Hard to imagine that this vacation is almost over. Three weeks goes so fast when you're playing. I'm incredibly glad to be able to take three weeks at a time, though. I really have time to decompress from work. I wish I could say I don't think about work at all, but I still randomly check and clear emails from work. At 20-50 emails a day there, three weeks worth would take me days to wade through if I didn't clear them at least a few times while I'm away. 
It has been a great vacation. This is us at the top of Angel's Landing. The picture was taken with my camera perched on the ground, the timer set and us at the cliff edge a little lower down. The timer gives you 12 seconds to get into place. My sister was a tad nervous about me running for the cliff edge after pushing the button, so she's got a hand out to stop me if necessary. *laughing* The image of her actually trying to prevent me from going over is a little scary though. It was cool, windy and gorgeous up there.
We didn't do quite as much hiking as usual this year, but we were also a little more laid back than usual. We actually didn't get up before dawn every day. That's pretty much unheard of for me. I'm usually dragging everyone out to get our hikes started early or to break camp and move to the next place early. The weather was cool this year though. In past years it's been necessary to start hikes that early or we bake during the day. Temps in Zion and Arches can be brutal. This time though, instead of 103-107 degrees, the temps in Zion peaked out at about 86! Nice. We had a small amount of rain in both Zion and Bryce, but we have a canopy that works great as protection from both rain and sun.
Of course, since it was cooler in Zion, it was also cooler in Bryce, so I was COLD. Usually I am a little cold in Bryce anyway because it's always significantly cooler than Zion due to it's elevation. 
This year, especially coming from the Texas heat, I was cold. This picture is me bundled in more layers than I usually am at Bryce. It didn't hit freezing at night, but the night temps were in the high 30s, low 40s, which is colder than I like it. So we slept in until after daybreak (snug, warm sleeping bags!) and hiked later than usual. The Bryce hike is down into the canyon, so of course coming out you have to climb back out of the canyon. It's often brutally hot on the climb out, steep with little shade. Even starting later this year, the climb out wasn't bad. It was still steep of course, but the lack of shade didn't cause us to feel like we'd have heat stroke before we made the top. It's amazing how much difference that temperature can make.
This year, especially coming from the Texas heat, I was cold. This picture is me bundled in more layers than I usually am at Bryce. It didn't hit freezing at night, but the night temps were in the high 30s, low 40s, which is colder than I like it. So we slept in until after daybreak (snug, warm sleeping bags!) and hiked later than usual. The Bryce hike is down into the canyon, so of course coming out you have to climb back out of the canyon. It's often brutally hot on the climb out, steep with little shade. Even starting later this year, the climb out wasn't bad. It was still steep of course, but the lack of shade didn't cause us to feel like we'd have heat stroke before we made the top. It's amazing how much difference that temperature can make. I continued to see lots of wildlife on the trip. We didn't see condors this
year in Zion like we did last year, but we saw the peregrine falcons that nest around Angel's Landing. This picture is a small rock squirrel that was hanging around the top of the trail at Angel's. Many large relatives of his were hanging out around our campsite. We also had the usual assortment of lizards, including a whole bunch of small whiptails and a large collared lizard hanging out on the trees around the campsite.
year in Zion like we did last year, but we saw the peregrine falcons that nest around Angel's Landing. This picture is a small rock squirrel that was hanging around the top of the trail at Angel's. Many large relatives of his were hanging out around our campsite. We also had the usual assortment of lizards, including a whole bunch of small whiptails and a large collared lizard hanging out on the trees around the campsite. Due to time constraints, we only hiked the Delicate Arch trail in Arches, and we skipped Capital Reef park this year. Both parks are totally awesome (well, all four are awesome, actually), but we just had to decide what we had time to do. We had time do shopping at each place, which is a "must". I am an avowed shopaholic, so it had to fit into the schedule.
At the end of the trip we went back to Denver and took my grand-niece and her parents to the Denver Zoo. It was great fun, as was staying with them in their new house. I'm not sure if I've ever been to the Denver Zoo before, but I must have been small if I have. It's very impressive and really needs a lot of time in order to see everything. We saw quite a bit and most importantly, we got to spend time with my nephew, niece and grand-niece. Waaaaaay fun. 
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