by Joe
There is no place on earth, let alone the USA, that looks and feels like Southern Utah. It’s extremely hot and dry in summer and cold and snowy in the winter. But the warm breezes in the summer and cooler mornings keeps everything in balance for an enjoyable summer experience. The sky during the day ranges from turquoise to navy blue and as black as coal at night which allows the stars to pop like top grade diamonds. The green trees against the dark blue skies and red rocks paints a picture like no other place. The dryness of the warm mid-day breezes and the cool ones in the evening wrap around you and embrace you. It’s almost spiritual in nature and in this vast piece of nature you can see, smell, and feel the wonder of the west as so many have before us. But it is at times, stark. It is dry and the land in many places dies of thirst. It is rocky and at times desolate. It can be brutally hot in the summer and I wondered how did so many people, for thousands of years, come to inhabit and thrive in this land. But humans have lived in this area for over 10,000 years. Even if you look back only a couple of hundred years ago, how did they do it?
My wife Cindy and I and our three children and their families including the two grandchildren all made a trip to Southern Utah in early June this year. Cindy and I had been here 9 years ago and fell in love with it. We talked about it a lot over the years and we were excited about the prospect of experiencing it all over again with our family.
Sunny my youngest daughter found the perfect spot for our 8 day stay in the area. It was the Zion Ponderosa Ranch and Resort. Located on the East side of the Zion National Park, it was centrally located to Zion, Bryce and the north rim of the Grand Canyon (which is actually in Arizona). It’s also close to several other points of interest in the state such as Glen Canyon, Cedar Breaks, Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Grafton Ghost Town, the Grand Staircase, Kanab (Little Hollywood), and many others. We used this ranch/resort as our base to explore the area. The Ranch was an activity in itself so we spent a couple of Ranch days to recoup and enjoy the pools and other fun activities located there.
However, the real stars of the show were the National Parks and the surrounding area. Each of the parks we visited were unique and beautiful. You can see pictures of these places but it’s so wonderful to be there and enjoy the land with all your senses. The smell of the evergreen trees and the sage brush, the heat of the sun and the rocks as they warm your skin, and the desert colors make the experience so impressive you will never forget. Many people I hear in the east (which is where I live) say, oh I wish I could go out west sometime. I say do it, do it soon and see how very special this part of our great country is and how lucky we are to be so close to a unique landscape like no other in the world!
