Birthday Getaway

Fact: My birthday usually falls on or around Memorial Day weekend.  Fact:  I LOVE vacations.  Fact: My husband is awesome and worked out a great birthday getaway.

We had been toying with going out of town for Memorial Day but never actually got around to making a plan.  Once I finally did start doing some looking for hotels and what not, I realized that every one else must also be trying to get away for the long weekend cuz there were no vacancies.  Not right near Bryce, Zion, Capitol Reef, Arches, or Vernal.  And I was bummed to say the least.  Jason didn't give up though.  He was able to find a decently priced hotel in Cedar City--which is about an hour away from Zion National Park.  So we packed up and left Saturday morning.

We got into the park in the late afternoon and rode the shuttle all the way up the canyon and most of the way back down before disembarking.  We decided to do the Lower Emerald Pool hike.  Beautiful!

Waiting for the Shuttle

Happy Family

Hiker Girls

In hindsight we should have hiked first and then rode the tram up the canyon and back down because the shuttle was PACKED trying to get back out of the canyon.  Standing room only with Leila strapped to my chest in a hot car with sweaty hikers all around...but we made it.  When we went through Springdale in January with my cousin Alicia, we had tried to go to Historic Pioneer Restaurant but it was closed for the season.  So we made up for it this time around.  We even got a slice of coconut cream pie to go that would serve as my birthday "cake" the next morning.

The next day I convinced Jason to forego going back into Zion and head over to Bryce Canyon instead.  Behind Arches, this is definitely my favorite Utah National Park.  Before going into the park we ate lunch at Ruby's Inn and then drove through the park while Leila was napping.  When she was done napping (or rather, when I was done driving) we hiked the Navajo Loop trail.  This trail goes down into the canyon, past Thor's Hammer and through Wall Street before winding back up to the top.

Down, Down, Down

Two Bridges

What a great way to spend my birthday!