Dear Jenny

As one of our most avid readers, we cherish your loyalty and commitment to our blog. We look forward to your witty comments daily. Your dedication only fuels our desire to become better bloggers. However, we have learned that our desire to experience the thrill of the untamed nature of the American Southwest has been dampened only by the lack of a robust internet connection throughout this beautiful and vast landscape, which saddens our hearts. We will continue to tweet where the weak signal allows, all while the birds twitter and prairie dogs scamper, and hope against all hope that tomorrow will bring us newfound connectivity.

Please don't leave us. As soon as we have at least 2 bars, we will flood you with the beauty we have found here in Utah. We promise.

Been Off the Grid

Hey - Sorry that we've been "off the grid" for so long. No decent internet or cell connectivity in Bryce Canyon, which has horrified Sandy. There's a lot of catching up to do, but won't be able to do it all now.

Bryce was unbelievable. We're in the tiny town of Escalante, Utah, right on the edge of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, in between Bryce Canyon and Torrey, UT, our destination tonight. We're on Route 12, one of the "scenic byways" of Utah, and it is amazing. We stopped for a pit stop, and we're sitting outside at a place called Escalante Outfitters, which was recommended as a good place to get some pizza and beer. You'll be happy to know that right now I'm drinking one of Utah's microbrews, Polygamy Porter - "Why Have Just One?" (Sandy's not drinking - she's driving.) It's a perfect day: sunny, breezy, high 70s. Will plan to update more tonight, as long as we have a connection...

Motel of the Stars

Monday, June 1 - Our destination for the evening was Kanab, UT. We had made reservations at the "World Famous" Parry Lodge, a motel that opened in 1931, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Kanab was the home base for a ton of western movies, and the Parry Lodge had a ton of celebs stay here - Ronald Reagan, Gregory Peck, Don Knotts, Lana Turner, Barbara Stanwyck, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., just to name a few. There are black and white headshots all over the lobby, and some of the motel rooms around the pool have the names of stars on them. This place is the epitome of kitch, but totally entertaining. The people are super nice, and even though the room looks like it was decorated in 1978, it is big and very clean. They even had a free western movie playing in the barn in the back!

Entering Utah

Monday, June 1 – Finally. Our first new state sign of the trip!

Just a few miles before we entered Utah, we passed through Page, AZ and the Glen Canyon Dam. This is the dam that created Lake Powell, which you can see behind it. Sandy loves dams, so this was a highlight of the evening.

Last Stop at the Grand Canyon

Monday, June 1 – Our final stop on our way out of the Grand Canyon was Desert Point at the east entrance. It was another great perspective, although back in the Tourist Trap category.



As at every tourist lookout point, there were several of those telescopes that you have to put a coin in to activate them. On this one, it said that you could put your camera up to the viewfinder to take a picture. Only 25 cents? What the heck. Well, you can see the stellar results. Kinda looks like the moon.

On the edge

Me on the edge. Well, not really… it just looks like that. There was a bit of a slope below and another ledge below. You know that I’m not a risk taker like that…

Private Canyon Views

Monday, June 1 – After breakfast we headed to Shoshone Point, a place not publicized by the park service but recommended by my friend Josh, and it was also mentioned in our guidebook. It is essentially “off the grid” for tourists, even though there’s a picnic area there that’s often used for private events , like weddings. It’s out of the way, because you have to walk a mile from the road to get there. But, boy is it worth it.

We walked out on the point, and after a group of 4 people left a few minutes after we arrived, we literally had the place to ourselves for about 45 minutes. We were just sitting there absorbing it all, and there was not a man-made sound. Only the wind and some birds. And then it was shattered by getting a promotional text message from Showtime. At least Andre and Dan are hard at work back at the office!

Out on the point, there was an unobstructed 180 degree view of the Canyon. Take a look:

We then took a hike along the rim for about another 30-45 minutes. Again, not a soul. No sooner than I said to Sandy, “I’m surprised we haven’t seen anyone else out here in a while,” we see a couple walking up toward the point. I took a second look… and it was our friends the Reas, who surprised us in Flagstaff yesterday! While Josh had recommended this place to both of us, we had no idea that we’d be there at the same time! As my mom says, make sure you’re always doing what your supposed to be doing, because you never know who you’ll see. :) It was a great surprise – and we hope to bump into them again in Utah.

Sounds Like Bacon

Monday, June 1 – There’s a strange phenomenon in Grand Canyon National Park. The trees click. It’s really insects in the trees. We heard it first last night when we got out of the car to take a picture by the sign at the park entrance. We captured it on this video today.

Breakfast at El Tovar

Monday, June 1 - We went back to El Tovar, the 100+ year old lodge on the South Rim, this morning. Had a very hearty (and mostly healthy) breakfast before our hike - steel cut oatmeal and a breakfast burrito for some extra energy.

However, we just had to order their "famous" cinnamon roll, which ended up being the size of a dinner plate. We had a great view of the Canyon right from the dining room.

Grand Canyon!

Sunday, May 31 - I know it sounds cliche, but you truly don't comprehend how vast the Grand Canyon is until you see it for the first time. Amazing. We got there just in time for sunset, so we saw some great views as the colors changed as the sun was setting. After the sun went down, we went over to El Tovar, the famous 100-year-old lodge, for dinner. We plan to do some hiking around the canyon tomorrow.