Soon after our trip to Ireland Sharon and I began talking about doing a domestic trip in the fall. After some investigation we decided on Utah and Arizona. I had been to Utah before, but just to Moab and Arches National Park, but that was 7 years ago and I was anxious to go again and show Sharon the beauty of those places. When I went to Moab, I really wanted to see Monument Valley, but our scheduling couldn’t accommodate it. This time around I made sure to plan for Monument Valley.

We decided on Las Vegas as our starting point. It was easier and cheaper to get to compared to Salt Lake City, plus it was closer to some of the attractions we wanted to see. Frontier was the airline of choice, mainly because it was so cheap. It’s a budget airline that nickels and dimes travelers for every little service. Need a carry on bag? That’ll be $20. Need to select your seat? That’ll be $18. You get the picture. Still when we were booking it, the tickets were still cheaper than Southwest (at the time). Soon after booking it, Southwest came out with a sale which would have made it worthwhile to go with them, but alas it was too late as our Frontier tickets were non-refundable.

Our travel day started with my USB thumb drive getting confiscated by TSA. I had the tool for years, but it was attached to a pocket knife, so off it went :(. I just hope no incremenating things were on the the USB drive. It might be a good time to change passwords.

At the gate were they put all the other low cost carriers – Frontier, Allegiant, Sun Country…and by default British Air. Apparently Allegiant Air had a delayed flight and all of the plane’s passengers were milling around anxious to catch their flight. The only problem is that they were blocking people from getting off their recently arrived Allegiant plane, which delayed things even more as it was the plane they were taking to their next destination.

After a while things calmed down at the gate when the passengers from the other plane left. Our plane left on time. This was a no frills flight, with beverage and snacks being served to paying customers, and they weren’t complimentary. The seats did not lean back. I found it difficult to get sleep ( as I Next to me a lady made small talk. I really wasn’t interested in talking to her but I did give her acknowledgement. That same lady next to me, pushed her way through people in front of her when the plane landed.

After retrieving our checked luggage we rode the shuttle bus to the car rental center. I spent about 30 more minutes in line to get my rental car, only to find out all rental cars had been rented and I was left with a 15 passenger van. They told me to take it to my hotel and come back in the morning to see about getting a car or SUV. I was very disappointed in Dollar / Thrifty Rent-a-Car. I had reserved my car months before and they should have a car available for me. But apparently they overbook their cars and end up looking like poor planners.

After a short night’s sleep I got up at 6:30AM and got a nice Buick Encore. This was to be our home for 8 days. It was a good one. Satellite Radio, leather seats, etc. I was satisfied.

We ate breakfast at our Home2 Suites by Hilton Hotel. The breakfast area was a bit crowded because a tour bus of people in suites were eating breakfast. The line to get something microwaved and to use the waffle machine was a bit long. Since there was no where to sit, Sharon and I ate in our room.

We checked out soon after and drove to Mesquite to get some necessities including a styrofoam cooler to keep our drinks cold.

After eating at Caparelli’s Sandwich Shop in St. George, we headed toward Springdale, the entry gate to Zion National Park. Both Springdale and Zion have very limited parking areas. We finally found street to park on near a bus stop. There was a fee associated with the parking, but the bus was free. We rode the Springdale bus to the Zion Visitor’s Center. After buying our passport book and a Christmas ornament, we got on the Zion bus to take us to the last stop – the river walk trail.

The river walk trail was crowded to say the least. It was nice weather and a Saturday, which I’d say contributed to the huge amount of people. Sharon was stop ever so often to take photos. I was pleased she was having a good time.

Zion National Park lies at the bottom of a valley cut by a small river (more likely a stream). We were told it is prone to flooding, even when there is a sunny day outside…as in up the river there might be a flash thunderstorm.

At the end of the trail is a place called the narrows which is a river only type hike. Some people had rented special waterproof pants and shoes to walk in the narrows, something I figure I would never do.

It got to be about 4:30PM and we headed back. We had wanted to stop at a certain point to take a photo, but alas the sun was in the wrong position causing a shadow. So we decided to drive back to St. George – where our hotel was and where our restaurant of choice – Roy’s Pizza and Pasta was.

The pizza was good. We got a medium. I could have ate more, but Sharon had said we shouldn’t eat so much because we would feel stuffed. At Roy’s one of the bus boys appeared to be very young. He was maybe 12 or 13 years old. He was getting refills and taking dirty dishes off. I was glad he was learning responsibility (probably at the urging of his parents).

It was back to check in at our Comfort Inn at St. George. One of our key cards doesn’t work, but on the positive side they had complementary chocolate chip cookies at the front desk. I spent some time in the pool while Sharon wrote on her blog. I had a brief period of time by myself in the hot tub before some kids and their dad came by. Pretty soon the whole family including their mom came by along with 4 other ladies. I could tell they were probably Mormon as they discussed that they were building a temple in a Utah locale.

Tomorrow we will go to church in St. George before heading off to Lake Powell for a boat tour.