On Saturday, April 28th, we hopped in the car and headed northeast to Bryce Canyon National Park.  Sam was greeted at the lodge by an Asian woman (Filipino we think) who asked “are you Japanese?!”  Apparently the Mormon Asians don’t see a lot of other Asian folk round those parts.  Sam and my mom signed up for a mule ride through the canyon and we ate lunch while waiting.  While Sam and my mother headed off for their adventure my father and I walked to Sunset Point and then down into the valley.

While we were walking up half of Navajo Loop (half of it was closed) Sam and my mother were not far away, a little further out on the horse trails.

We all met back up at Sunrise Point.  To break the silence (the Longs are a quiet people) on our hike dad and I started talking about politics.  By the time the below photos were taken we were on the topic of gun control and the Kennedy assassination.

From there we headed to a lookout point which seemed like one of the highest points in the park.  you can see the point in the photo below (and many after it) if you follow the rim trail up from the end of the tree going left.

Finally we made it to the observation platform.  The sun was dipping down on an already cold and crisp day and the wind was rushing harshly at us.  It may look like a sunny comfortable experience in the photos, but it was really cold and our noses were dripping.

We left the park an hour or so before sunset and ate dinner at the C-stop pizzaria in Panguitch.  It seemed to be the only restaurant open at all in the small town.  Later when we were back in Zion we drove through the mile-long tunnel through the mountain.

After coming out on the other side my fellow travelers were generous enough to allow me a few minutes to try some night photography.  It was very dark and the longest exposure my camera allows is 30 seconds.  That’s not nearly enough to get detailed exposures in near pitch-black night.  It was, however, too long to ask my parents to stand still, as you can see by their blurred appearance in the shot below.

Back at the hotel I walked behind the complex and tried more shots, but with poor results.