40: Zion and Bryce National Parks

Also belatedly, here are many photos from our family trip in the spring to Zion and Bryce National Parks. Ostensibly, we went on the trip to mark my fortieth birthday. In reality, I really wanted to forget about my birthday and to show my mom a different facet of America, and I also just really wanted to visit Southwest Utah.
The kids had a wonderful time, and I vacationed--for the first time in a decade--because I didn't have to cook. The scenery was spectacular, and the weather more than cooperated--we had pleasant, sunny days, along with enough warmth for the kids to be able to enjoy the pool. Without further ado--

These two are easy travelers; they are, for the most part, self-entertained:

Zion is like a small Yosemite on some psychedelic drug; rocks are not the color you expect them to be, and everything is extremely tall; the river is brown (and dangerous-looking), and vertical pictures make a lot of sense; so apparently, I took a lot of vertical pictures:

even stone-skipping feels slightly treacherous

can you spot Sava?

the greenery, next to the water, and the dry red rock make for a startling contrast

in the valley, water everywhere

we met school friends at the Park--unplanned!

can you spot Sava?

the river was too full to hike the famous Narrows; next time

mountain goats

favorite hike in Zion: Watchman Trail; most spectacular views for the shortest distance covered

at higher elevations, we are in the desert

I think she likes to pose

can you spot Sava? 

I die every time I look at this photo; seriously--the view

Baba Lili was there!!!

Zion is also surprisingly close to Bryce, and even though everyone had warned us that we would like Zion but love Bryce, we all agreed that Zion was our favorite; if we had only visited Bryce, we would have been plenty happy; but between the two, Zion won hands down.
Bryce is like the playground of some whimsical giant: it's very striking, but it's also very self-contained and, after the first two miles, surprisingly predictable; I am not complaining--just emphasizing that we liked Zion better!
As the photos demonstrate, Bryce is not so grand either; not nearly as many vertical photos here:

the smattering of snow here and there was a real bonus

Unexpected bonus on the drive back: Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, where the nicest, most upbeat park ranger greeted us. Talk about psychedelic colors:

she kept cartwheeling through everything

So that is how turning forty looked.