At Lake Powell, that gorgeous area formed by the Glen Canyon Dam, we took a day long boat trip to Rainbow Bridge National Monument, the largest natural stone bridge in the world, and other breathtaking sights along the way.  From there we visited Utah’s Dixie, St. George, before entering Zion National Park.  In Zion the cliffs soar thousands of feet from the base of the canyon where we camped.  The natural beauty of this place just kinda leaves you standing with your mouth open gawking.  From Zion we continued up the Grand Staircase to Bryce Canyon National Park which has been one of my favorite places in the world since first visiting its glorious red spires known as hoodoos in the 1970's. 

But wait, we’re not finished with Utah yet!  The next few weeks of May we visited Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, Capitol Reef National Park, Arches National Park and Dinosaur National Monument.  From the dead dinosaurs in Dinosaur National Monument, we went to seek dead ancestors at Salt Lake City’s genealogy library.  I was just getting into the swing of our research when our week long visit was up.  Ray had to tear me away from the place, because it was time to head back through Nevada to California for the mid-June christening.  We saw the sights in Salt Lake, including Temple Square and the Utah Capitol.  So reluctantly I tucked my finds away into my genealogy treasure chest and we moseyed through Nevada and back to California, visiting Nevada’s sights and state capitol along the way. 

Still in our national park mode, we stopped for a while in California’s Yosemite National Park.  It was early June, so the legendary crowds were not there yet, and we enjoyed the waterfalls, sequoias and sweeping vistas of this great park for a while.