God's Canvas

I have never been a tree hugger. Nothing against tree huggers...I simply mean that as a statement of my unstable relationship with  nature. Allow me to explain...

I think nature is amazing but there are also some parts that are less impressive. Cockroaches, mice, rats, and mosquitoes really don't do much for me. I love being in the mountains but I hate sleeping in a tent in those mountains. I love flowers but hate dirt. See where this is going? So when my husband suggested a family vacation that involved lots and lots of nature and hiking, I was a little skeptical. But I have to hand it to him...he won this one.

"If you are old, go to Zion [National Park] by all means, but if you are young, stay away until you grow older....It is not well to dull one's capacity for enjoyment by seeing the finest first." (Henry Garrett, US Geological Survey)

We left on Thursday and headed south to Zion National Park. We arrived late afternoon which turned out to be the perfect time of day. The sun was behind the rocks and illuminating the scene with the most amazing light! We took 2 hikes...one on the Emerald Pools trail and the other down to where the narrows start.

 MC is nervously eyeing the people jumping into the ice cold river.

 The emerald pools are comprised of three different pools of water that flow down the rock through a series of little "rivers" and waterfalls. It is amazing and beautiful. In the picture above we are watching the little waterfall make a splendid dive off the sheer rock cliff and spray majestically out into a thousand little droplets of water gleaming in the sun. We stood at the bottom looking up and just smiling. Beautiful things make the soul so happy. No other explanation...just pure joy at simple water.

 We hiked as far as the "middle" pools where we found an entire pond of tadpoles in various stages of becoming slimy frogs. It was fascinating...I could have just stood and watched those little things swim around all day. I realized that I understood perfectly in my mind the process of tadpoles becoming frogs but I had never actually witnessed it in person. And I found it incredibly inspiring. Go figure...

As we were hiking through these amazing  rocks, the thought occurred to me several times that this type of beauty changes a person. You can't leave a place like that and not feel changed by the magnitude and grandeur of God's canvas. It also works opposite...ugly things change us. When we fill our lives with truly beautiful things, we reflect that beauty out into the world around us...light reflects light. As we walked along the second trail, we saw an overabundance of rambunctious ground squirrels. HB decided they were having a family reunion and every time we ran into a squirrel, it received a name and an "assignment" in the family tree. By the end of the hike, we had quite an elaborate story unraveling about the going-ons with the family reunion. I swear I saw some ground squirrels square dancing when we left...

That night, we drove into Kanab, UT and found our charming hotel. Now, I have a very strict philosophy about traveling and staying in hotels. If I'm going to take the time to pack and travel somewhere different, than I want my lodging to reflect the fact that I am somewhere different than I normally am. In other words, why stay in a Holiday Inn every where you go? But I am also extremely picky about hair in the bathtub and clean sheets...after all, I am Bonnie Oscarson's daughter! So going anywhere always involves some extensive research on Trip Advisor for a place with ambience AND clean sheets. And with the exception of the very strange convent turned hostel in Soreno, Italy, we have been very lucky and stayed at some really interesting, fun places. Kanab did not disappoint! We found a fabulous hotel called the Bob Bon Inn. I loved it.

 When was the last time you stayed at a hotel where a KEY opened the door to your room? It took me a minute of swiping to remember that a key TURNS...

 Charming front office that also has the owner's actual home attached to the back. That is some serious hands-on service.

 I found Chris several times admiring the world class artwork in the room.

 There were chairs outside every room where one could sit a spell and rest their tired bones.

And you know you are "out west" when wagon wheels are your primary source of design inspiration.

The hotel also had a little pool, cable TV with all the channels mom and dad won't get for your TV at home, and easy access to all the fast food you can eat. The kids thought it was PARADISE!

Friday morning we headed for the Grand Canyon. This was my first time ever seeing the Grand Canyon and I am hear to tell you...grand is a good name for this place.

 You stand at the top of this UNBELIVABLE place and you can't even see the bottom. It is the most unreal, spectacular thing I have ever laid eyes on.

 Inside the North Rim lodge, we met Brighty...the mule of the Grand Canyon...

 Legend has it that if you rub his nose, it will bring you good luck. I had all the kids rub his nose and prayed that the good luck would be that no one would fall off the paths with no railings and land in the bottom of the very deep canyon. Apparently it worked...we didn't lose anyone.

 This is the beautiful North Rim lodge. It is literally perched right on the edge of the canyon.

 The lodge had huge patios with comfy chairs. I just sat on down and helped myself to a fabulous view and a little re-lax-ation!

 After a morning of hiking and exploring, we attended one of the ranger classes about fossils. It actually was quite fascinating although I can't tell you now what we learned. Something about rocks...

Jacob was sworn in as a Junior Ranger. We were so proud...he even received a plastic badge to prove it.

This speech which President Roosevelt made at the Grand Canyon, Arizona, on May 6, 1903* shows how he thought people should treat the Grand Canyon.

"In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which, so far as I know, is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world. I want to ask you to do one thing in connection with it in your own interest and in the interest of the country - to keep this great wonder of nature as it now is.
I was delighted to learn of the wisdom of the Santa Fe railroad people in deciding not to build their hotel on the brink of the canyon. I hope you will not have a building of any kind, not a summer cottage, a hotel, or anything else, to mar the wonderful grandeur, the sublimity, the great loneliness and beauty of the canyon.
Leave it as it is. You can not improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children, your children's children, and for all who come after you, as one of the great sights which every American if he can travel at all should see.
We have gotten past the stage, my fellow-citizens, when we are to be pardoned if we treat any part of our country as something to be skinned for two or three years for the use of the present generation, whether it is the forest, the water, the scenery. Whatever it is, handle it so that your children's children will get the benefit of it."

Now here is the funny thing about taking kids to the Grand Canyon...here we are, standing in the middle of one of the 7 natural wonders of the WORLD and what are my children concerned about? Getting back to the hotel in time to watch the Phineas and Ferb movie premiere showing on the Disney Channel that night. They thought it was the GREATEST thing on earth that we were staying at a hotel where they could watch it...we don't get the Disney channel at home. It was fate. We finally had a rather stern discussion about keeping our focus on the Grand Canyon and not Phineas and Ferb. Don't get me wrong...I really love the show but seriously? The Grand Canyon? Incidentally, we did get back in time to watch the premiere.

Aren't they charming in their TV hyponotic state? And if you asked any of them what the best part of the vacation was, they will tell you the Phineas and Ferb movie, pool, and Pizza Hut. Guess they weren't having the same soul changing experience in nature.

Right down the street from our hotel, there was a police car parked on the side of the road. Every driver that came riding into town slammed on their brakes every time they spotted that small town "make our big  money" car. It never moved. By the end of our second day there, I began to seriously feel sorry for the man that had to sit in that car day after day. I especially felt sorry for him when I realized his head was practically decapitated. I decided before we left town to walk on up and thank him for his dedicated service to the town of Kanab...I think he really felt grateful deep in his little plastic mannequin heart.

Apparently Kanab is known as the "Little Hollywood" of the wild west because of all the famous western movies that were filmed there during the 50's, 60's and 70's. All up and down Main Street, they have these little plaques that tell about some of the famous western stars and movies that were made there. I insisted that as we drove out of town that we stop at the Western Museum. We were not disappointed. It was a pretty big outdoor museum with lots of the old movie sets from these movies. It was a grand playground and you better believe we spent at least a couple of hours filming our very own "westerns" on those sets...until more guests arrived and we suddenly felt a little self-conscious.

Next, it was off to Bryce Canyon. This is one of my favorite places to visit. I love the wild, strange red rock formations. And the hiking is incredible! A couple of winters ago we went to Bryce and literally went sliding down into the canyons...it was so, so, so fun. We loved going back and hiking down where we had slid. It was so beautiful!

It was a fantastic trip! Quick but relaxing, inspiring, beautiful, and wonderful to be away from "real life" and just be together as a family. I also loved that we were away from cell phones, iPhones, computers, internet, and the other small things that can cause big distractions in our lives sometimes. In all 3 of these places, you couldn't receive "service" of any type...and it was wonderful to be someplace where people were all completely focused and engaged with the people and world around them. I loved it.