Dinner after being at Zion. Looks are deceiving. None of us had ever been served a meal on a sheet of paper before.
The day started early for me. I was up at 6:00 a.m. with designs on Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. It is 40 km out of Kanab and my plan was to be at the park by about 7:00 a.m. in time for sunrise. I was tired because every day seems to be a long one of being out late, later dinner and getting to be even later than that.
As the pictures above will attest, it is quite beautiful. I hiked out to the largest dune in the park, climbed to the top and perched myself to wait for sunrise. I spent an hour at the top of the dune and it was quite special to watch the sun fill the entire area with light as it rose over the far horizon. Everything in south Utah seems to have the iron oxide component that leads to the ruddish colour; the sun will paint different hues as it rises or sets and it gives and ethereal quality to the landscape.
I make it back to Kanab and NoNo has gone to Houston's with the group; there are two separate plans for the morning: John is going walking, Bob and Les are riding out to old western movie sets (for which Kanab is famous) and Sheila, Tom, Cathy, NoNo and I are going to Best Friends Animal Shelter. Now, lest you think this is just another S.P.C.A., don't be fooled. This is the location for the National Geographic show "Dog Town". Every week, you can see how domestic animals are rescued, rehabilitated and adopted out or maintained at the shelter. It is a no-kill shelter so they go to quite a lot of effort to support the animals, of which there are hundreds upon hundreds of dogs and cats, plus bunnies, horses, exotic birds, pot belly pigs and a few other animals. There are 400 hundred staff at Best Friends, though about 100 of those work off sight. It is an amazingly well organized, clean shelter for many, many animals that would probably have been otherwise euthanized. They even rescue animals from Canada. The shelter recently received a lot of worldwide attention because they took in several of Michael Vick's dogs (the football player with the dog fighting ring).
Amazingly, Tom, NoNo and I hardly cry at all, other than in the introductory video. We're tough as nails because we're bikers! We get a good tour, shop a bunch in the gift shop then finish by donating money. Somehow, I think they (at the shelter) knew that would happen.
We make our way back the 8 km to Kanab and lunch. We settle on a realistic looking checker patterned diner. It is mid afternoon so we are behind schedule but nobody is complaining because the food is good and it is starting to rain, so the motivation is slipping to follow through on our plan of visiting Zion National Park. Then the rain REALLY starts. It is POURING and the power is sporadic in the restaurant. NoNo and I decide to run for it because it is only a block to the hotel but conceivably, far enough to get really wet. Tom lights out first and it is coming down in sheets! We make it as far as the first coffee shop, where they have turned off the espresso machine to protect it from the lighting strikes. There is no coffee, so we keep running.
OK a couple of hours later. The rain has let up and the clouds are breaking. It's 4:00 p.m. and we are saddling up for Zion, except Tom, who is going to chill and catch up on some Zs. Les, NoNo and I are on bikes and the Eastern Contingent in the Suburban. Inside the park, the road it narrow and twisty, hard surface but loose, small rock chips all the red colour we see prevalent in Utah. There is also a modest amount of snow in the hills so despite it being sunny, it is on the cool side.
After touring the park, Les and I ride back to Kanab in the dark. It is freaky because it is dark and we can't see too much, especially at the corners. Les had surgery on his eyes so he is blind as a bat (at night). He generally navigates by radar anyway, so I don't know what he is whining about. I have to say, I find it a little tense.
When we get back to Kanab, it is late and there are not too many choices for dinner. However, we do find a place that serves "barbeque". For the uninitiated, in the U.S. "barbeque" does not mean "cooking a nice rib eye on a hot grill heated by charcoal briquettes". It means "stewing a cheap piece of pork in Coca-Cola, shredding it and serving it on a white bun with coated fries, deep fried butter and a milkshake". Supersized. We are apprehensive because this place looks more like the latter than the former. The food is served buffet-styled; it is late and they are about to close so there is not too much left at the trough, like two small pieces of corn on the cob that looks like it has been sitting in that milky water all day. Hopefully, all eight of us won't ask for corn. I opt for smoked turkey with two sides of baked potato and cole slaw. I get a cafeteria tray with a piece of paper on it and the turkey is served directly on the paper. What? No plate? But get this: the turkey is really good. NoNo has the pork dish served on paper and it is really good, too. |
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