Ross & Kathys Big Adventure

OK, so Wednesday we left Orem and drove to Payson where we drove through the "Nebo Scenic Byway". At Payson Lake we took the walk around the lake. Perfect weather. Later we stopped at "Hells Kitchen". Very cool rock formations. We stopped many times to look at cool stuff, especially Mt. Nebo. I think Lauren and Ryan should climb it. We stopped in Ephraim for lunch and also shopped at an arts and crafts store; Kathy bought some treasures and Ross bought Chocolate. So, about 5pm we arrived at Fish Lake and checked into our "modern" cabin - as apposed to the 'rustic' ones available - without running water. I have to say that after stayed at the Hampton Inn in Orem, the 'modern' cabin seemed pretty rustic to us. That's about as close to camping as we want to get. On the brighter side, Fish Lake and everything else we saw in central Utah is beautiful. I can't understand why anyone would want to move to Montana when such beauty is right around the corner. We had fun eating dinner and breakfast at a little cafe at Fish Lake - very homey.
Thursday we headed for Escalante and the Petrified Forest Park. Lots of fantastic scenery along the way. The Petrified Forest was pretty cool too; but we didn't expect the one hour hike to see the petrified wood laying around. So on we went to Bryce Canyon. We were late getting there and the sun works against you in the afternoon so we limited our visit to the "Angels Landing" view, which is really beautiful in the afternoon. Then we headed for Cedar City. It's a pretty drive, but a little tough driving into the sun. At Cedar City we had a wonderful dinner at the "Garden House" restaurant - we've been there before - if you're anywhere near there at dinner time it's great (reasonable too). We stayed at a brand new "Holiday Express". It was great too.
Friday we went all the way to St. George via Kolob Canyon; very nice, but Kathy was coming down with a cold. In St. George we visited the Art Museum where they were featuring art of "Zions Park". We also visited several art galleries in down town and ended up at the Ice Cream shop next to "Green Gate B&B". Excellent Chocolate Moose Tracks. We visited the new "Heritage Park". Lots of water fountains for kids to pay in. It was so hot I was tempted to jump in - Kathy said, "go for it"; but I chickened out. So, at 6pm we arrived at Tuacahn for dinner and show. Dinner was fun and so was the show; but the show was a little long - three hours to too much for my butt - I mean my attention.
Saturday we were heading home; but not before going to a 'Farmers Market' there in town. It was interesting but Kathy was feeling poorly so we didn't stay long. We figured that if we drove pretty much straight through we could be home by 4pm. We just got through the Virgin River Gorge and we flying across the desert when I noticed a red light on my dashboard looking very much like a battery - NOT GOOD. What to do? I decided to turn of the AC, XM Radio, Cruise Control and make a run for Vegas. Kathy called ahead and found a Nissan Dealership that was open for service all day. We swetted it out and made it to the dealership. They said we needed a new alternator and belt. What can a person do? So 4.5 hours and $780 later we were back on the road again.
There's no place like home. We were so happy to get home and in our own bed. It was a great trip. We really enjoyed the reception; meeting Brent, a terrific guy with a wonderful family. We enjoy visiting everyone - even Adam - at work - at 8pm (what a guy).