Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Thanksgiving in Zion

We did it! We finally got away over Thanksgiving weekend! We've been thinking of doing that for years and finally made it happen. We were lucky enough to find an available campsite to reserve in Zion National Park. It even had electric hook-ups. We packed our trailer, hitched up, and headed out early Tuesday morning for our five night/six day Utah adventure! Woo hoo!

We arrived just before 9:00 p.m. and set up in the dark. What a beautiful night! It was crispy cold, there were zillions of stars, and the Autumn leaves were gently falling like snow. So pretty! But...that was just the start. The next morning, we opened the window shade by our bed and saw this...


What an awesome view into Zion Canyon and the trees were bright yellow. So pretty!

What a great campsite! Those towering rocks and beautiful Fall colors were all around us and the ground was covered in leaves. Wonderful!


We went for morning walks and soaked up the beauty all around us.


The Virgin River flowed alongside the campground. The sound of the water with the leaves blowing in the breeze was soothing and peaceful. On the other side of the river were a few cottages and inns. Behind one of them was a chair, sitting next to the water. What a wonderful place to sit! I can imagine spending hours and hours there relaxing and knitting.


The night time temperatures were pretty cold. We were very glad we had electric hook ups so we could use the heater in our trailer to stay toasty warm. A couple of mornings were frosty. We get frost at home but we don't have leaves on the ground. The combination was so pretty...even magical!










This is frost on a fence along the river. The crystals are so big!


It looks fuzzy.


The night time temps got down into the teens. However, the daytime temps were pretty nice, 50's to 60's. It was sunny most of the week with just a few clouds floating through. It was perfect for hiking. One of the afternoons was in the mid 60's and perfect for sitting outside, relaxing, reading, and knitting.

Then, there were the incredible sunsets that I love so much in Zion.


The colors are so intense and amazing!


Zion is one of my favorite places to visit. Up until now, I had only been there in the summer...which is incredibly fun!...but, combined with the fall colors, lots of wildlife, and temps that allowed for hikes we can't do during the summer, it made for a totally different experience. To say that it was amazing and beautiful would be an understatement. I took over 500 photos and couldn't capture it. But, I did my best. I've been sorting through them and plan to share more over the next few days. I hope you'll come back. :-)

4 comments:

Cindie said...

what a beautiful place to camp - thank you for sharing as we've never been there.

Denise Mixa said...

I am so glad you were able to get away! Isn't Fall beautiful!?!

Hugs,
Denise

judith said...

Beautiful!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, you are amazing photographer! It makes me want to go too.

love,
Paula H