The Trip Home and Back to Reality

As the saying goes, "All good things must come to an end" and our trip to Kanab was no different.  We headed back home on Tuesday morning, taking a different route and making great time (about 4 hours and 45 mintues door to door).  When we arrived home, we were exhausted but determined to get everything put away and to give the dogs a bath before we crashed...and we succeeded!  I found the key was not to sit down until everything was done.

Kira and Koda (of course) took everything in stride (even getting a bath) and we were all glad to be home.  Here they both are after a bath, trying to recover from their weekend away from home.

Jeff and I have promised to start taking more of these weekend getaways...with or without the dogs!  And now that I have blogged about it here, he will have to make good on his promise! ;-)

Plum Tuckered Out

After a pretty full day of hiking and wandering around Zion National Park on our last full day in Kanab, we headed back to the cottage to relax and unwind.  I think all of us were just wiped out from the excitement of the day. 

On the way back, we stopped off at a lake that had frozen completely over...that was pretty neat.  We also stopped by Critter Corner, a local pet store and got the dogs a Bully stick as a reward for being so good all day.  Kira was too tired to really appreciate hers, but Koda (who must have gotten a second wind after sleeping in the Rainier most of the afternoon) started chewing his right away.  Other than that, we made dinner and just watched the Olympics, enjoying the last night of our mini vacation.

Kira and Koda seemed to be much more worn out than Jeff and I...we sat out on the porch while Jeff has a much deserved cigar (one of the first since his fall).  He seemed to really enjoy it!

By bedtime, we were all ready for a good night's sleep...especially the puppies!

It was a nice, relaxing end to a great weekend away from home!  We are already looking forward to the silent auction at Canine Casino Night this year.

An Afternoon Driving the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive

After our tough hike, we put the dogs back in the car (they were sleeping within seconds) and started driving through Zion Canyon.  It was equally as beautiful and so much different than the east side of the park.  We hit all the park off areas to take pictures, but couldn't hike any of the trails because we had the dogs with us.  Oh well, another time (it just gives us a reason to go back again sometime).

Anyway, we drove through the Court of the Patriarchs, the Grotto, Weeping Rock  and the Temple of Sinawava.

Finally, after a long and exhausting day at the park (and another trip through the mile long tunnel), we headed back to the cottage for the day.  I absolutely loved every minute we were at Zion and hope to come back again soon.  It is definitely hard to look at all these rock formations and not believe that there is a God.  What beauty! 

On the way home from the park, we stopped at the Thunderbird Restaurant, which is located at the Mt. Carmel Junction...after seeing the sign, we just had to go in!

We even took two pieces of their "Ho Made" pies back to the cottage with us....apple with rum sauce and strawberry rhubarb (my absolute favorite).  They were yummy pies...guess that Ho knows what she is doing!

Hiking the Pa'rus Trail

The Pa'rus trail is the only trail in Zion National Park where dogs are allowed...that alone was enough to make us want to hike it.  That being said I guess the views and all the nice people we met were just a bonus!  This trail is about 3.5 miles and parallels the Virgin River as it meanders through the mountains. 

Here is a picture of Kira and Koda having (not so) much patience as they wait to be taken out of the Rainier for their hike.  Can you tell they are excited?

It was a spectacular trail (paved) and it was a good one for Jeff to test out his hip.  He was hurting a little after the hike, but he never complained and really did well...as did the dogs.  Here are some pictures of the canyon and river that we got along the trail.

This last one looks like a picture on a post card...man, I was pretty good with the camera (although I think the scenery has something to do with it)! :-)

We took a picnic lunch and had a great time on the trail.  There were so many other people and dogs on the trail that there was never a scarcity of people to talk to (all who complimented us on how good looking our dogs were) and dogs for Kira and Koda to play with.  One of these owners had a black lab that was drenched from playing in the river.  I thought it might be fun to take the dogs down to the water and take that path on the way back to the car....famous last words!

Now, neither of our dogs really likes water; Kira maybe more so than Koda...at least we never had to tranquilize Kira to giver her a bath (Koda has gotten much better as he has gotten older).  Still, if I was a gambling girl and had to put money down on if I thought our dogs would get in the water, I would put all my chips on "No Way".  However, our dogs had a different agenda.  First, Koda started to venture into the water a little bit...

...and then a little bit more...he dragged me around the entire length of the river...he was quite the little explorer...

He had a blast...so much so that Kira must have thought she was missing something because, before we knew it, she was wading in the water too!

The next thing Jeff and I see is Kira plopping down in the water!  She was actually laying in the river....it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

The cold water must have felt really good on her after a long hike.  Both Jeff and I were in disbelief!  She absolutely loved the water.  I think it is too funny that she found a little calm area of the river to soak and relax...as you can see, she was totally protected from the rapids by rocks!  She is definitely a smart little girl.

After their romp in the river, it was time to head back to the Rainier...too bad we had two stinky and wet river rat puppies with us....but it was totally worth it to see them both frolicking in the water.  Those are memories both Jeff and I will remember always.

As we finished our hike of the Pa'rus trail, we got a couple more cute pictures.  This one is of Koda checking out the statue of a ringtail squirrel/fox near the Visitor's Center.

As we were leaving the Visitor's Center, I looked over and saw a group of deer grazing right near the campsites and only feet from where we were just walking!  Amazing!

It was a fun but tiring afternoon.