Today we visited Zion National Park, by far the busiest (and hottest) day of our trip. Once again we got an early start and entered the park from the east side.

Entering from the east is unusual and is made possible by the Mt. Zion and Mt. Carmel Highway and tunnel, a mile long 2 lane highway drilled through the rock with no lights but your headlights to guide you through.

When you exit the tunnel you are plunged into the other worldly rock scape that is the east side of Zion with rock in seemingly unending rivers and waves of stone.

The park is a canyon surrounded by escarpments and cliff faces hundreds and even thousands of feet high. It is an amazing site. All transportation inside the park is via motor coach as more than 4 million visitors make the trip each year.

We did several of the easier hikes in the park including the climb up to Weeping Rock…

The views were incredible. We made our way to the end of the park shuttle run and down the Riverside path to the starting point of the famous “Narrows” trail which all takes place walking through the water of the Virgin River through a slot canyon. Hundreds of people were continuing the water hike but we called it quits there.

One could hike for days on the dozens of trails in the park but we opted to head back to the Visitors Center in the 103 degree heat for a late lunch and the trip back to our cabin.

Gallery from Zion National Park

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On Sunday we made our way down from Salt Lake City to the “Grand Circle” area of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona where Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon can be found. On our way to our cabin in centrally located Glendale, UT we stopped at a delightful little cafe in Parowan, UT to check out their buns…

Then it was through the Cedar Breaks National Monument with some amazing scenery and ancient lava flows and on to our little cabin at The Lazy T Ranch.

Then it was off to dinner in Kanab on the Arizona boarder. Shout out to our Sister-in-Law Nedra, we found her restaurant in the area where Gunsmoke and many other westerns were filmed.

We immediately caught up on some laundry and got prepared for our the next day in Bryce Canyon.

The views in Bryce Canyon are stunning. We’ll post an album when we return to civilization but below are just a few.

Our first glimpse of Bryce Canyon

Bristlecone Pines like this are the oldest living things on earth.

We hiked to this point from the area at the top center of this photo.

We hiked a bit below the rim on this Queens Garden Trail

All that hiking worked up an appetite for dinner and ho-made pie! ????

Gallery from Bryce Canyon

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We said goodbye to our Flagg Ranch encampment and headed south to the ski resort town for the beautiful people, Jackson, WY (you may know it as Jackson Hole) where we had a wonderful breakfast at a charming bakery recommended by our Snake River raft guide.

Then it was on to Salt Lake City by way of Idaho so we could cross off another state from our list.

We made a very brief visit to the Mormon Temple (turns out Rhonda is more nervous about Mormons than Grizzly Bears!)

Then it was off to our hotel for a good nights rest WITH WIFI. If you haven’t yet read the earlier posts from Grand Teton and Yellowstone, continue scrolling below.

Today we we off to the Grand Tetons and a morning rafting trip down the wild and scenic Snake River. Our morning started at the beautiful Jackson Lake Lodge where we caught site of a Moose grazing in the distance…

Next it was rafting down the river with the majestic Tetons as our backdrop to a rendezvous point where a barbecue lunch was waiting for us.

Then we drove on taking in the spectacular views of Jackson Hole from Signal Mountain.

And the Tetons from Jackson Lake.

Rhonda loved the majesty of these mountains and the gorgeous views throughout the park. Beautiful vistas wherever you looked and a great park to visit.

Gallery from Grand Teton

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There were so many beautiful and amazing sites at Yellowstone that it is impossible to take them all in in two days but we managed a pretty good dent in it. We’re only including a few highlights below but we will upload a gallery of photos when we return home for those who want to see more. So this is a long/large post!

We actually arrived in Yellowstone Tuesday Night the 24th after a long trek up South Dakota and across Montana to Billings, Montana. This route was about an hour out of our way but took us into Montana to get a taste of Big Sky Country and when were we going to get another chance at that? We determined there were a lot of cattle in Montana!

We dropped down from Billings to Cody, Wyoming to go through the East entrance into Yellowstone. A spectacular introduction to Yellowstone through the mountain passes from Cody.

On our way through Yellowstone to our lodgings at Flagg Ranch near the South Gate we made a quick stop at West Thumb on Yellowstone Lake to see the hot springs and vents there.

Then on to Flagg Ranch a couple of miles south of Yellowstone where we moved into our cabin and Home for the next four nights, our longest stay anywhere on our trip.

Day 15 was our first full day in Yellowstone and, like everyone else, we started off with a trip to Old Faithful and then a breakfast at the historic Old Faithful Inn … not that historic, it was built in 1954, the year we were born!

From there we headed out to see Firehole Falls, one of the many scenic rivers running through the park…

and the thermal features at the Artists Paint Pots.

Next was the truly breathtaking “Grand Canyon of Yellowstone” where we hiked down a twisting trail to the Lower Falls and were rewarded with the permanent rainbow found there.

Then back to Flagg Ranch and some well deserved sleep.

We were up early on Day 16 for a nice breakfast at the Lodge …

…and to try to beat the crowds to the Grand Prismatic Spring

Then it was on to the Lamar Valley in the northeast corner of the park to find some bison (buffalo) and boy did we! One was strolling down the highway at about 9,000 feet of elevation. They were wonderful to watch…

…and the mountain views descending into the valley were phenomenal.

At the end of the day we were struck with the fact that you could make a National Park out of any one of the features in Yellowstone and there were dozens packed into this magical place. Something everyone should see and we are thankful for the opportunity.

Gallery from Yellowstone

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We’ve arrive safely at Yellowstone with limited or no Wi-Fi connectivity so we are off the grid until Saturday

Now somewhere in the Black Mountain Hills of Dakota…????

We traversed Colorado eastward. A breathtaking twisting drive back across the Continental Divide at Loveland Pass to Denver and found some traffic to wait in. Then we turned north across the bluffs and prairies of eastern Wyoming and into The Black Hills of South Dakota and onward to our “Glamping” experience in Keystone, South Dakota. Rhonda found this luxury tenting resort “Under the Canvas” at Mount Rushmore and as you can see from the photos it’s a beautiful setting with a view of Mount Rushmore for a backdrop.

Inside the tent/cabin. Note the “star gazing” window over the bed…

The view out our front porch…

After a quick snack for lunch it was on to see “the boys” on Mount Rushmore

Gallery from Mt. Rushmore

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Today was our last day of MINIs Take The States and the first day of our National Parks tour. Breakfast was saying farewell to all of our MINI friends at Keystone. The Denver Broncos Drum Corp was there to give everyone a proper sendoff.

Then it was on our way to our first National Park – Rocky Mountain National Park where Rhonda presented the friendly Ranger with our Senior Forever Pass for its first use.

The Park is a wonderful mix of mountain meadows, peaks and finally alpine tundra above the tree line.

This is the Colorado River only 10 miles downstream from its headwaters. From here it flows through Colorado to the Grand Canyon and ultimately to Mexico over 1,400 miles away.

On our climb to Milner’s Pass and across the Continental Divide we came across a man and his three dogs in a pickup…

The views were breathtaking

We grabbed a bite at the Alpine Visitors Center- 11,796 feet in elevation and well above the tree line. Yes, there was still some snow up there on July 22nd.

Then we turned around and headed back to Keystone to pack for our next trip to Mount Rushmore.

We participated in an early morning rally from Keystone to Independence Pass atop the Continental Divide. A beautiful morning drive with many of our fellow MINIs.

Then it was back to the Keystone Resort for the MINI Farewell Party

Our Villager MINIacs

And we had a great time at the Silent Disco

We’re here!

Long day on the road today so short blog post. This morning’s rise and rally event included a pancake breakfast.

Gratuitous syrup photo for Becca

Saw some great MINIs at this morning’s rally…

including this Pirates of the Caribbean theme, check out the co-pilot…

Then it was a police escort out of Dodge with 400+ of our new friends. We stopped in the middle of Kansas for a pit stop with about 50 MINIs…

Then on to Colorado. We arrived in a light drizzle so no good photos yet but moved into our condo looking like Bedouins. Hard to believe we got all this stuff in a MINI convertible…

Then it was off to the evening festivities and we picked up some new friends on the walk.

More from Keystone tomorrow.