Doing WDW on my own again, a February 2012 PTR

[aprilisis]

I love the photos of the scenery. I encountered a lot of those "pit toilets" when I drove cross country & I can honestly say I am NOT a fan of those, either!!!
Best Friends headquarters looks so pretty & you are so good to bring them all of those donations!! I love the room you stayed in!!
Oh- and I don't mind the geology talk- I find it fascinating!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I love the photos of the scenery. I encountered a lot of those "pit toilets" when I drove cross country & I can honestly say I am NOT a fan of those, either!!!
Best Friends headquarters looks so pretty & you are so good to bring them all of those donations!! I love the room you stayed in!!
Oh- and I don't mind the geology talk- I find it fascinating!

Thankfully Utah was the only state with the "pit toilets" since I was not a fan either. Certainly better than a port-a-potty, but that's not saying much

Best Friends Welcome Center is GORGEOUS! I think I have pictures coming the next update that show their outside deck, Koi pond, wishing garden, etc, that surround it. The whole property is gorgeous actually. And glad you liked the geology talk, I learned that while at Bryce, which will be in the update for October 20th. Someone on the tour asked so our guide told us. I thought it was interesting too!

Have a great trip!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

DISNEY UPDATE: So, I did it. I booked my flights this morning and will be using DME and WDW buses for all my transportation this trip. And I'm glad I waited until today to book my flights, as the prices went down overnight and I saved $21 by waiting until today to book them! The more I think about it the more excited I am to not be driving this time. I will probably still drive some of my trips, but I look forward to not having to get up at 1am to leave and all the stress of driving. This way I can sleep to normal time, not have to rush around in the morning and still get to WDW around the same time as I would have driving. And I will get back to MD earlier than I would driving back, while getting to sleep later! Now if the next 3 months could pass quickly, I will be happy

 

[mickeystoontown]

DISNEY UPDATE: So, I did it. I booked my flights this morning and will be using DME and WDW buses for all my transportation this trip. And I'm glad I waited until today to book my flights, as the prices went down overnight and I saved $21 by waiting until today to book them! The more I think about it the more excited I am to not be driving this time. I will probably still drive some of my trips, but I look forward to not having to get up at 1am to leave and all the stress of driving. This way I can sleep to normal time, not have to rush around in the morning and still get to WDW around the same time as I would have driving. And I will get back to MD earlier than I would driving back, while getting to sleep later! Now if the next 3 months could pass quickly, I will be happy

Woo hoo! $21 saved is $21 that can be spent at Disney! I wish it didn't cost so darn much for us to fly to Orlando. I'd love to be able to fly there in 2 hours instead of driving for 2 days.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Woo hoo! $21 saved is $21 that can be spent at Disney! I wish it didn't cost so darn much for us to fly to Orlando. I'd love to be able to fly there in 2 hours instead of driving for 2 days.

Yeah, for one person it pretty much equals out between flying costs and driving costs, so it makes sense for me, but not for multiple people. I like driving, but I think the whole driving 35+ hours each way to Utah and back was enough for at least a year.

 

[PittypatBR]

The scenery is awesome and your pictures are great, but I am tired just thinking about your trip! That would do me in. I'm glad you will be flying to WDW, as I think you deserve a rest!
Glad it was an uneventful trip, and I know they were glad to see you arrive with all those donations, but most of all yourself and your loving and willing heart.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

The scenery is awesome and your pictures are great, but I am tired just thinking about your trip! That would do me in. I'm glad you will be flying to WDW, as I think you deserve a rest!
Glad it was an uneventful trip, and I know they were glad to see you arrive with all those donations, but most of all yourself and your loving and willing heart.

I was tired too, believe me! I got a lot of sleep each night though which helped.

And thank you very much for the compliment!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

DAY 4 WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 19TH​

TAKING THE SANCTUARY TOUR​

So, on the morning of Wednesday the 19th I woke up around 7am, took a shower, ate some breakfast and then left for the 5 mile drive from the town of Kanab to Best Friends. I had a 9am tour scheduled, and you need to be there at least 30 minutes early for the video they show before the tour. I arrived around 8:20am and went to the video room to wait. It was packed, as the 9am tour that day was booked. Best Friends was having their annual No More Homeless Pets Conference in Las Vegas the 21-23rd, and a lot of people were there visiting the sanctuary before heading to Las Vegas for the conference.

So, confession time. I take the tour every time I visit BFAS (Best Friends Animal Sanctuary), and the last visit I actually did it twice, so this would be my fourth tour. Basically, on the tour you get in a van (or van/bus hybrid) with a tour guide driving you around the sanctuary grounds, telling you facts, pointing out areas to know and you stop at a cat building and a dog building along the way. At the cat/dog buildings you get to interact with some of the animals living in that building and ask caregivers questions. Despite having done it three other times, I love the tour. You can still learn new facts from your tour guide, and you visit a cat building and a dog building each time, so you get to play with some animals.

One of my friends is actually a tour guide, but she was off that day so I did a tour with Traci, who was fantastic. Since our group was so large they actually had to split us into two tours in the larger van-bus hybrids. I didn't get a picture of our vehicle, but here is one of the normal tour vans:

I will apologize in advance, because you are all basically going to get the tour via my photos and long explanations. I don't remember if I mentioned if before, but BFAS is situated on 3800 acres that they own, and the leave the surrounding 30,000 acres from the local BLM as a buffer zone so no hunting can take place close to the sanctuary and wildlife have a safe area, as there is a lot of hunting in Utah. The main road that runs through BFAS is about 5 miles long, and does a half loop. It starts and ends on Route 89, though the two points are 2.5 miles apart. So, it is big. For a first time visitor you really have to do the tour, or you will never know where to go. And the animal areas are all off the main road, so you have to know where to go to find the area you are volunteering in. Initial lesson aside, here we go! So, the tour started and Traci asked who had been to BFAS before, and it was only me and one other woman out of the 15 people in my group. As we started I got a couple of pictures of the scenery and one of the horse pastures we passed.

Now this next building, and the horses in the picture after it, are very important, so I'm going to explain why after the pictures:

That building is Riley's. It was built for a VERY special horse that used to live at Best Friends, named Riley Sue. She had a chronic infection in one of her back legs, so BFAS decided to try something radical, and amputated it. She got a prosthetic leg, only the third horse ever to get one. If you know a lot of about horses, their legs are their lives. They could never survive without all 4 legs they was dogs and cats can, due to their weight and lifestyles. Anyway, so shortly after getting the prosthetic leg they realized that Riley was having problems in the cold and rain with it, and a generous donor paid to have that building made for her, so she could have a large indoor area to live during the winter and rainy times, where she could still move around a lot, but by out of the elements. Sadly, Riley passed away before the building finished and never got to live there. But they named it in her honor, and shortly after it finished they took in two horses they really needed to live there, Bonnie and Clyde. Clyde is the black horse in the second picture. They both had canker, which is a horrible infection in their hooves. Bonnie healed quickly, but Clyde took over 2 years, and actually was just declared canker free last month! Due to the infection being in his hooves he had to live somewhere where he couldn't get dirt and grass up in there, making the infection worse. So, he lives in Riley's with his buddy Jake, who is the brown horse in the picture. Bonnie has been adopted, and that same woman may be adopting Clyde, but nothing is concrete yet. You will see more of Clyde and Jake later in my trip.

Anyway, so back to the tour. Here are a few more pictures of the horse pastures we passed at the beginning of the tour.

That first picture is the Disney Barn, and is used by the horse who live in that pasture. It was named that because back in the day Kanab was where a TON of westerns were filmed, and many were filmed right in Angel Canyon, where BFAS is today. The Disney movie One Little Indian was filmed there, and Disney built that barn for the movie. For some reason when they finished filiming they took down all the sets they built, except that barn, which they left there. No one knows why, but all BFAS had to do was put a new roof on it and the horses still use it today, decades after it was built.

Next up on the tour was a drive past Angel's Rest, the cemetary at BFAS.

The horse and pig areas of BFAS are in the lower canyon area, with the rest of the animal areas (dogs, cats, birds, bunnies and wild animals) all being in the upper canyon, where we headed next. Here is a view to the north from the upper canyon of BFAS.

Those cliffs in the distance are over 6000 feet above sea level, which is 1000 feet higher than BFAS upper canyon, which is just over 5000 feet above sea level.

Our first stop was the Dogtown Heights area of BFAS, which is one of the two areas where dogs live. It is actually the newer section, being only about 10 years old versus the Old Dogtown area, which has been around since BFAS started in 1984. We stopped at the area known as the Garden, and went into one of their buildings. Here are some of the dogs that live in there:

Liberty

Jingles (left) and Riley

Boomer (left) and Fancy

Teawee (left) and Azure

The dog buildings are called octogans, for the obvious reason that they are 8 sided. Six of those side have dog runs connected to them where a dog or group of dogs live in an indoor/outdoor run with their own indoor area and large outdoor play area. Dogs live in groups if they like other dogs, so they have playmates. It takes caregivers a long time to get new dogs into just the perfect run where they have friends and it doesn't upset any of the dogs already living there. So, we talked to the caregiver there and they let Teawee out to play with us.

He was adorable, and a ham! He went from person to person getting lots of attention. His caregiver told us about him and his 4 runmates. Teawee was actually adopted by that point, and was just waiting for that weekend to leave for his new home!

After playing with Teawee and talking to his caregivers we loaded back in the van and headed to CatWorld, the cat area of BFAS. We stopped at a building called Casa De CalMar, one of the 11 cat buildings in CatWorld.

The cat buildings are similiar to the dog ones in that the cats live in group settings, with large indoor rooms and they also have access to a large screened in outdoor area too, called a catio. Each building has 2-4 rooms with 10-20 cats per room, as well as a lobby area that also has cats living in it. Here are a few of the cats I petted while in Casa De CalMar for the tour:

Selma

Wheezey (being his normal silly self)

Madison, one of two cats that have lived in Casa De CalMar since it was built seven years ago:

Mr. Jimmers (who followed me all around the room wanting pets)

and Harlo

After we loaded back in the van we drove by (but did not stop in) The Bunny House

And Feathered Friends

We drove by Wild Friends too, but it is behind Feathered Friends so I couldn't get a picture. After that we drove back to the Welcome Center and were given a gift bag each, with a notepad, pen and some BFAS postcards.

UP NEXT: VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION, LUNCH AND MY FIRST VOLUNTEERING SPOT

 

[PhoenixStrength]

DAY 4 WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 19TH, PART 2​

VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION, LUNCH AND MY FIRST VOLUNTEERING SPOT​

It was around 10:30am at that point, and I had a volunteer orientation to get my volunteer schedule at 11am at the Welcome Center, so I just hung out there for a while taking pictures while I waited.

Here is the Koi pond and Wishing Garden out front:

The deck off the Welcome Center:

And a few pictures of the Gift Shop in the Welcome Center:

By then it was 11am and I had my volunteer orientation. It only took about 15 minutes while they went back over the rules with me and gave me the schedule for where I would be volunteering. After that I went to Angel Village, the lunch area at the sanctuary. Six days a week (Mon-Sat) they offer a vegetarian lunch buffet for volunteers and employees for only $5. Here are a few pictures of the building:

I got a salad and some fruit and ate out on the outside deck, which sits on the edge of the Upper Canyon with gorgeous views.

I had a couple of women join me at my table and we talked for a while. They were part of a senior citizen tour group that was there for a few days volunteering and were asking me some questions since I knew more than they did about Best Friends.

After lunch I headed to Dogtown HQ for my first volunteer area. While on my drive I saw the first mule deer of my trip. During the fall and winter they are plentiful in lower Utah, having migrated down from northern Utah.

Once at Dogtown HQ I watched the dog safety video and then went to the desk to decide which area to volunteer in. They asked if I wanted to help with the Puppy Preschool class first, then come back after to volunteer in an adult area, and I said YES! Who wouldn't want to help with little puppies!?! I have done the puppy preschool class the past two trips, but not in the new puppy building that was just finished last year, and not with the new teacher. The former Puppy Class leader was Don, a sweet old man who passed away last year. I miss him, as he was such a friendly, likeable man and loved the puppies.

So, I headed over to the new Puppy buildings. One has the new puppies that are still under quarantine:

And the other has the older puppies that can interact with volunteers and the puppy preschool area.

I was happy to see a picture of Don with some puppies in the lobby as a tribute to him. He passed away just a few weeks before the new buildings were finished and never got to see them completed.

The new puppy preschool teacher is Tamara, who is a dog trainer. She is a wonderful person and a friend of mine, via Facebook. I had never met her in person, but when she walked into the class she recognized me right away. Puppy Preschool is very important for the adoptions of puppies at BFAS. Before they started Puppy Preschool about 50% of the puppies adopted were returned to BFAS within a year. Since it started only 3% are returned. During class they teach them basic commands as well as getting them used to noises they will hear in a home that might scare them. Things like the TV, blender, vacuum, doorbell, etc that could be scary to a puppy the first time they hear them. That way they are more confident when they go to their homes and are less likely to act out and be returned.

My puppy for the class was Traveler, a 9 week old Border Collie/Springer Spaniel mix who was found all alone on the side of the road. He was a trip, not really afraid of anything and very sweet. It was his first class.

There were also 3 Chihuahua brothers in the class, this being their second time in Puppy Preschool class. Their names are Sterling, Seymour and Sigmund.

Sterling

Seymour

and Sigmund

They were a little shy at first, especially Sigmund, but quickly warmed up. At the end of class they were all allowed to play together.

The woman in orange in that picture is Tamara. The other woman was another of the volunteers. I think she had Seymour. And I just found out that Traveler was adopted last week!

The class lasted about 30 minutes, then we all headed back to Dogtown HQ to find out where we would volunteer for the next 2 hours.

UP NEXT: I HATE PUPPY MILLS!

 

[mickeystoontown]

The views from the sanctuary are absolutely gorgeous! I can't believe how well kept and nice the sanctuary is. I don't see how in the world those volunteers keep from wanting to adopt all the cute puppies who come through. I'd want them all!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

The views from the sanctuary are absolutely gorgeous! I can't believe how well kept and nice the sanctuary is. I don't see how in the world those volunteers keep from wanting to adopt all the cute puppies who come through. I'd want them all!

It is gorgeous around that area, which is one of the reasons i love going there so much. And they workd hard to keep it clean, as do the vunteers

You do want to keep all of the puppies, dogs, cats, kittens, horses, pigs......but you know you can't so you just play with them a lot! I will be finishing the rest of Wednesday tjis afternoon and you will see all the cute dogs I worked with.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

DAY 4 WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 19TH, PART 3​

WHY I HATE PUPPY MILLS​

So, I'm going to start this section with a little lesson on puppy mills before I get into the rest of my afternoon, and you will see why. If you don't know what a puppy mill is, it is a "breeder" who has usually dozens of dogs of different breeds, kept in tiny cages their entire lives, with almost no human interaction and no vet care. The only time they interact with people is when they are fed or moved cages to be bred. They are never bathed, given vaccines, pet, brushed and a lot of them live their whole lives like that. And those are the parents of the adorable puppies you see in pet stores. It is an absolute proven fact that 98% of puppies sold in pet stores come from puppy mills. Not just big chain stores either, but even the little Mom and Pop places. Not all the owners of these places know it, as they usually get their puppies through a dealer who lies to them. And even the ones that say they personally visit the owners are lying, they come from these puppy mills. And 99% of the time when the dogs are no longer good for breeding they kill them, either by shooting them or drowning them. It is horrifying stuff. I was going to put a few pictures of the cages of dogs, but I didn't want to upset anyone, but you can look it up easily on Google.

Anyway, I told you all of this for this reason. When I got back to Dogtown HQ I was asked to help Meaghan in an area called Old Admissions. They told me they had gotten in 12 dogs last night from a puppy mill save, and she was overwhelmed. So, I walked over to Old Admissions to be put to work. Old Admissions is not like the octagon buildings. It is basically a converted car port that used to just be used to house dogs as soon as they arrived until they were seen by the vet and then moved to another area. Now, it is a semi-permanent area, meaning dogs live here for a few days until they can get into another building. There are no indoor-outdoor runs, just indoor kennels and then some fenced in small yards behind the building where you can walk dogs out to for some outside time. Meaghan had just finished getting all the dogs outside and the first thing she asked me to do was re-write their board. They have a board there listing all the dogs staying there, their sex, breed(s) and where they came from. Since I have neat handwriting she asked me to re-write it to add the 12 new dogs to it. She gave me the charts to work from and I worked on that while she tried to figure out how to get 22 dogs in 18 runs. Here is the finished product:

While I was writing the board they got another dog in, DD. His story is sad, but he is a sweetheart. He belonged to an older couple who lived in a nursing home where they were allowed to have pets. They both passed away, and despite several other people who lived there offering to take him, the management sent him to the county shelter to be put down. Thankfully he was not put down and Best Friends stepped in and offered to take him in. He is a Great Pyranees, and weighed 120 lbs at check-in. For some reason I can't find my pictures of him, but once I do I will add it in here ETA: Here is DD!

By then we found out that one of the dogs from Old Admissions, named Illusion, was getting moved to another area, which freed up a run, and another building had an extra run for the night due to a dog being on a sleepover, so they took one of Old Admissions dogs to stay there for the night to help free up runs. I cleaned up all the runs, mopping and filling the water buckets, then organized the office area for Meaghen so she could find everything she needed.

Meaghen said she had to just get their dinner ready before we brought everyone in for the night (it was about 3:45pm at that time) and asked me to take Danish for a walk while she did that. Danish is a cute little pit bull mix who recently came (along with 7 other dogs) from a "rescue" that was closing in Arizona. The "rescue" was going to kill all the dogs instead of trying to find people to take them until someone found out and shelters stepped up to take all 17 of the dogs, including the 8 that came to BFAS. Danish had to have one of her hind legs amputated right after she came in (which was only a week prior to this) due to it being badly damaged, and probably had been for about a year, hence me calling the place she came from a "rescue".

Anyway, Danish was a sweetie and loved her walk. She was already doing great with only 3 legs, probably because she had only been using 3 legs for a year and the 4th one was more in the way by that time then helping anyway. Here are a couple pictures from our walk. She still has the e-collar on so she couldn't chew on the stitches.

By the time we got back Meaghan was done with feeding and we started getting leashes and bringing everyone in to their runs. We were able to get everyone a run by doubling up a couple runs with dogs that came in together from the puppy mills. Here are the dogs, and the backgrounds on those I know:

Prada, American Eskimo dog that came from the puppy mill. She was shy, but sweet.

Apricot, a female Boxer, found wondering around in the town of Kanab and no owner was found. She was super friendly and loved attention.

Sookie, a pit mix who was found tied up to the Dogtown gates one morning when the employees arrived. She is a little crazy and cannot be handled by volunteers, so I had to take the picture from outside the run.

Decker, a Corgi/Shepherd mix that came from the Puppy Mill. He is a sweet, young boy.

Scruffy. I don't know anything about him besides he is a Lab mix and very sweet.

Pout (left), a Havenese, and Marvin, a Mini Poodle, both from the Puppy Mill. They hadn't gotten to the groomers yet, since they had just arrived hours before, and were dirty and gross from the cages they were kept in. And they were also both terrified of people, as most puppy mill dogs are.

Mr. Biggins and Jujubee, two Jack Russell terriers

Lois Lane, a boxer that came from another shelter that couldn't seem to find her a home.

Perez, an Australian Cattle dog who was found wandering around on BFAS property with no collar or tags. He is super friendly and sweet.

Magdalene, a Shih Tzu from the puppy mill. They found out when she saw the vet that morning that she is pregnant, and pretty far along too. She was shy, but not as afraid as some of the others.

Lilac, a Mini Schnauzer also from the puppy mill, and also found to be pregnant, though not as far along as Magdalene. She was so scared of people that she froze while being checked and just didn't move. It broke my heart. She was in a run with Magdalene.

Ponder, a Havanese. Her sister is actually Pout, who I already posted. She also came from the puppy mill and was actually sharing a run with Prada. She was another that was absolutely terrified of people.

And finally, Cashmere. She is an Old English Sheepdog, that also came from the puppy mill, along with a male named Bentley (who I did not get a picture of as he was at the vet getting checked all afternoon). It is somewhat obvious from this picture, but she was terrified. I sat in her run for a while trying to get her to take treats but she wouldn't let me close enough to reach her. She would just run away and start shaking from fear. I finally just tossed them to her and she ate them up, which is good since she was so underweight.

By that time it was around 4:30pm, which is the end of the afternoon volunteer shift. I said bye to Meaghan and headed back into town to the Studio. I made myself some pasta for dinner and worked on packing my stuff back up, since I would be moving to a cottage on BFAS property the next day!

NEXT TIME: BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

DAY 5 THURSDAY OCTOBER 20TH​

BRYCE CANYON NATIONAL PARK​

Thursday morning I woke up around 6am, took a quick shower and drove over to McDonalds for some breakfast. Then I headed north on Route 89 toward Bryce Canyon National Park. I had never been there before, but have been told by several people that it was gorgeous. It would take about 1.5 hours to get there, and I had a 10am appointment for a horse back tour of the park. I was told to be there by 9:20am so I could check-in and sign the release forms. As I drove out of Kanab around 7:30am the sun was just rising.

I drove for a little over an hour, enjoying the nice scenery around me along the way.

Then I saw the sign for the turn-off for Bryce Canyon National Park.

On the way to Bryce you drive through a small tourist town, then Dixie National Forest. I got a couple nice pictures going through Dixie, including one of the tunnels through rock that you pass through along the way.

After about 15 miles I came across this sign:

Bryce has a $25 entrance fee, so I paid that and then headed to the Welcome Center to use the restroom and look at the map to find the Lodge, where I had to check-in for the horse-back tour. Here is the Bryce Welcome Center:

I only had to drive another mile to get to the Lodge, and I checked in and paid for the tour. By that time it was around 9:20am. The woman working the desk told me to move my car over to an adjacent parking lot and follow the path with the "Horses and Mules" sign. Oh, yeah, I was told at the desk that there would be a total of 8 people on the tour, and I was the third one to check in already.

Once I made my way over to the corral I saw the couple that had already checked in. I got a picture of some of the horses and mules in the pen.

We chit-chatted for a while, and they told me they were visiting the area from San Francisco and were also new to Bryce. Some more people showed up, including some last minute add-ons that wound up bringing the total to 12, enough to cause them to split the tour into 2 groups so the guide could see everyone in his group. The cowboys spoke to us each and assigned us a horse or mule according to our horse riding experience, or lack thereof. I have been riding horses since I was 2, so I got Sammie. She was a pretty Bay colored Quarterhorse, and pretty well-behaved. Here are a couple shots of just her head, since I was up on her

I was put in the second group, as the first horse behind the guide, Dave, and his mule Gator. Here they are:

Dave was a great guy, and I really liked him. Also in my group was an older man right behind me who was a photographer, a woman behind him who got on my nerves (more on her later) and then the couple from San Francisco. It was the first time on that tour for all of us. Our tour was a 2 hour one, that started at the top of the canyon and would go all the way down to the canyon floor, a descent of 1000 feet, and then back up to the corral.

The tour started with the scariest part, with a steep path downward that was not very wide. I actually was not scared since I've done the tour at Zion National Park (run by the same company as the Bryce one) and that one had similar steep, small paths. The important thing on the tour was to keep the horses/mules no more than 3-4 feet behind the one in front of you, so the guide could see and hear everyone. Well, annoying woman in the middle was terrified and kept pulling the reins on her mule, making her slow down or stop. The guide would then call the mule and she would trot back up to the group, causing the woman to freak out. The guide explained to her many times that her mule (BlueJay) had been doing this for over 10 years and knew the trails very well but the woman was convinced she was going to go over the edge and was not happy. I don't understand people that sign up and pay a good amount of money for tours without knowing what they are getting into, or doing them KNOWING what they are getting into knowing they will be afraid.

Irregardless, I was enjoying the tour. When we got to the bottom of the first steep path they had another guide there taking pictures of everyone as they walked past. At the end of the tour you could buy one if you wanted, which I did. It was only $6 for a 5x7 and the picture was nice!

Along the walk down Dave told us all about Bryce and the formations we were seeing. He was also the one that gave me the geology lesson on what makes the rocks the colors they are. He really was very nice and had been doing this for years. Since I was right behind him we talked a lot when he wasn't giving out Bryce information. He knew the horse I had rode in Zion and was giving me an update on him, since that was 2 years ago, and also told me about the tours he did when the park tours were closed (they only run April through October due to weather).

I will put the name of the formations that I remember and why they are called that as I post them. Here are some of them on the way down the trail.

Boat Mesa (don't know why it is called Boat, but it is the largest Mesa in the area)

HooDoos (the name of that type of rock formation)

Another view of the Boat Mesa

Mermaid Rock (due to the hole on the right side, which kinda looks like a Mermaid)

Bristle Cone Pines, which are common in Bryce and the area.

Seal Castle. If you look at the rock on the far right it kinda looks like a seal. The farthest right is it's tail, then going left is it's body and then neck and head.

Another view of Boat Mesa

This is called The Sinking Ship, and is right in front of Boat Mesa. You can see it looks kinda like it is sinking, hence the name.

UP NEXT: MORE BRYCE CANYON!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

DAY 5 THURSDAY OCTOBER 20TH, PART 2​

MORE BRYCE CANYON​

We kept descending into Bryce Canyon, and I got tons more pictures along the way.

Here is a close up of the seal in Seal Castle:

Generic view around Bryce Canyon, where you can see how much more of a forest it is as you go further down:

This is Falling Rock, because each year a little more erodes away at the bottom and it leans more and more over the trail

But Dave put our worries at ease by pointing out their solution at the bottom that was keeping it from falling on us:

Yes, that is a regular stick they put there!

Here are some more HooDoos

This is called Hogs Back, since the sand is pinkish and it is shaped like a Hogs Back. It is one of the scarier parts to cross. All the rest of the ride you only have a drop-off on one side, but on here you have them on both sides, so you can't just look to the side if you are scared of heights. Scared woman was surprisingly quiet here, but she may have just been to afraid to talk! That is the first tour group that you see in this picture.

The Queens Garden, which is to the right as you go over Hogs Back.

A couple more generic Bryce shots, with Dave and Gator in one of them:

In that second one with Dave and Gator you can see the stacked rocks to his left. They are just barely balancing there. Here is a closer view of one:

Looking down to the bottom of the canyon, where it is a forest

And then at the bottom finally!

You can see the dead trees in that pictures, especially the one up front. They aren't dead from weather, they are dead from lightning! They say that one person dies every year in Bryce from getting struck by lightning, and there are well over 100 tree strikes every July and August, during the main storm season.

Dave actually took us on an extra path, as we were making good time and kept catching up to the group in front of us. So we got to ride around the bottom of the canyon for an extra 15 minutes.

A dried out river bed:

And another:

The rivers are only full during spring from the melting snow. By summer they have dried up again.

Around here Dave told us the story of Bryce Canyon. It is named after Ebenezer Bryce, who had a farm in the nearby town of Tropic in the late 1800s (starting around 1874 I think). He used to let his cattle and horse roam in the canyon as pastures, though he admitted that all the trees and bushes made it hard to find a lost cow. When it became a national park in the 1920s they named it after him.

There are lots of wildlife species that live in the park. I believe the Welcome Center said 100-some species of mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles. We only saw a few birds along the way. The mule deer were all south (in Kanab!), the black bears, bobcats and cougars stay away from the trails, and the reptiles stayed away that day (thankfully, since venomous rattlesnakes are common in the park!).

After our tour of the bottom of the canyon we started back up. The first area we went through is named after a tour guide who passed away 5 years ago, and had been working the trails since they started doing the rides. I can't remember what he name was, but the rocks were gorgeous in that area:

As we passed the Falling Rock we double checked to make sure the stick was still there holding it up.

Some people HooDoos

UP NEXT: FINISHING UP, DRIVING BACK AND A PIGGY SLEEPOVER!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

DAY 5 THURSDAY OCTOBER 20TH, PART 3​

FINISHING UP, DRIVING BACK AND A PIGGY SLEEPOVER!​

When we got back up to Seal Castle Dave had us stop and took pictures of us with our own cameras, so we could also have a free picture. You can see his mule Gator in the background of my picture.

The Yellow Submarine:

And some more shots of the Canyon as we finished our ride up:

Once we finished the ride back to the corral we got to look at our pictures, and I bought a copy of mine. Then I walked back to my car and drove to the Welcome Center. I used the restroom and bought some postcards that I sent to my family that showed the gorgeous views in Bryce.

I then drove out of Bryce and headed back through Dixie National Forest, taking some pictures of course!

I stopped in the tourist town on the way back and found several things I bought as Christmas gifts for family members. After I finished shopping I drove back to Kanab. I forgot to mention earlier that I was checking out of the Studio that morning, so I had all of my luggage in my trunk! By the time I got back to Kanab it was almost 3, so I went to the Best Friends Welcome Center to check into my cottage on the property.

I was able to get my key about 20 minutes early and got settled into Cottage 6. Here are some pictures of the inside of the cottage:

And the view of and from the deck off the back of the cottage:

Those are the horse pens right in front of the deck, and the Horse Haven/Piggy Paradise shared HQ is right passed those. After I got unpacked I walked down to Piggy Paradise to get my piggy sleepover for the night! You can do sleepovers with approved dogs, cats and even two of the pigs. I was getting Sprocket for the night, as Cherry (the other sleepover approved pig) could not do sleepovers in my cottage since she can't get up stairs, and won't use a ramp. The Pig Manager Yvonne got Sprocket's dinner and breakfast for the next morning together and I walked them back along with Sprocket. She drove the van around to the cottage while we walked to set up the ramp for him and bring the rest of his things, including his dishes, blankets, rug runners (pigs have a hard time walking on tiled floor) and tent to sleep in.

Once Sprocket and I got up to the cottage (pigs walk at their own pace, thank you very much! ) we went in and Yvonne and I set everything up, and then she left. Sprocket quickly let me know he wanted dinner by tossing his empty food bowl around. Here he is giving me a pitiful, "I'm so hungry" look.

Isn't he cute!?! I fed him his lettuce, cranberry and pea mixture for dinner, then made my soup for dinner. Then we hung out for the evening. I got a few more pictures of him, of course!

In the second one he is laying down for belly rubs, which pigs love! He really was a good boy, though a little mischievous. He has a Kong ball toy that you put his treats in (sweet potato chips) and he plays with it just like a dog does, rolling it around to get the treats to fall out.

Every once in a while he would get the ball stuck behind some furniture where he couldn't reach it. Most of the time I noticed right away and got it for him. But, if I didn't notice he took to knocking chairs over or flipping the heat vents out of place until it got my attention. I told you he was mischievous!

As soon as it got dark out (around 7pm) he went into his tent, got comfy with his blankets, and went to sleep. I went to bed a couple of hours later and we both slept through the night!

NEXT TIME: VOLUNTEERING WITH THE PIGS!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Hello everyone! Hope you are all having a better week than I am. A good friend of mine lost her job on Wednesday for a reason that had nothing to do with her job performance, and everything to do with office politics, and right after she found out her dog has lyphoma. So, I'm sad for her, and I woke up yesterday with a sore throat, and by last night I was very sick. I feel horrible today, and am hoping it's not pnuemonia.

Small Disney update: I added a 50 minute Swedish massage at Saratoga to my reservation, which I'm looking forward too! And I'm considering, maybe, moving from POP Century to a moderate, though I'm only just starting to consider it and don't know which one I would move to if I do change it.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Before I comment on the Bryce Canyon tour and your piggy babysitting, I wanted to say that I hope you get to feeling better soon. It sucks being sick around the holidays. I have always worked in a place that has very few employees so I don't have to deal with much office politics. Thank goodness! I hope that your friend is able to find another job soon so that she can put her mind back on caring for her precious pet.

Now, on to happier stuff. The horseback tour of Bryce Canyon sounds so interesting and something that I would like to do. You know I'm afraid of heights but I think I could deal with it for views like that. Too bad the lady in the middle put a bit of a damper on things in the beginning.

I know that I've said it a couple of times already but can't help but say it again....the sanctuary is so nice and neat and beautiful. We have absolutely nothing like that anywhere near here.

It certainly sounds like your sleepover with Sprocket was fun. He is one big pig!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Before I comment on the Bryce Canyon tour and your piggy babysitting, I wanted to say that I hope you get to feeling better soon. It sucks being sick around the holidays. I have always worked in a place that has very few employees so I don't have to deal with much office politics. Thank goodness! I hope that your friend is able to find another job soon so that she can put her mind back on caring for her precious pet.

Now, on to happier stuff. The horseback tour of Bryce Canyon sounds so interesting and something that I would like to do. You know I'm afraid of heights but I think I could deal with it for views like that. Too bad the lady in the middle put a bit of a damper on things in the beginning.

I know that I've said it a couple of times already but can't help but say it again....the sanctuary is so nice and neat and beautiful. We have absolutely nothing like that anywhere near here.

It certainly sounds like your sleepover with Sprocket was fun. He is one big pig!

Thank you very much! I hate being sick, but I'm glad I am sick now instead of a few days from now. I should feel better by Thanksgiving and the busiest week of the year for my job. And thank you for the wishes for my friend.

The tour of Bryce is spectacular! The fear of heights probably would only bug you at the beginning at the steep drop, but after that you really aren't looking that far down, maybe 50 feet and it's usually only on one side, so you could always look to the other side. If you ever get out there you should do it!

The sanctuary is beautiful. There is nothing and nowhere else like it. It is surrounded by incredible, beautiful scenery and is a great place. If you go into a regular shelter you feel bad for the animals there, but not at Best Friends. At BFAS all the animals have space, friends of their species (if they want and like them), great caregivers and they never put any animals down, except in extreme cases where their health is too bad to help them. There have been cats that lived there for 18 years before being adopted!

Sprocket was so much fun on our sleepover! I hope to get the next day's update done tonight or tomorrow, and you will see a bit more about him for our morning.

 

[Merida]

Joining in! I still have a couple of pages of updates to read, but had to comment on your Colorado leg of your Utah trip. I live in northern Colorado and have definitely driven on that highway you were on (except we use it to go to Aspen; there's an easier way to get to Utah from our position, we pretty much drive around the mountains). I love seeing all those old mining towns - they're so lonesome and pretty. Did you get to see any mountain goats? We can usually catch a glimpse of a few, but you were probably a little too late. And we have coyotes everywhere! They aren't so bad once you get used to them. There are some that run through our neighborhood every now and again.

on your geology lesson. Now if only we can teach people the difference between the Flatirons and the Rockies... I love the red rocks out here, they're so gorgeous.

One of our foster kittens (we have three right now) is having a blast watching your pictures load. He loves them.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Joining in! I still have a couple of pages of updates to read, but had to comment on your Colorado leg of your Utah trip. I live in northern Colorado and have definitely driven on that highway you were on (except we use it to go to Aspen; there's an easier way to get to Utah from our position, we pretty much drive around the mountains). I love seeing all those old mining towns - they're so lonesome and pretty. Did you get to see any mountain goats? We can usually catch a glimpse of a few, but you were probably a little too late. And we have coyotes everywhere! They aren't so bad once you get used to them. There are some that run through our neighborhood every now and again.

on your geology lesson. Now if only we can teach people the difference between the Flatirons and the Rockies... I love the red rocks out here, they're so gorgeous.

One of our foster kittens (we have three right now) is having a blast watching your pictures load. He loves them.

I'm glad you are joining in! And how cool that you know Route 70. I didn't get to see any mountain goats this time, though I did while driving through that area in 2007. I thought the coyote was cool, it just surprised me!

I know a lot of people think that Utah is still the Rockies. I had to explain to more than one person that it is part of the Colorado Plateau, not the Rockies. And I'm not even from the area but knew that.

I don't have any foster kittens at the moment, the four I had have all gone to their forever homes. Glad your foster kittens love the pictures