taking in as much of zion as we could

after a pretty rough night's sleep, we got up the next morning and decided to head out to zion national park to check it all out.  this was a pretty fun view to wake up to, though:

of course, we weren't prepared at all and didn't really have much in the way of actual gear (and it was pretty crowded by the time we got there), so no, we didn't take on any hikes.  we did, however, take lots of pictures as we drove through.

we drove into springdale in search of some grub, having gotten up far too late for breakfast at the lodge's restaurant.  we ended up stopping here, although we got neither breakfast nor any of that famous pie.

in the gift shop, the bean decided to get a pressed penny while i picked out a magnet to add to the collection on our refrigerator back at home.

we walked across the street to grab some coffee here:

and then we drove back into the park to look at more rocks and stuff.

driving through the tunnel during the day was much less scary, but way slower because of the amount of traffic.

away from all of the listed trails and crowds, we found a little turnout where we got to do a little hike of our own.  it was peaceful and quiet, and it was exactly what we wanted.

the bean was absolutely dying to get in a horseback ride, so we decided to head back to the lodge to see if we could book one for her.

i'm really not a huge fan of riding horses, so i opted to just chill at the cabin while she and the hub went off on a 2-hour tour.

so while i was kicking back doing this:

 they were happily outside doing this.

by the time they got back, exhilarated and happy from their adventure, it was time to head over to the restaurant for dinner.  we decided to just walk the short distance over there.

 it was really cute in there, and we had a pretty awesome view from our table by the wall of windows.

bread and charcuterie board:

the hub opted for a cup of the house soup:

and then it was a super long wait for our entrees.  to be fair, the server did let us know that a table of 15 had been seated just before we arrived, so we were prepared for a longer wait than normal.  but as you can see from the change in lighting, it was kind of excessive.  bah.  at least the food was good - the hub opted for the baby back ribs:

i got to try a bison filet mignon.  it was the night before easter, so it was about as close to a steak as i could get with our no-red-meat-for-lent deal.  but i have to say...i would totally opt for bison over beef more often if i had the choice.  this was really, really good.

the bean had opted for a bison burger, which was also her first burger in about 40 days or so.  i didn't even get a shot of it, but i did snap this one of her chocolate lava cake that she capped off her dinner with.

on our way back to the cabin, we saw the chickens and roosters hanging out on the fence again:

and this time, the staff had delivered an air mattress for the bean to sleep on.  it still wasn't ideal, of course, but it was better than the family bed situation we'd had the first night.  at least we all slept a little better this time.

spring break road trip, day 1

our road trip started off with a nice easy drive that took us to yermo for our first stop.  we'd passed eddie world on our way to vegas back in may, but hadn't made the time to stop.  i'd heard about this place - supposedly a wonderland of snacks and treats and delicious food, with some fun stuff in the men's restroom that i wanted the hub to check out and report back on.  heh.

the place is pretty easy to spot from a distance with this giant ice cream sundae to give you a hint as to where it is.

and sure enough, there was plenty of stuff to choose from inside.  you want coffee?  sure!

how about a wide variety of jerky to pick from?  right here:

there was fresh pizza:

just about every kind of beverage you could think of:

lots of sweets:

snacks galore.

and oddly enough, a make-your-own-poke bar that the bean couldn't resist.

while the most exciting thing in the women's restroom was this contraption that replaced the plastic cover on the stall handle after every use:

the hub reported that there were indeed games to play at the urinals.  something about hitting moving targets and earning points?  so weird.  and there was a giant shrine to the l.a. lakers here, which includes a chunk of the original floor from the fabulous forum:

after we left eddie world, there was a whole lot of this view for the next couple of hours:

and we hit a little traffic as we reached the las vegas strip.

a handful of hours later, we crossed another state line into utah and drove through zion national park in the pitch black night.  like, we saw nothing at all aside from the two tunnels we drove through on our way to zion mountain lodge, our home for the next couple of nights.  as the hub and the bean headed in to get us checked in, i stayed in the car and watched the chickens and roosters tucking themselves in for the night.

we saw the first of many, many deer as we made our way to our cabin:

home sweet home.  except that we noticed something important right away - the sofa that was supposed to pull out...didn't.  d-oh!

and there was a tv, but the front desk clerk had already warned the hub that it only worked if we had DVDs to watch.

but we had a nice fireplace in one corner:

and a cool claw-footed tub in the bathroom.

we ended up sharing a family bed for the first time in a lot of years, with the hub and i clinging to the sides of the bed while the bean starfished in the middle all night.  it was nice to be out of the car, but let's just say that it wasn't exactly the most restful night's sleep we'd ever had.  heh.