Day 19

Friday 18th May 2007 <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

Friday morning update: this place has turned out to be the motel from hell.  We should have realised when we were put in Room 101!  Not only could we not connect to the Internet last night, but this morning we were unable to get any hot water from the taps or shower and when we boiled a kettle to pour into the sink, the water all seeped away via the ill-fitting plug and the tap was so fierce that it managed to shower us and the whole sink creating an absolute mess everywhere, including our trousers. When we went for breakfast at 8:30, we found that all the breakfast things had already been put away.  A gent as old as Methuselah, with all the charm of a gnat, told us it had all been put away half an hour ago as it was now 9:30.  I managed to get a cup of coffee, but there were no hot water facilities for tea.  Luckily we are carrying the kettle we purchased for in New York so were able to make tea back in the room and Mary foraged the car for emergency rations kept for when I forget to stop for food. Somehow, we have crossed back into the Mountain Zone without realising it.  Quite why Utah and Arizona should be in different time zones, we don’t understand, since one is directly north of the other.  Had there been a clock in the room we would have noticed the time change, so another minus point for this motel. This is the first time that we have felt incensed enough to complete the customer satisfaction survey, which interestingly enough does not have space for what you want to say and is posted back to the President of Super 8 and not handed into the hotel. This may explain why all the motels have an outgoing mail basket – to capture the cards – and do they get passed on?  Well we are more clever than that: we will pop ours into a mail box somewhere. We realised were lucky to get served dinner last night.  No wonder the restaurant was virtually empty when we arrived and displaying its Closed notice when we left. Our checkout was carried out by the same surly gentleman, who refused to give us a receipt, saying the paperwork we had been given the night before was good enough.

 

Once again we hit the road fairly ill-prepared for a day at Bryce Canyon.  We had filled our Super 8 mugs (purchased from a previous motel), so that we would have a hot drink (made with our own kettle as the motel’s coffee jug was empty) – well at least for the couple of hours it took the supposedly thermal cups to get cold.  The only water we had was left from yesterday, and our emergency rations were seriously depleted.  Our attempt to stock up at a roadside shop had netted us two bottles of water and an ice cream each.  There was no other food for sale.  Still onwards and upwards we travelled, out on the US89 and two local Utah roads to reach the Canyon, which we had to pay another $25 to enter.  We have just discovered that we could have purchased a parks pass to use which would have made our meanderings around a little cheaper, but no one seems to tell you these things, they just assume you know: still, we are boosting the local economy.

 

Once at Bryce Canyon, we decided to head straight for the top, and then stopat all the designated places on the way back.  Well, if we had thought the Grand Canyon was great, this was just as good, and in lots of ways much better.  We took our time looking around and treated ourselves to lots more photos.  Goodness knows how many we will have by the time we return to the UK.  We were also treated to another thunderstorm with some lightning which is just amazing as the thunder echoes around the Canyon.  There was quite a lot of rain just as we entered the Canyon, but luckily we were still in the car on our way to the top at that point.  The temperature recorded by the car fell to 48 degrees but by the end of the day was up 40 degrees on that. The rain that we had whilst out of the car did little to get us wet. I was also brave enough to walk through the woods to one of the scenic spots, something I have been reluctant to do, ‘cause I cannot abide snakes and have been alarmed at all of the notices telling you to beware of Rattlesnakes. We also did some bird watching and we saw a Stellers Blue Jay when we finally stopped for breakfast/lunch at around 4.00 pm. We also saw white-breasted nuthatches, dark eyed juncos, a green winged towhee and various sparrows, of which the Americans seem to have an awful lot, as well as some lively little chipmunks, one of whom insisted on coming onto the decking of the café. Ravens had again been posing at the various stopping places and were being photographed by all and sundry.

 

On leaving the Canyon we decided that as we had had a fraught start to the day, including a short night as we had not registered the time change, that we would find a hotel sooner rather than later and visit Zion NP tomorrow.  Bob had declared he was tired and insisted on having the air conditioning blasting even though it was making Mary too cold.  Still the lure of another Canyon was too much for him and we went off in the direction of Zion and paid another $25 to enter the park.  We were then completely bowled over by the scenery, the difference in rock formation and the fact that we were rapidly descending into a Canyon.  We drove the 12 miles to the visitor’s centre, which also turned out to be the exit at the other end, so we are going back tomorrow to take one of the shuttle buses for a guided tour.  We felt this would make a nice change and it would give Bob a little time off from driving (not too much otherwise he will get withdrawal symptoms).  We then headed for Hurricane where we are ensconced in another Super 8.  So far this one appears much better than the last (would not be difficult), and I have finally given in to the growing pile of washing and am currently waiting for the last load to dry, otherwise Bob will be driving around without his trousers.  This evening has been one for housewifely type tasks as I have already stitched both his pairs of trousers back together (I wonder if the weight he has lost whilst in New York is going back on??)