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.

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.