about 20 miles from Bryce Canyon.  The town was still in shutdown mode from the winter and a lot of places weren't open yet.

Saturday, March 15
We ate breakfast at the hotel before heading to the local market to pick up a few snacks for the day.  We stopped by Subway to get sandwiches and made our way to Bryce Canyon.  There wasn't much traffic, and really it was the perfect time to come down.  It was a little chilly (45 degrees) and very windy all day, but the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  We drove around the park getting in and out of the car at each pull off spot.  Nolan had to take his construction trucks with him everywhere he went.  He cracks us up.  At the first stop, we put him behind a fence so he could play with his trucks while we looked the other direction.  Within 5 minutes of putting him there, he had say in the only mud puddle around and was covered in mud.  Luckily, we had bought paper towels at the market that morning so we used those to wipe him off the best we could.

We went back to the hotel for a couple of hours in the afternoon before eating dinner at Cowboys in Panguitch.  It was very good - they had just opened for the season and didn't have their card reader hooked up yet.  Good thing we all had some cash to chip in.  We drove back to the park to try to make sunset.  We ended up missing it, but still got some great pictures.

Sunday, March 16
I can't believe i'm typing this, but we all slept in until 8:00 am! We must have all been exhausted.  Ate breakfast at the hotel before packing up and hitting the road home.  We took the scenic route home along Highway 89 and 123.  We drove past a lot of small towns, stopped at the Manti temple and in Provo to see Nik and Tiffany.  We made it just in time for dinner at my parents house where we watched Captain Phillips with Scottie and Seth.  It was a great weekend and I can't wait for our next adventure.