For the Beauty of the Earth

Yvonne and I had a great time this past week with Eric and a few of his friends in St. George for Eric's Senior Trip. We went down Weds night and came back yesterday. It was hot (well maybe not to the Vegas Muaina's) but to me 108 is hot. One of the highlights of the trip was Friday when we went to Zion National Park. It has been a while since I have been there and boy it is a beautiful part of the earth. It was so much fun hiking and enjoying the beautiful canyons. What fabulous colors in the rock. We hiked up to the Upper Pools which is an area of water about the size of Dicks pond, only much cleaner. It was so refreshing to get in and cool off. The highlight was when I about got in a fight with a stranger who was butting into our business. The sign there said "warning no swimming", well i think that meant that there could be hazards if you swim NOT that you couldn't swim. So Eric and his friends were in the water messing around along with other people we didn't know, but Eric's group was IN the water where the others were knee deep. Well some well meaning (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt) environmentalist came over and said, "Can't you guys read?" and I said, "whats the problem?" to which he replied, "The sign says not to swim, can't you read?" I said, "they aren't swimming, they are just messing around in the water" (they technically weren't swimming) He said," you know what it means" and I said,"does it say anywhere that they can't get in the water?" In which he replied " don't be a smart ___, you know what it means" I said "does it say anywhere not to get in the water, if you want them out then you better tell everyone else that is in the water to get out too" He said "well maybe I should" and I replied "then maybe you should stay up here all day so that you can patrol the water", at which point he called me a smart ___ again and walked toward me like he wanted a fight. Being the cool head that I am I walked away before anymore happened. All the other people there thanked me for what I did, so I don't feel to bad about being a smart ___!
After that experience we went up and hiked the narrows for a while. We hiked up the river for a ways and it was spectacular. For those that haven't done it you need to go. One suggestion though, hike early!
Stephanie is going down this week to Havasupai AZ. I don't know if any of you have been there but i understand it is amazing. It is not far from Kingman AZ and it is by an Indian village where there is no automobile service. So the Indians have their supplies either sent in by helicopter or brought in by mules. From there you hike about 8 miles into an area that is lush with water and vegetation and beautiful waterfalls with blue water. There are about 3 or 4 different waterfalls within a few miles of each other. I am excited to have her tells us about it and see her pics