The day started early today, with breakfast at 6:15. The dining room at the resort requires reservations for all meals, and we are starting early due to the activity of the day. The funny thing is, we had to sign up back on Sunday for breakfast today, not just the time, but also the actual meal.
Because of the way our tour manager, Melanie, passed the paper around to sign up, I was the second to last to make a choice. The only option was 6:15; that's OK because I usually have weekday breakfast before then, so no issues here.
The idea was to get on the road to Bryce Canyon by 8:00, but it did not quite work out that way. We left about 20 minutes late, because of staffing in the dining room. Breakfast was really crowded with all the groups staying here, and there were only three waitstaff to handle the whole room, which seats a couple hundred people. This was part of the reason we had to sign up for times like we did, to control the crowd somewhat.
In any case, we got on the road and soon crossed the line out of Arizona and into Utah. At the same time, we left the Navajo Indian Reservation, as that property ends at the state line, although the scenery was much the same for a while.
Our first stop was a Denny's Wigwam, a store and gift shop, for a restroom break. When Melanie mentioned this, she just called it Denny's. I was expecting the restaurant, thinking that this is a strange place for a rest stop, but no, this Denny's is a completely different thing.
Back on the road after a short time, we drove through the Red Canyon, which is an interesting phenomenon. You drive through a desert plains, and then suddenly these red rock walls come out of nowhere, disappearing back into the desert plains a few miles later just as quickly. It was a cool sight.
Lunch was at a place called Ruby's, which started as a small "tourist stop" in the 1920's, but has grown over the years to include several restaurants, hotels, gift shops, a rodeo show, and many other activities. It is now a whole campus taking up several miles of both sides of the road. We had one hour for lunch, and even with a sit down meal, we did it with time to spare.
Finally, we get to Bryce Canyon. The reason for coming here is to see the hoodoos, a rock formation which is made from water running down the face of the cliff, carving out straight vertical grooves in the rock. The cliff side is full of them. Melanie also wanted us to see a very specific tree. I'm still not sure why, but OK.
There was some fun on the bus as we left Bryce to make our way to our home for the next two nights in the little town of Springdale. Melanie gets on the mike and states that Paul, one of our fellow travelers, has a song about hoodoos. Paul goes up front, takes the mike and on his phone plays the Paul Simon song "Loves Me Like A Rock". First, the lyric "who do" sounds like "hoodoo". Second it mentions rocks. The first chorus "who do" brought out great laughter, and then (most of) the group sang the rest of the song. It was hilarious.
Now, here's the thing about getting to Springdale from the direction we were coming. In order to get there, you have to drive all the way across the southern section of Zion National Park. In order to do that, you have to enter the park and go through a tunnel quite similar to the tunnel we went through the other day to get to the raft launch. Here's the thing with this tunnel: it is open 24-hours a day, but oversized vehicles (such as us) are not allowed through after 6 PM because that's when the park rangers go off duty. The tunnel is too narrow for two-way traffic when an oversized vehicle is in there, thus the needed coordination from both ends.
We got to the tunnel and traffic was stopped on our side because there was a large vehicle coming through the other way. Time is now of the essence. Even though we are in line, they are very strict about the time, and if we are not out the other side by 6:00 PM, we are totally screwed, as is everyone else.
Good news: we made it in with 15 minutes to spare. The tunnel is only 1 mile long, so we were out in a few moments. Crisis averted.
New crisis: As we drive the switchbacks down to the bottom of the canyon, there is a massive traffic back-up. No one knows why. Could be a rock fall, could be something else. I'm getting hungry, so I grab some of the salad I bought yesterday. It was kept in the fridge but it's been in the overhead all day, so I don't eat the salad dressing, just the salad itself. It was still good. And that's dinner.
After at least a half hour, we are moving again. Seems construction was backing things up. By 7:00, we are at the hotel. After a long day on the road, it's time for the day to end.
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