10/3 Bryce Canyon & Red Canyon, UT

 I had planned to spend five nights at Bryce Canyon, however, I spent only three.  I knew that the campground did not electrical hookups, but I called ahead and they said generator hours were all day--not true.  When I got there, generator hours were only from 8-10 a.m. and 6-8 p.m., which was a problem with me because I had a ton of work to do, and it was too hard to keep my computer battery charged.  With my older computer, I had a 12-volt charger, but it does not fit into my new HP computer, and I had not been able to find the right one to fit.  

The good news is that Bryce has a wonderful car care garage just outside of the park and right next to a shuttle stop.  I stopped by the first day I got here and told them my check engine light was on, and I had been told only 7 out of my 10 cylinders were firing.  (Glad I have a v-10!)  They checked it out and said they would have the parts for tomorrow, but I have to bring it in at 8:00 a.m., which is not my favorite hour of the day.  

Anyway, here are some photos of Bryce.

The national park is mostly open, but they have removed more than half of the seats in the shuttle.  I took the shuttle from the garage and spent the repair day sightseeing.  Had no other place to go, which is always an issue when you live in a motorhome! 

It's hard to see, but there is plexiglass separating the shuttle driver from the passengers, and passengers must enter by the rear door.

I decided I wanted a nice breakfast, so I headed over to the Bryce Lodge in the park.  It was open, but not very busy.

 

 

Unfortunately, this is the dining room--no tables or chairs because meals are takeout only!  So I ordered some pancakes and sausage and ate them in the lobby with the Styrofoam container balanced on my knees!  I could have eaten outdoors, but it was only about 50 degrees out there.

I was impressed with this solar array behind the visitor center.

I have been to Bryce several years ago, but I did do some sightseeing.  I was wondering why I had been so out of breath lately, but the elevation explains it.

See the tiny people below?  I would love to go down there, but I don't think I would be able to get back up at my age.

It was not easy to snag a campsite because they were all first-come, first-served, but I managed.  It was on the edge and the parking lot for the visitor center was across a patch of woods from me.  Unfortunately, there were workers there every day thinning out the smaller trees, cutting them into lengths, and piling them up.  That meant my work day was filled with the sounds of chain saws and people yelling.  That was a LOT more noisy than my generator would have been!

Piles of logs from the thinned trees. 

I left Bryce to head to a commercial campground, and not too far out of the national park, I found this tunnel.

Wow.  This scenic area looked a lot like Bryce but was the Red Canyon area of a national forest.  The visitor center and campground was closed, but I parked for a while and walked around.

 

This is a smaller area, but you can tell it has the same rock formations, and it is a LOT less crowded!  

I took this picture behind the closed visitor center.  Might come back here to camp someday.

Funny, because just a few more miles, and the rocky mountains open up into this flat plain.  A little hazy from smoke, but not too bad.

And another change at the end of the valley. 

Onward to Zion National Park in a couple of days after I catch up with work and stock up on groceries and supplies because there is nothing near Zion.