After we left our tour of Lower Antelope Canyon, we drove Hwy 89 and Hwy 89A along the scenic Vermillion Cliffs. The colors in the cliffs are beautiful. We have been on this road before and I like it.

We stopped at Navajo Bridge over the Colorado River at Marble Canyon. Walked out on the old bridge to the south end where some vendors had set up some stalls. Scott bought me a beautiful pair of silver earrings made by a local artist. There were three California condors flying out over the river close to the bridge. It was fun watching them, but I couldn’t get a good photo.

We decided to stop at Red Canyon Campground which we had passed earlier in our trip. It is on the road going up to Bryce. After setting up camp we walked to the Forest Service info center and it was closed. There was a pamphlet that showed the different hikes in the area. We decided to do two short hikes, the Hoodoo Trail and the Pink Ledges Trail. Got up close to some nice hoodoos.

The pamphlet had a list of interesting things to see on one of the trails. It listed different types of trees, cactus, other plants, scenic viewpoints, and geologic sites. It was nice to stretch our legs a bit after the drive. Walked back to camp and got cleaned up. While we were sitting out having a beer it started to rain. Didn’t last too long and we were able to stay undercover and not get wet. The campground was pretty full, and we chatted with some of the other people camped near us. The campground is near the main road, and we were worried it might be a little noisy but shortly after it got dark it quieted down.

Had planned on doing a hike in the morning but Scott decided to rest his knee and shoulder and just drive up to his sister, Julie’s, in Farmington, just north of Salt Lake City. We stayed on Hwy 89 and then 28 instead of cutting over to I-15. Wanted something a bit more scenic. Arrived in the afternoon and visited with Julie and her husband, Eric, for a bit before heading out to dinner. Our camp coffee pot had broken so we stopped at the nearby Cabela’s for a new one. Our old one was about 30+ years old and we got a lot of good use out of it. In the morning we went for a hike with Julie and her dog, Molly, on the hill a short distance from her house.

Molly loves to go up on the trails. Sometimes she would be behind us and other times she liked to be between us. Julie takes her hiking a lot. There was a nice view out over the valley. They live really close to an amusement park, Lagoon, and we could see it from up on the hill.

After our hike we drove the 5 minutes over to where Scott’s mom lives in a retirement community. We helped her with a few projects she wanted to get done, then took her to the grocery store and stopped to get Frosties at the local Wendy’s. Scott’s youngest sister and her husband also happened to be in town from Texas, so we all went out to dinner later on. It was good for Scott’s mom to have 3 of her 4 kids and their spouses all together, a mini family reunion. When we got back to Julie’s, her daughter and grandchildren came over for a visit. We don’t see them very often and it was fun to get caught up on all the things they have been doing.

We left early the next morning and had planned on camping at one of our favorite campgrounds just into Oregon on the border with Idaho but with the time change it was a bit early so we pushed on further. We ended up at Hilgard Junction State Park just off I-84 between LaGrande and Pendleton. The highway in this area has lots of sharp curves and we saw 3 accidents. The campground was small and only 2 sites were occupied. It was right on the river and we were able to have a nice campfire.

It rained some during the night and we had left our camp chairs out so they were wet. We woke up early and after a quick breakfast, hit the road for home. We stopped at an outlet mall about 1 1/2 hours before home and I was able to get some nice light hiking boots. I bought them a half size larger than the ones I had worn for most of the trip as those had started pinching my toes. My feet just seem to be getting bigger as I age. It was nice to get home and we cleaned up the trailer and got everything put away pretty quickly.

It was a great road trip. We visited friends and family in several locations, saw some beautiful country, did a lot of great hiking, discovered a few new campgrounds and explored national parks and other areas that we had never visited before.