October Adventure Out West

10/1/21 - 10/3/21

A long planned trip began on the afternoon of the first day of October. Lyne, Susan, and I met up at Albany airport and uneventfully flew off to Las Vegas via Chicago with a Bloody Mary toast on the layover. We found our way to our hotel (Homewood Suites) right near the car rental place and got some sleep. I have no use for Vegas other than a convenient airport, so had no desire to see its sights.

Lyne and I set out in the morning to pick up the car - a very quick and simple process and we got a Mazda CX-5 with which I'm very familiar. And we set off for Bryce Canyon. At some point we stopped for food but were determined to hike on our first full day. We arrived past noon, but set off down the Queens Garden loop from Sunrise Point, then went up the Navaho loop to Sunset Point. It was stunningly beautiful!

A view from near sunrise point

Heading down to Queen's Garden

Steller's Jay

Susan & Lyne heading up the switchbacks

Thor's Hammer

We decided to eat dinner at the Lodge at Bryce and that was a good call. We were tired, jet lagged and not up to navigating a place to eat. I had the best chicken picata with rice and veggies. The service was take-out only, but we were able to sit in the dining area to eat which was lovely.

After our fine dinner, we had to navigate to the little town of Tropic, UT to find our cabin at Bryce Pioneer Village. It was cozy with 3 queen beds for 3 queens. We made the best of it even though I slept mere inches from the bathroom door! That was fortunate as I had an issue that night. (food?, altitude?)

By morning I was fine, and we set off for Kodachrome Basin State Park. It was nice, but no match for Bryce, so as we finished and it was barely noon, we headed back to Bryce. Lyne wanted to do the Fairyland loop (9 miles) but I knew I was not up for it considering the time of day and rain in the forecast. Thankfully Susan was also not feeling up to it, so Lyne reluctantly agreed to do it the next day as our only hike. Still we hiked a decent 7 miles today.

Kodachrome - I'm trying not to look terrified of heights on a 1 foot wide path.