Yesterday was not our typical Independence Day / 4th of July / Grandpa Eddie’s birthday. At 8am, we went to Zion National Park before the local parade shut down the main road in Springdale. Fourth of July weekend is the busiest weekend for Zion all year long, and as we waited 45 minutes to catch the inter-park shuttle, a guy stood up on a bench above the crowd and had everyone sing the Star Spangled Banner.

Our first hike of the day was Weeping Rock. Snow and rain water gets through the more porous layers of the rock and it takes about a thousand years before it finds it way out the side, making it look like the rock is weeping, so it was one thousand year old water sprinkling down on us. We then hiked to Lower Emerald Pool which was larger in size but the same concept. After lunch we did the grotto walk where we saw the original Zion visitor center / ranger cabin from the 1920s.

The upper emerald pool, observation point, and many other hikes were closed due to rock slides. Some other hikes were still open for more experienced hikers, such as Angel’s Landing which is one of the most dangerous hikes in the U.S.

Miss M and I spent the rest of the afternoon at the hotel pool while Paul and Big D rented inner tubes outside of Zion National Park and went on a two hour river rapids ride down the Virgin River. They saw a blue heron on the trip, lots of people picnicking along the river side, and came out of the experience at bit bruised up from navigating all the rocks while on their tubes.

We looked into catching fireworks at night, but nothing like that is done near Zion. The closest fireworks display was 45 minutes away starting at 10pm in a stadium where people start entering 5 hours prior. That did NOT interest me. Miss M was a bit sad at our lack of patriotic festivities, but as luck would have it, as we finished dinner, we realized with the time difference that the Boston Pops fireworks spectacular would be kicking off. She was able to watch it live on the iPhone while walking back to the hotel post dinner. Ah the wonders of technology!

Come to think of it, we took pictures all week with our phone. We used the phone for directions throughout this 1,000+ mile journey. The phone allowed Big D to text with his good friend Shant who broke his foot the first day of summer vacation – they even texted from the hike deep in the Grand Canyon! The phone allowed us to research sites, restaurants and stores. Playing backgammon on the phone kept us occupied while on shuttle bus rides or waiting in lines.

An interesting juxtaposition that we’re in such a beautiful place, all week we’ve been surrounded by such natural beauty, but we’ve still relied so much on technology.

Today we left Zion / Utah. We’re currently driving back through Arizona and into Nevada where we’ll fly from Vegas to Massachusetts. A scenic drive and perfect end to another great trip!