Our plan came together: get to the park early, but not too early. Let some of the campers vacate their site, we can get a campsite in the park.
Heading there from last night's campground...
A couple tunnels to go through before you get to the park entrance...
And here we are...
I showed my "Geezer Pass" at the entrance, the lady smiled, gave us the park newspaper, and said, "Enjoy your stay." She even recommended which campground we should check first, and suggested a loop where there were sites to accommodate our length.
We went directly to the North Campground, and took Loop A... we had our choice of a couple sites. Neither were particularly level - this is not a "RV resort." Our choice...
We first pulled into a site off the road... to far off-level. We walked the loop and picked the site above. In order to get level, we put some blocks under the low side and under the leveling jacks on that side...
It works. The automatic levelers were happy. No other set-up work to do, besides putting the slides out... there are no hook-ups. National Park dry camping at its finest. Oh, and for those of you who made fun of the glee I had when getting the "Geezer Pass" - it saved me $45 today... the $30 park entry fee, and half price camping... normally $30, but yours today for the low, low price of only $15!
Here's our "living on" side...
"Where are we?"
We put Izzy's lunch out and headed out. First stop: got to pay for the campsite...
We walked to the parking area on the way to the Visitors Center...
11:00 am, and it was nearly full; that view above is just a small portion of the parking. Our plan at the Visitors Center: look around and catch the park shuttle bus that takes you to different view points. At Grand Canyon National Park, the shuttle bus is the only way you can get around on the south rim - no personal cars are allowed. Here, you have the option... but, they warn you that parking can be very congested. They don't warn you that the wait for the shuttle bus can be long and congested, too. After a half hour of waiting, and no shuttle bus, we walked back to our campsite and got the scooters out.
Since it was getting close to lunch time, Joan made us a picnic lunch while I got the bikes ready. The campground host came by to check sites and said, "Those scooters will be a perfect way to get around the park - you will like that A LOT better than waiting for a shuttle bus."
Yep. We geared up and headed out. Like most of the National Parks, the speed limit is 45 mph or less through Bryce. If you aren't planning to hike the trails (and we weren't), this is one National Park that you can see in a day. (We used to hear people at Yellowstone and the Tetons talk about "doing the park" - or both parks - in a single day!
Since all of the view points are essentially on the east side of the one road through the park, we decided to ride to the far south end of the park, see Rainbow Point, then work our way back, with the view points on our side of the road. That road is only 18 miles, from the park entrance to the furthest view point. Judging by the cars on the road, most people visit the first 3 or 4 view sites, then call it a day.
Unlike many of the National Parks, the roads here are in good repair, and fun to ride...
Finally saw one of the shuttle buses...
Out to Rainbow Point...
Check out that elevation. No wonder I was out of breath making the walk to and from the Visitors Center. The scooters could feel the elevation, too: didn't have our usual blistering pull off the line. ;-)
Here is why people come to Bryce...
The views are breathtaking... no, that's not just the elevation. I will post more photos of the scenery, but I can see where it might all start looking the same; not the case in person. This park reminds me a bit of the Grand Canyon, on a slightly less "grand" scale, but even prettier because of the contrast with all the trees.
We had our picnic here, enjoying the view. Time to head back to the scoots; proof that I was here, too...
Then, back on the scoots...
We stopped at other view points along the way: Inspiration Point, Bryce Point, Sunset Point - lots of points.
Natural Bridge; a misnomer, it is an arch, not a bridge. Whatever you want to call it, it is impressive...
The people waiting for the shuttle bus...
Don't get me wrong - I think the shuttle bus is a good idea. But, it looks to me like they need a few more of them to keep things moving. These same people were still waiting, after we went to this view point, took a few shots, walked around a bit, and came back.
We did seem to start a "selfie" contest during all the picture taking. I won't bore you will all the entries. Well, one...
Good thing we were there early...
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