Bryce & Zion N.P.

The hot breakfast that I had eaten at Neal and Cherie's had done me the world of good. I can't remember a morning when I had started the day feeling so full, I knew I had to get some exercise. I got to Bryce National Park in under an hour and headed to the start of the rim trail. Bryce Canyon is like the Grand Canyon, you can walk along the edge and/or walk down into the canyon. I decided to take a short hike into the canyon. I soon realised that the past few days had taken it's toll on me, I was genuinely weary and was hiking a lot slower than I had been the previous day. I took my time and enjoyed the canyon. I didn't see any arches in Bryce, the sandstone has been eroded into columns, some of them named after famous people. I walked down into the "Queens Garden" to take a look at the column named after Queen Victoria. I couldn't see it myself, I supposed it's a bit like the Rorschach test, you see what you want to see.
The weather was o.k. but it was cold on the canyon rim and the wind was fierce. I hadn't realised that the canyon is at an elevation of 8000 - 9000 feet. No wonder it was colder than i had gotten used to. After the hike I drove to some of the view points and took a few pictures. I wasn't really in the mood. It was the last full day that I had the car and I was kind of ready to just stop. I had seen so many amazing things, I felt I just needed time to sit and think about what I had seen. I didn't need another day to see more amazing stuff. Despite this I headed out of the park towards Zion National park. I would have to drive through the park to actually get back to the intestate to reach Vegas, so it wasn't out of my way and I didn't have to hike if I didn't want to.
Of course I did do some hiking in Zion, nothing too strenuous or long. The first short hike was to a view point overlooking Pine Tree Canyon into Zion Canyon itself. The second went from the visitor centre to an overlook over the whole canyon, it was bit more difficult. I was feeling much better by the time I started the second hike, I still wasn't hiking at any speed but I was definitely faster than I had been that morning and enjoying it. The difference in temperature had also helped. Although Zion is only about an hour from Bryce, it is at least 2000 feet closer to sea level. I was back to my sunny,warm weather. This might have played a part in my increased energy and happiness. I think I was also happy that I would be back in Vegas that night, I would just have to sort out my transportation to Denver and drop off the car. I had achieved everything I had wanted to in the week of having the car. I hadn't been able to spend as much time as I had wanted to in some places or do everything I wanted to. In my head I am already planning a return trip to the South West with Darren, doing more hiking and hopefully getting to raft through the Grand Canyon. At least I would raft the Colorado river at some point.
I headed towards Vegas and stopped in St George for dinner. I saw the glow from Vegas over the top of the surrounding hills before I saw the city itself. I didn't feel the need to find a hotel for the night, i pulled off the intestate and found a place to park up. I slept with Vegas spread out before me, I was seeing it as you are supposed to the first time you arrive.