2015 - Day 10

Woke up before my alarm again this morning, feeling rested and ready to see some more rock formations. The hotel I'm at serves a pretty tasty full breakfast each morning, and though I'm not a breakfast person as a rule I have been starting the day with a meal on this trip. Maybe that explains why my appetite seems to be missing in action for the rest of the day. This has probably been the best lodging experience of the trip so far, and it's the cheapest room I've been in so far.

No matter how tired I am each evening, once morning comes I look forward again to seeing new sights and getting some more miles on the bike. It was a nice ride up to Bryce Canyon, the temperature was on the cool side but warm enough to be comfortable. Stopping for a cigarette I was entertained by some prairie dogs who came out to see what was going on. They always seem like curious creatures, poking their heads out of their burrows, yapping back and forth at one another.

It was busy at the canyon by the time I got there, but not quite as overwhelmingly so compared to Zion yesterday. I once again had the chance to chat with a number of people throughout the day, making it feel like a friendly atmosphere in the park. The shuttle driver yesterday mentioned that he felt like Canadians were a friendlier people than Americans, but I have to say that I've always been treated very well when visiting in the USA.

Bryce Canyon is one of the craziest sights I've seen in my limited travels, it's just fascinating how a landscape like that can happen. What I didn't realize is that the views here are almost endless. I saw mountains over 80 miles away, plateaus and mesas 15 miles away, the country stretching as far as the eye can see. I enjoyed this more than Zion, though it's hard to compare the parks as they're so different.

I was back early enough to get some laundry done yet, hopefully I'm good on that now until I'm at home. I also looked at some of the numbers that I enter for each day, and the weak Canadian dollar is really hurting me here this year. The gas prices are barely better than in Canada once I convert it into Canadian dollars, and the hotel costs are higher than they would in the mother land. I don't remember exact numbers, but the last two years when I crossed the border I actually saved some money. I've also ended up in a lot of touristy places, which ups the costs as well.

Tomorrow I'll be heading down to Las Vegas, more specifically Henderson as it's closer to the dealer that's going to service my bike. One other note, be sure your screen backlighting is bright enough to fully see the color in these pictures.

On highway 12, making my way to Bryce Canyon. It's obvious why this stretch is called Red Canyon

The color variations are quite incredible, the two pictures above are taken from the same viewpoint

At the end of the 18 mile scenic drive, the highest elevation in the park if I'm not mistaken

Different angle, different lighting from the sun, and you have quite a difference in color in the two preceeding pictures

This is what a lot of the scenic drive looks like, until you get into the high elevations anyway. Strange how the scenery changes so much just a little off the road