After breakfast, we jumped in the car and headed toward the Grand Canyon. Between us and the Grand Canyon, though, was Bryce National Park, which was spectacular.
Well, today our journey continued as we worked our way to Kanab, Utah. We left the Motel 6 of Bed and Breakfasts at about 10:45. To be fair, they did have a pretty good breakfast and the staff were all very nice and accommodating. We bid them farewell, and our plans were to tour Grand Stairway National Park, but due to sparce cellphone coverage and the poor reception in this area, our Infinity and our phones were unable to locate the entrance to the park. So, we decided to just drive on State Highway 12 towards Kanab and see what we could see. I think the long and short of it was that the Park was all around us and we saw spectacular scenery, but nothing matched the breath-taking cliffs we saw the night before while driving to Escalante. Maybe that was the Staircase. Because I white knuckling the drive along that narrow road with few pullouts, I was not able to take any pictures. The cook at the Bed and Breakfast told us that she just drives in the middle of the road unless of course she saw a car coming. At any rate, off we went towards Kanab enjoying the countryside and looking at the amazing sites. As we drove, we started to see signs for Bryce National Park, and we decided to go there instead. It centers around an amazing canyon of jagged spires and walls of stone that are as beautiful as they are breathtaking. We spent much of the rest of the morning and early afternoon there. We ate our picnic lunch at the end of the park road, an area that was 9100 feet in altitude, windy and cold (about 60 degrees). It was a good lunch, but we scarfed it down quickly. It was too cold to take our time and enjoy it. Even so, our adventure in the Park was a good one and we were spellbound by its beauty.
The views were breathtaking making the drive through the park quite an adventure.
As I said, we journeyed from about 1500 feet to 10,000 feet back down to about 5000 feet ascending once again to 9100 feet at Bryce National Park. The great thing for me was that I was able to handle the higher altitudes and even took short hikes in the 8 – 10,000-foot areas without feeling too bad. I was winded, but hey, I am an old fat guy who needs to get in better shape, and I was still recovering from a bad bout with COVID in November. I need to be in better shape, but it’ll happen. I promise.
What the room lacked in Castaneda, the one in Kanab made up for. It was spacious and I actually had a table to type on; I didn’t need the cooler! We had just settled in, and Becky went to the patio and enjoyed a drink while I typed in my journal. Tomorrow will be the fifth day of our adventure as we headed to the Grand Canyon National Park. So far, we have put nearly 1000 miles on the car.
Canyons Motel was a very relaxing place to end our day. And yes, there was a table to type my journal entry.