UTAH, 2011: Weather...or Not

The weather here is just as dramatic and variable as the landscape! Or perhaps it's dramatic and variable because of the landscape. Whatever that relationship is, the weather has changed many times in many ways since we arrived 11 days ago. A cold front moved in Sunday night bringing sporadic rain showers throughout the day yesterday. By late afternoon, a few patches of blue sky were visible briefly, then obscured by billowing towers of ominously dark clouds.

We went 'up on the mountain' (to the plateau where the national park is located) for dinner at Ruby's Inn* last evening. We were surprised to see how much snow clung to the surrounding cliffs. It was beautiful but we're glad to be located in Tropic, 1500' lower in altitude.

The front is expected to move east during the day, leaving the meterological door open for clear skies and pleasant temps for the rest of the week--and our days off tomorrow and Thursday.

[*Ruby's Inn is a large tourist complex at the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park. It includes several motels, a campground, lots of gift shops, a restaurant, diner, pizza place,, a rodeo stadium, concessionaire sites for ATV tours, horseback rides, fishing trips, helicopter flights--basically anything you can convince people on vacation to spend money on is available there.

We went with our co-work-kampers, Keith and Sandy, and ate at the restaurant. We had a good meal of the 'down home' variety and a good time.]

These pictures were shot from our RV site, looking up into Bryce Canyon.