Road to Zion

To get to Zion, it turns out that you have to navigate across a vast high desert. Luckily, we’re happy to report that the natives are friendly, the roads are wide open, and the sights are as enigmatic as they are interesting. Indeed, the quest for getting to the promised land is as interesting as the place itself.

Humble homes are built into precariously poised boulders and trinket tables...

... historical markers can be found in the middle of what can only be described as nowhere ...

... and an abundance of wild-like buffalo rule the plains.

Make no mistake, it is a long and arduous journey. Weary from our travels, we stopped just shy of Zion at the Village of Many Nations.

Okay. It's an RV park. But the camp sites are funky, the biggest tepees have fire pits inside, the living history exhibits are fun, and Joshua, a really cool artist-in-residence, takes care of the place. In fact, Diane and I spent the better part of a day swapping travel tales with Joshua (he hiked the length of South America, for example), citing the works of favorite authors, discussing the business of publishing (his first novel has been picked up), and generally having a fine old time.

The truest gift of traveling with an improvised agenda without time constraints is the pause between destinations to linger over a few cups of coffee, soak in the old familiar warmth of the morning sun in a strange land and, if we’re lucky, make a new friend.

But the entrance to Zion itself, a mere 500 yards away, beckoned. We could wait no more.