Time in Zion's Natl. Park

In November, soon after returning from Wyoming - there was a weekend.  The boys and I hadn't seen Shane in weeks, and even after we got back he had a vigorous work week.  I think it may have been 7 on 1 off, and then six back on.  So, seeings as how it was Stake Conference...and we had a little boy who was going to be miserable AT BEST during the two hour meeting, we decided to go to the Church of Zion.  (In Lander, once in a while, we'd go to the Church of Thermopolis. It's just the nice way of saying "skipping church to do something else." Which does not happen all that often, just so you know ;))

So, off we went towards Zion!  A beautiful fall day.  Colors abounding! We come to the gates of Zion - and they open for us...for FREE!  Yes, it was free entrance day at Zion.  And by the looks of it, not too many people know about it.  The park was NOT crowded, most of the visit was just the four of us exploring the majestic wonder.

All of us went of at a good pace up the trails.  Ashton was near impossible to stop.  He loved the long path in front of him.  Loved running up the winding trail.  Loved being flanked by whoevers turn it was to catch up to him.  Nathan, on the other hand, loved stopping.  Mostly because he knew we had our cameras out.  And he wanted to be in every picture!  He stopped SEVERAL times along our hikes saying "how bout one here, and now one here..." on and on and on!  Finally I had to tell him enough! Our spirits were high, but how couldn't they be?  Look at this place!

When lunch time came, we thought about skipping out of the park and down into town for a bite to eat, but we didn't want to lose a moment of our time.  So we headed to the Lodge, expecting the worst, in terms of menu pricing.  Guess what?!  NOT SO BAD!!  The food was very tasty - Shane and NQ got Burgers, Ashton got noodles, and I, a turkey sandwich with the barley soup.  Again, not crowded, and we were seated right by a window, so we didn't miss a single moment of park!

Wild Turkey - I did not eat this one.

After lunch the boys played some tag out on the lawn in front of the lodge, and then we went out for another trail.

We left the park, just as the sun was bursting through some clouds as the early fall sunset started to close in on the day.  It was a fantastic day.  And what we felt together, as a family, out in nature - was certainly a marvelous feeling that we would not have felt together, as a family, had we tried to endure a stake conference meeting.

With Zion being less than one hour away from over very doorstep in St. George, this is the PERFECT day trip destination!  While there this trip, we also drove through the 1 mile tunnel up above the park, if you have never done this, I suggest you do, at least once in your life.  It's neat to see how they've bored the gigantic tunnel right through the mountain rock!  The "windows" or air pockets for ventilation are arches that can be seen as you drive toward the tunnel.  Now, I guess there's a separate charge for the tunnel, but not on FREE entrance day!  So we lucked out TWICE!  This was a great little family day that we hope to make a couple times a year.