Day 8-Richfield to Zion, The Grand Canyon and Flagstaff

After the free hotel breakfast we were back on the road. Once again Google had incorrect times, well, sort of. We had the time to the North Rim and then times from the South Rim to Flagstaff. We had to add on several hours, sigh. At one point we had considered going to Bryce Canyon since we were so close but quickly dismissed that idea. 

Low Clouds made for an interesting start to our day.

So it was on to Zion National Park. I liked this one even more than Arches. I snapped pictures like crazy as Kira drove through. All of a sudden we were leaving the park and we hadn't seen any of the hiking trails. A closer look at the map showed those areas were only accessible by the park bus. Parking was full in the park and we'd have to park in town and catch a bus to the trails. No time for that and we were heading the wrong way so we switched drivers and went back through park and I pulled over at a few pull outs for more pictures.

Going Through a Tunnel

View from the tunnel

We had a little drizzle at first.

Another cool part was going through a long tunnel. They only let traffic go through one way at a time and we were the last car through our first time and got to transfer a baton to the worker on the other side. Coming back we were one of the first cars so we got out of the car while we waited our turn and took more pictures.

Passing off the baton, we were the last car through the tunnel.

Just before one of the pull outs Kira spotted an animal. Sure enough it was a mamma Big Horn Ram and her baby. After taking pictures of the scenery I grabbed the telephoto lens and joined Kira and got some shots before they ran across the road and up the rocky cliff.

The guy in the car has a huge smile

So, this is another place I want to revisit for a longer period of time.

Then it was the long ride to the Grand Canyon. We went by the turn off to the North Rim. Kira had visited here when she was about 5 so she didn't really remember much and wanted to see the South Rim again. We came in from the East entrance and this was so much better than the South. There are lots of places to pull over and get different views of this gorgeous spot. We never even made it to the visitor center. We were close but decided we had seen enough.

Welcome to AZ!

A scenic view

Welcome to the Grand Canyon

Kira had a migraine so we were ready to get to Flagstaff for some dinner and sleep. We went Beaver Street Brewery for dinner. We had been here before and forgot they don't have their own beer but Lumberjack beer instead. But they were good as was the dinner.

Beaver Street Brewery

Then it was time to find the hotel and know tomorrow would be a short drive!

Click here for all the pictures from today's adventure.

Click here for all the pictures of our trip.