Our travels took us to Bryce Canyon National Park, a series of huge natural amphitheaters carved into sedimentary rocks by streams and the Paria River over a period of time believed to be much more than a few years. Members of The Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) settled in the area soon after removing the original indigenous people.The park is named after Ebenezer Bryce, one of those settlers who lived closest to it.
Erosion has shaped colorful limestones, sandstones, and mudstones into an array of spires, fins, and pinnacles known as “hoodoos.”
Another possible scenario was told on a sign at Inspiration Point, “An elderly man named Indian Dick describes how Bryce Canyon was formed: Before there were any Indians, The Legend People lived in this place. They were of many kinds-birds, animals, lizards and such things-but they had the power to make themselves look like people. For some reason, the Legend People were bad, so Coyote turned them all into rocks. You can see them in that place now, all turned into rocks; some standing in rows, some sitting down, some holding onto others. You can see their faces with paint on them just as they were before they became rocks.” I would go with Indian Dick, please, no puns or comments.
We stayed at the celebrated Ruby’s Inn just outside of the park. As we arrived late, we ordered a pizza to pick up from one of the local food purveyors. Upon fetching the order, I was surprised of the size and quality of the pie. I did ask the service representative who filled the order if it was made of gold, as they charged $25.00 per pizza. It was not one of my pizzas. (please see Pizza Posts) Complaining aside, there was none left the next morning.
This was another dog friendly hotel, and as such, mini made herself right at home. My wife Carrie had inherited a large collection of postcards from her grandma Ida. Before our trip, she had discovered a card from this hotel, written in 1971 by the owner Carl Syrett (who has since passed away) Carl had written to Ida about a tapestry she had wanted to purchase. The tapestry was probably a Navajo rug, and Carl would sell it for $20.00 including shipping. This was a fair price for the time. A Navajo napkin can go for hundreds if not thousands of dollars nowadays. Carrie brought the postcard and gave it to the present owners (still family) who would pass it on to the sites historian. Were they ever happy about that!
On our way out to one of the overlooks at Bryce Canyon, we spotted a couple of Pronghorn Antelope grazing beside the road. Home on the Range came to mind, although they were not playing with deer, just eating breakfast. After being inspired at inspiration point, a magnificent view of the thousands of Hoodoo formations, we passed the same meadow. I noticed one of the Antelope right beside the car looking in the passenger window with a wild expression, like an outdoorsman (homeless) person at a city stoplight. It was close enough to reach out and pet it. As we were doing the posted speed limit of 40 mph, this was a very unusual sight indeed to see. I guess that our car had blocked its path, and he was pacing us in hopes we sped up or slowed down. We could only gape at the spectacle.
