Zion Day 28: Departure

I got up early and did some last minute packing of my cooler and cleaning up of the Grotto, before my 8am check–out.

The weather was beautiful, with clear skies, making it somewhat difficult to leave. I noticed the moon was still up and the sun was hitting Lady Mountain, so I tried to get a shot but I don’t have the camera or the expertise to get the scene I was viewing. I tried but with very disappointing results.

Leslie was there right at 8am and I turned in my emergency radio which thankfully was used only once in a non-emergency situation (electricity went out in the canyon), my key to the Grotto and my “no waiting in line” gate key to get into the Park.

 I had the Grotto looking great and was very proud and then she looked in the microwave and asked if I had wiped it out? Dang!

I said” I don’t wipe it out at home, why would I do it here?” and then cleaned it out.

  Leslie in front of the Grotto.

I thanked Leslie for the amazing opportunity and experience, a once in a lifetime adventure, (unless I apply next year, however I think my odd’s would be very slim).

I was on the road by 8:30am, one last time through the tunnel and out the east side of the Park. As I said it was great sunshine, so I kept stopping to get a photo, severely affecting my average speed. My thought was, well it’ll be a while before I get back here so I might as well stop and get a shot.
 

  East Zion Rock Formation

 Arch in East Zion.

 
 Self explanitory.

I went back the same way I came in, down in front of the Vermillion Cliffs, and this time the light was much better so I got many more pics of this magnificent spectacle. 
 Horses in front of Vermillion Cliffs.

 
 This is to show the size of the Cliffs.

My destination was Santa Fe to meet with Sage Creek Gallery and discuss a show of all the my Zion paintings, and I had thought I would be there before 5pm to meet them and then head up to Taos for the evening with Randy and Sondra, margarita and chili. I have no idea why I thought I could get there in that amount of time, it is at least a 10 hour drive and I left way too late to make it before the gallery closed, especially since I was taking photos.

I drove through the Hopi reservation, up and over Mesa three, Mesa two and Mesa one on hi-way 264, a very narrow two-laner. They put the guard rails about an inch outside the white line, absolutely no shoulder. I would come to a curve and the road would get narrower as the guard-rails lined the sides of the road, it looked more like bobsled run than a road. I think they use the rails more as bumper-rails to keep you on the road, an “active” safety system instead of the passive one which actually lets you cross the white line before it prevents you from plummeting off the cliff.

I called the gallery at 3:30pm to let them know I was over three hours away and was not going to make it before they closed and went on up to Taos for the night.

The road to Taos goes through the small town of Espanola, on a Friday night. I think I saw more police activity in those five miles of road than I had the entire day. They had police cars at each end of town and several more had cars pulled over in-between, I guess the solitude of Zion National Park was over.

It was 9pm by the time I got to Taos, 12 and half hours on the road, one long day; however there was a margarita waiting for me and a hot bowl of chili. That sure makes the night cozy.

On Saturday I drove down to Sage Creek Gallery and met with Gary and showed them the work I had been doing the last month and we settled on an August 6 date for my show.

I drove back up to Taos and in time to meet Randy and Sondra and their neighbors Bob and Marilyn, to go snow-shoeing, an activity I had never done before. It is basically hiking on a snow-packed trail. You can work at it and get your heart rate up for a work-out or you can just stroll along and enjoy the wilderness, whatever you desire.

We had a feast of a dinner at Randy and Sondra’s house in which they invited some neighbors over for festivities; it was a wonderful evening with friends.

I head home on Sunday, another long day but it will be good to get home.