Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Vegas Vacay Day 2: Zion National Park, Utah

On the 2nd day of the Vegas Vacation, we took a mini road-trip to Zion National Park in Hurricane, Utah. It was about a 2.5-hour drive from Vegas to Hurricane, which really wasn't bad at all. I slept most of the way because I still hadn't had much time to rest. The weather was perfectly clear, with a temperature in the 90's. However, the air was dry so it was bearable. Definitely need multiple bottles of water, though!

It was so beautiful! But there were even some beautiful sites on our drive there through Arizona:




That was just the drive there! Only Floridians would be so amazed by this... haha.

Entrance to Zion National Park:

Some information signs with the beautiful landscape

Gift Shop

Everyone seemed to have hats... we wanted one too!
We are definitely not hikers, so they had a really great shuttle that took us to many of the main sites. You could get off at whichever stop, and buses came (each way) every 10 minutes. Perfect to take pictures and go to the next stop!
The views were absolutely spectacular. These rocks have a lot of names (dubbed by their Mormon travelers). The great canyons were carved by the Virgin River (which is why you see in later pictures a place called "Virgin Trading Post". My pictures can get a little bit repetitive, so here are some of my favorites:
After a rare rainfall (less than a foot each year!), the water is stored within the rocks and pass through little pores. This allows plant-life to thrive, as shown here:
I really liked these flowers! They were like little crowns.

After spending a few hours at the park, we went to a little town right outside of the park called Springdale. There were a couple of tourist-y things we could do and some cute gift shops.


We got some ice cream after a hot day of "hiking". And there were some cute and interesting items inside the shop.



Camera focused only on the middle, but these adorable measuring spoons say:
A Dash of Joy
A Pinch of Friends
A Spoonful of Family
A Heapful of Love

After Springdale, we were on our way back to Sin City. But we saw this place along the highway and had to stop! (Again, it's called "Virgin" Trading post because of the Virgin River that created the canyons in Zion National Park)


Inside was even more interesting...


I think these might be hot...
And after those interesting images, I'll end with my favorite one :)

Interesting fact I learned: Grand Canyon and the canyons in Zion National Park are formed from the same Colorado Plateau

2 comments:

  1. I love all these photos!! Really pretty :) Makes me miss Texas and Colorado - the landscape is similar. My folks would take my brother and I to Colorado almost every summer when we were younger, and we would hike and see a lot of the same type of scenery. Some of my best memories :)

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  2. Great post, Erin! Loved all the photos. The last one is my favorite too!

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