donna-sue and martin's amazing adventure (aka: ds & m see America)

Leaving Zion we headed to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We'd been to the South Rim for a quick visit fifteen or so years ago when we drove a car cross country to Ben while he was in school at Chapman, but this was our first visit to the North Rim. The North Rim has a much different feel than the South Rim. It isn't nearly as developed so there are fewer tourists which means it's less crowded than the south rim. On the other hand, it also means that it doesn't have some of the iconic viewpoints one is used to seeing from the South Rim. You know how it goes, the one thing I remember from my econ 101 class, there's no such thing as a free lunch. 🤷 The North Rim has more snow and a bigger watershed which has resulted in m ore erosion on that side. Over the eons this erosion has caused the Colorado River to  be 7 miles from the north rim  and only three miles from the south rim. This extra erosion and the 7 miles has resulted in small side canyons and more formatio

As we said goodbye to California for the final time in our grand adventure we headed east toward the gorgeous parks in southern Utah, Zion being our first destination. It was a little too long to travel in one day so we stopped in Beaty, NV for the night.  Beaty is a tiny town of gold rush and mining fame and has burros that greet visitors to town. We also checked out an abandoned (ghost) town and an open air art museum while there. The next day we traveled the rest of the way to Zion National Park. This was another park we had visited with the boys 20 years ago. I didn't remember it as being one of my favorites, a nice park, but not a favorite. (Of course, I'd had a fever while there and that was also where Josh, our youngest's, sunscreen allergy manifested itself. That may have colored my memories.)🤔  All I can say is my memory did this park an injustice. It is incredibly beautiful, majestic and awe inspiring.  I'm so glad I've had an opportunity to g