Best of the Rest: Arizona and Utah

So I left the Grand Canyon with my tour group and embarked on a long, scenic ride to Lake Powell through the beautiful Painted Desert, stopping in scenic Monument Valley, just over the Arizona border into Utah, which is best known as the location where several TV and film westerns were shot, as well as scenes from Back to the Future Part III and National Lampoon's Vacation. 

The Painted Desert

Not surprisingly, the town plays up its John Wayne connection (She Wore a Yellow Ribbon was filmed here, among other Wayne classics) for tourist trade, with a small building billed as John Wayne's Cabin, as well as every imaginable gift-shop item, from mugs to calendars to ties.The highlight of the visit was a Jeep tour given by a Navajo guide of the one-of-a-kind monoliths for which this area is famous. Unfortunately the cold temperatures continued, although the rain held off long enough for our tour to begin and end, and the wind picked up, which left me freezing, windblown, and breathless (and not in a good way). The red sand that coats everything there was embedded in my pores and covered my clothes and shoes by the end of the tour, leaving me longing for a long, hot shower during the long drive to Lake Powell.

Monument Valley

We finally arrived in Page, AZ, around 5:45 p.m., giving me my first opportunity to explore Lake Powell Resort. Although I had an exquisite view of the lake, the weather was less than cooperative. Sixty-degree temperatures and rain prevented me from enjoying anything more than the 90-minute cruise through narrow Antelope Canyon. Beyond that, the other highlight of this part of the tour was, believe it or not, a stop at (gasp) Walmart. I've never in my life been so happy to see a Walmart, and I've never seen anyone else so grateful for a Walmart shopping spree, but after several days of paying gift-shop and restaurant prices, not to mention having to wear shorts, tank tops, and capris in wet 60-degree weather (I'm not the only one who didn't pack for it), you can only imagine the number of bags of food, (warmer) clothing, and supplies that emerged from the store. For me, personally, I made a beeline to ladies' clothing, where I purchased a pair of leggings (besides one pair of jeans, I had no other pants), followed by a visit to cosmetics, where I stocked up on Burt's Bees lip balm (the dry air, much like a western NY winter, chapped my lips and skin terribly).

Cloudy Lake Powell

The low point of the trip was getting stuck at the campgrounds, approximately two miles from my hotel room, where I'd gone to do my laundry. I had no problem getting a shuttle ride out there. But when I called for a ride back, I could get only voicemail or an unanswered phone line. Finally, after three calls to the hotel's front desk and a near panic attack, a shuttle came to my rescue, whisking my disgruntled self safely and dryly (it was, of course, raining) back to my room.

Shuttle issues plagued me again at Bryce Canyon National Park, site of the awe-inspiring hoodoos. I caught a shuttle to the visitor center, quickly stamped my passport book, and walked back outside to wait for the next shuttle back. Did I mention that this was Memorial Day weekend and the park was packed? Well, it bears noting because the holiday crowd slowed down the shuttle system. Finally, after waiting 30 minutes (alongside some tourists who had been waiting even longer), with the time until my tour's departure dwindling away, I hustled my way through the crowd and wedged myself onto a packed shuttle (perhaps the last of its kind) bound for my waiting motorcoach. Somehow I made it, with minutes to spare.

Bryce Canyon National Park

And then we were off to what is tied with Sedona for my favorite part of the trip: Zion National Park. Ironically, I thought at the start of this trip that anything after the Grand Canyon would seem like a letdown. That wasn't at all the case. Zion was about as different from GCNP as it could be. Even though I was there on Memorial Day, the park didn't feel crowded or zoolike, unlike the Grand Canyon. It felt peaceful, serene, just as its name implies. And, at last, the weather warmed up and cleared up in time to enjoy Zion's amazing assortment of hiking trails (at least one for every hiker, ranging from easy to strenuous). In fact, I picked up a little sunburn on the backs of my legs while on a long hike in the afternoon sun. 

Hiking in Zion National Park

Zion was, simply put, bliss, the perfect end to my group tour and the ideal reprieve before the final leg of my journey: Las Vegas!