Grand Vacation-Day Three

On Day Three of our Grand Vacation, we woke early again at our campsite and without even hurrying had packed everything up in the van and were on the road by 8 a.m. That early morning sunrise sure gets you out of your sleeping bag before much of the day has gone by!

We stopped at the Forest Service visitor center at Jacob Lake, the junction about 45 miles north of the north rim. The volunteer told us that there are a few park rangers who stay in the park during the winter, and to get out to the plowed road at Jacob Lake, they have a two-hour snowmobile ride. Talk about some isolation!

We drove back to Fredonia, then north across the stateline into Utah.
As we reached Kanab, we ran into a parade. I was ecstatic, I was hoping to see a parade, but I hadn't been able to find out in advance when any were. We don't get to go to that many parades, so I think it's a good experience for Desert Boy, plus they're just fun.

It was July 3rd, but because most of Utah shuts down on Sundays, Kanab, like many other towns, was celebrating Fourth of July on Saturday. We walked along the parade route and found a thriving downtown and lots of spectators.

The parade entrants were generous with their candy, and Desert Boy got some good practice in picking up candy and waving to people to encourage them to throw more.

Afterwards we stopped at the visitor information office and learned that their was a festival in the town park, located a few blocks north of main street. We easily found it and had a yummy lunch of Navajo tacos and tamales.

Besides a deluxe playground under some nice shade trees, the park also had a fountain feature, and Desert Boy enjoyed running around in it.

If there's water, he's happy. And he got even happier when we decided we had enough time to visit the city pool, located right next to the park.

The Kanab city pool was the fanciest city pool I've ever been to. They had a huge kid section, with a playground set right in the middle of the water.

I was happy to go down the little water slides with Desert Boy.

In the deeper section was a big water slide, a lazy river, and a lap/basketball area.

Ed tried out the waterslide, finding that it was much faster using the mat. Here's a video of going down the slide:



Desert Boy tried the lazy river with me and was a little scared because it was over his head. Then we put on his life jacket, and he found he liked it much better.

Smiles as we drift around. Thanks, Ed, for bringing your waterproof camera!

More happy swimming!

It was beginning to fill up as the day wore on, and we still had several hours to drive.

But there was enough time to get Desert Girl wet before we went on our way.

The scenery was beautiful on the winding mountainous highways. We stopped at an overlook to see Navajo Lake.

Then we went to Cedar Breaks National Monument, with its breathtaking scenery. It's a lot like Bryce Canyon, but on a smaller scale.

I liked that there was still snow down among some of the hoodoos.

We tried for another posed photo, but the kids weren't into it. So we drove along the monument road at 10,000+ feet elevation, stopping at various other overlooks and enjoying the 63 degree weather.

Ed and Desert Boy checked out the 2,500 foot drop to the bottom of the amphitheatre.
Finally it was time to go and drive further down the road, heading home.

Another ice cream stop helped make the trip go faster.

And then finally we were back in my valley, with some great storm clouds lending extra drama to the views.

Ed managed to get some great photos in the evening lighting.

Stormy summer evenings are definitely one of the best times to view the Great Basin.

And to top it all off, there was a rainbow out in the backyard. Home sweet home!