Zion Day 9

Another beautiful day in Paradise. It wasn’t quite as cold this morning so the temps didn’t have to rise much to get very comfy, somewhere in the high fifties by the afternoon, with bright sunshine.

I expected it to be a repeat of yesterday as far as the crowds go but I was pleasantly surprised with very manageable amounts of visitors today. I would guess it being Sunday and this is Morman country out here, it would have less people, although I can’t see how you could get any closer to god than being out here.

    I painted this morning on the little study of the larger painting I am doing in stages. I decided to work out a few decisions on the small one, before getting back to the big one.

I had a visitor stop by today, Janice Trane Jones, she was the first Artist-in-Residence from last year. We were able to compare experiences a bit. I t was great to talk to someone that has had a similar experience. She did not get the nice little Grotto like I do, because it was still being renovated. She stayed in a residence in the upper east side of the park, very private and quiet, she had coyotes outside her house that would yip so loud as to keep her up at night even with ear-plugs, she said she finally just went out and shushed them away. I haven’t seen any coyotes yet but I do see a fox every night down at the lodge, scavenging for food. I got a picture of him last night.

This afternoon I couldn’t resist the beautiful weather and I got my bike out of the truck.

I rode up to the end of the canyon and then back down to the entrance and back, about 16 miles.

There is probably no better way to see the park (other than on foot, up in the trails). On bicycle its like a convertible but you can stop anywhere and take a picture, stop, turn around with ease, and you can cover a lot of ground. It really let me see the park from a different perspective, and really gets the creative ideas flowing,
I can clear my mind out on the bike, just let it wander. That is until some shmo rides by me, at a pretty good clip, like he’s racin’ or something. Well……. we’ll have none of that. I shadowed him for about a mile, about 30 yds back he was motoring at 22 (slightly downhill) so I wasn’t closing, just holding distance, until the road rose just a tick and he slowed a bit and looked back and saw me and rode into a pull-out and let me ride past. (he was probably 30lbs heavier than me and there was a hill coming up)

I looked back and he pulled out after I went by, now I was the rabbit, what fun! I needed a workout. I put some distance on him with the small incline, and then it flattened out for a couple of miles, again slightly downhill but the wind was coming up the canyon in our face, I saw him about 30 yds back and I pushed up to 24 to see how he could do against a headwind, I looked back after a couple of minutes and he was waaaay back. Mission accomplished. Now I can gasp and wheeze without worrying about someone hearing me.

I took some shots from my ride like Liz said, so you can see some of the canyon but the photos don’t look that different, it was being on the bike that was the different experience.

It should be a great painting day tomorrow, I can feel itHappy Valentines Day ViVi, Miss You

Check out the rock climbers!