Day 27 (Refuge at Ruby's again!)

Day 27
July 18, 2006
Bryce Canyon

We spent the morning on the park’s main road, which runs for 18 miles to the south from the main entrance, ending at Yovimpa Point, elevation 9100+ feet. As we drove back down the park road, we stopped at a half-dozen overlooks, each seemingly more impressive than the last. Per normal, still photos don’t seem able to capture the full grandeur of what we witnessed—we guess that’s why people make the effort to visit the national parks!

We ate lunch at the Bryce Camper’s Store, where we paid too much for things we shouldn’t be eating in the first place. At least we've been active on this trip! Although the scenery is beautiful and the people of Utah are friendly and endearing, we cannot imagine living here. The lack of access to goods and service that we have become accustomed to would drive us nuts in short order. At the only grocery store in Bryce, UT, we could not buy any fresh vegetables (expet potatos and onions) or meat (they did sell some frozen versions of both). They sold no skim milk, no whole grain bread, and no healthy cereal. Sessy said it’s like we went through a time warp to the late 1970s or something. We could use a trip to Roots Market right about now.

After lunch it was a unanimous decision to return to Ruby’s Inn. Although the temperature was only in the mid 80s, the sun was relentless. We paid $8 and swam, showered and surfed the Web. Again, it was money well spent.

We intended to go to a rodeo at 7 PM, but lightning and light rain kept us away from the grandstands (sitting on metal bleachers in an open field that was a mile across didn’t sound like a good time to us). The rodeo went on as scheduled without us.

The rains continued overnight and were heavy at times, but we hardly noticed inside the trailer. We are getting a lot more used to sleeping with the pitter-pat of rain on the camper’s roof.