Zion National Park - Our favorite

It took us only a couple of hours to drive from Bryce to Zion, and we were ready for a change of scenery.   I was very excited about this camping, because we reserved so far ahead of time we got an excellent spot right on the river.   The drive into Zion was one of the best.

We had to pay extra and wait for the tunnel to clear before we could enter, so that we could drive down the middle of the dark and skinny tunnel.  Rob said it was the best money he has ever spent, to be able to drive down the center of the road!

We came down into the beautiful valley stopped and took some pictures.

We made it down to the campground, checked in, and found our amazing little spot on the side of the river.  Even better, we had power and water!  Thanks National Parks!

We got settled and headed into town for some lunch.  We had one of the best lunches at "Oscar's Café."  We were looking for something light but next time we will come back here for dinner it was a really good southwestern food type place, and we sat outside it was a beautiful day!  

We then wanted to make the most of our time in Zion since we were only going to be here for 2 nights.  We jumped onto the park shuttle (very convenient) and headed to the emerald pools.  It is a very easy hike to the lower pool, and a little harder to the others.  But was very worth it, it was pretty, and very busy with lots of people. 

When we were making our way back down from the highest pool, we heard this very very loud rumbling.  Then the rain started to fall, lots of rain and very very big drops.  We were soaked!  And it was thundering and lightling all around us, we tried to get down the hike as quick as possible.  We made a turn so as to not do a "in and out" hike and do a loop instead.  On this new part of the trail we didn't see anyone, until we came across two people stopped in their tracks.  We inched forward and they were pointing at the ground and taking pictures.  This is what we saw...

Once we got down to the bottom we took the tram for a ride up the mountain.  And it just rained like crazy!  The tram was flooding!   Then it started to subdue and we decided to get off and walk back to the campsite.  Rob got some amazing pictures

AND... we saw another tarantula!  According to the NPS website Tarantulas are "rarely seen in Zion—they are nocturnal and spend most of their time in underground burrows"   we are so lucky! 

We headed back to the campsite for a little relaxation and then went to "Bit & Spur" for some yummy dinner!