Zion National Park ~ Day 3

Our morning hike was The Sand Beach Trail. 

 This hike was my favorite, it’s a soft sand trail that follows the Virgin River which turns emerald green in places. 

The trail ends at the magnificent Court of the Patriarchs. 

 We saw many mountain deer, a buck and more turkeys.

  We never saw another person throughout our hike, it was awesome.

In another spontaneous decision, we took a drive to Kolob Canyons.  We were excited that our gorgeous weather continued allowing road access to this beautiful area. Kudos to their awesome road crews! Most of the hiking trails were closed but it was so great to see the overlooks.

It was late when we finally finished so we decided to stop for an early dinner outside the park in Hurricane at Lonny Boy's BBQ.

Our Afternoon in Bryce Canyon National Park

Going to Bryce Canyon was very spontaneous.

We assumed the roads were closed due to snow and ice. Later, we discovered although many hiking trails were closed, the roads were plowed and the viewpoints were easily accessible.

It was a beautiful way to spend a couple hours. There were very few people on the roads or at the viewpoints. Some places had no one else but us.

I highly recommend driving to Bryce Canyon to anyone who visit Zion national Park.

Zion National Park ~ Day 2

Our second day began very early. We wanted to take some pictures at sunrise at  locations in the park. We saw very few people making this an excellent time to get some selfie photos.  

I highly recommend seeing the sunrise at Court of the Patriarchs.  

Sunrise was glorious.  

Our next photo stop was Temple of Sinawava where we were had complete privacy to take photos without any other visitors around. 

Following our photo time, we headed out for our first hike of the day.  We began at the Grotto following along the West Rim Trail to Scout lookout.

Honestly,  I didn't totally enjoy this hike. I don't want to discourage anyone from taking the hike because the views make it all worth it.

I just don't like hikes that are paved and it's mostly a paved hiking trail with several steep inclines. It is a good work out.

After our hike, we decided on a spontaneous drive to Bryce Canyon National Park.   You can read the review Here.

Our second night at the Red Rock Grill we were seated next to the huge windows with a view to die for.  I chose the Grilled Pork Chop and Hubby chose the same pasta dish he loved.  

Zion National Park ~ Day 1

First, a little background on us we are two retirees aged 60-70 and our experience may be different than yours if you're a younger group or family.

We spent three nights exploring this beautiful park. We are from the south and did not know what type of weather we should expect.  Friends told us to expect snow, that turned out not to be the case. We could not have asked for more beautiful weather for our three days in the park.

We stayed on the grounds in the Zion National Park Lodge. The views alone made it worth every penny we paid for the cabin. 

We normally travel on points and miles which we could have used in Springdale right outside the park. But we wanted the total experience of staying inside the park.  We stopped and bought breakfast items as well as some lunch items to bring with us. We budgeted for three meals inside the park lodge restaurant, The Red Rock Grill.

We totally enjoyed our cabin stay.  Go here for our review.  

Our first day we did two short hikes. The first hike was along the Sand Beach Trail which we walked from the lodge grounds. This hike follows along the side of the Virgin River, we just hiked two hours round-trip.

We saw several deer, some turkeys and totally enjoy the scenery.  

Next, we drove along the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway. The views on this highway were simply incredible!

We were totally excited to spot our first Longhorn sheep right outside the tunnel.  

I took several photographs while they ate and seemed to be enjoying this beautiful warm day in the sun.

Because it was off-season, there was very little traffic as we continued our way to the east entrance.

For our second hike we did the Riverside Walk at the Temple of Sinawava.  We continued a little bit longer past the handicap turn around, this hike was a little more challenging with a lot of steep inclines but pretty.

We ran out of energy just as the daylight was quickly fading.  We decided to head back to our cabin to get ready for Dinner.

After reading conflicting reviews regarding the Red Rock Grill at the lodge, I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty it was. I had the bison burger with sweet potato fries while Hubby decided on the Pa’rus Pasta with squash and other vegetables.  Both were very good.

Fall Cruise 2019, Nassau Bahama

This was not our first visit to Nassau.  We really didn't enjoy our previous visits. This one was different... I booked a 2 reef  snorkeling trip with Carnival while the rest of our group went to the Casino.

The snorkeling was awesome! The boat met us at the dock.

After a beautiful 30 minute boat ride, we snorkeled at 2 different reefs.

Fall Cruise 2019, Freeport, Bahama

We were somewhat unsure how to spend our time in Freeport since it was so soon after it was destroyed by Hurricane Dorian.  We settled  on Paradise Cove Resort at Deadman's Reef.

It turned out to be a great place.  They offered lounge chairs, umbrellas, reasonably priced drinks along with snorkeling & kayaking.

Aussie-New Zealand 2017 - Eden NSW Australia

Eden, New South Wales

November 20, 2017

We had planned on doing a whale watching tour but it was canceled.  Instead we opted for a DIY walking tour to a nearby beach. I loved this small town.

Aussie-New Zealand 2017 - Cruising Fiorland National Park of New Zealand

Cruising through the Fiordland National Park was an indescribable day.  It was so peaceful and so beautiful that I will NEVER forget it.

Aussie-New Zealand 2017 - Port Chalmers (Dunedin) New Zealand

Dunedin, New Zealand

November 12, 2017

When we first arrived at our southern-most stop in New Zealand, we thought we were in for a wet day.  It was was blustery with dark ominous clouds.  As we prepared to leave, it cleared.  Still cold but the rain was brief and sporadic.

We stopped in town for quick pictures of the historic train station and the World’s steepest Street.

Next we headed out in search of penguins, wildlife & seals.