A photo I liked because of the sky-cactus with flower and a bee

Maurice and I leave Saturday for Paris. It seems like I’ve been here a really long time and I did, in fact, arrive on September 25. I really thought I would just be putting my Father in a nursing home and that he would live for at least one more year. Looking back on it, I’m amazed how quickly he went-12 hours after he started having trouble breathing. Mom and I went through his closet and cleared a few things out for Good Will but many things remain. He was a real clothes horse as they say. It looked like he bought himself a new pair of tennis shoes every six months. I took seven pair to Good Will. The first week or so, the house seemed so strange without him, so empty. I think Mom is slowly getting used to not having him here. I still hate to leave her and I know I will worry about her when I get back to Paris. I plan to return in March. I will be glad to get back to Paris to my own bed, my own things, my cat who has been spoiled by a cat sitter/lover. Life goes on despite losses.

After Zion Park we went to nearby Byce Canyon and all I can say is, “Wow!” What an incredible place.

This was a view from up above of an area called the Ampitheater.

What was cool was that you could take a trail down right into the center of the area. Of course, you had to climb back up to get out. It was a cool, gray day and we even got snowed on a little at one point.

Just a few of the things we saw down below.

As the sun was setting we went to the end of the scenic route and found the natural bridge. The photo isn’t very bright as the sun was just about gone and it was really cold with snow on the ground. I was glad we made the effort.

There’s a very famous area outside of Zion called the Wave and, because it is so fragile, only 20 people a day are allowed to visit. You have to enter a lottery to get chosen and we didn’t make it so we went to another area in South Coyote Buttes which was also supposed to be really fabulous and it was.

Our rental jeep. We already had a rental car which was all wheel drive but were told that it wouldn’t be able to handle the roads we had to travel and it turned out to be true. We had to go through very thick sand and needed the high under carriage of the jeep to make it.

We had to trudge through the sand too. At one point I was up to my ankles in sand and it took two days to get all of it out of my shoes.

The entry.

Aren’t these forms incredible? It felt like we were on Mars or on the set of Star Wars.

In Zion Park there are several places to stop so you can then hike and explore the area. One we picked was a walk up to the Emerald Pools.

A walk through a wet, dripping grotto was required.

There was still a bit of autumn color left.

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It was a long walk and climb to get to the top pool…

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which didn't turn out to be that green at all but we can say we did it.

I’m hardly ever late posting on my blog but I just wasn’t able to get it done on Monday morning. Maurice and I made a quick trip into Utah to visit Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon. I have lived in the Southwest for many years but never visited Utah. This trip made me wish I gone many times when I had the chance. I worried about my Mother the whole time I was gone but she said she did fine keeping herself busy.
On the way to Zion as we entered what is called Red Canyon we went through two of these:

As you can see the road goes through a tunnel put through the rock cliff.

We stayed at a nice hotel outside of Zion called the Cliff Rose in Springdale. This photo is not retouched and shows our view from our room as the sun was setting.

There were wild animals all over the place, especially in the late afternoon. We saw these wild turkeys on the side of the road. There were about a dozen of them. It was pretty risky of them to be out in the open this close to Thanksgiving.

We went behind out hotel to walk down to the river and came upon five deer munching on the landscaping. They didn’t run off and let us walk within four or five feet of them.
More to come. I took a ton of photos.

On our way back to Paris (now a couple of months ago), my friend and I made a quick stop in Reims to see the Crayeres, a famous luxury hotel and restaurant. It really is beautiful. Trip Advisor had some negative comments about it, some about the snobby staff. We saw a bit of this and it really made me mad when we ordered champagne and only got half a glass full at a full glass price. Things like that just burn me. But, still, it was lovely to sit there and look and the grounds.

As seen from the back.

I love this room.

And this one in the bar.

From the outside.

Loved the autumn sun shining in between these trees.

Very posh place. I don’t often go to places like this which makes it special when I do. I thought of surprising Maurice with a night here for his birthday but I think the cost would overwhelm him so, maybe, just a drink.