Not every day on vacation goes as you plan, and this was one of those days.  Rain was forecast most of the afternoon, so our goal was to get to the park early.  We were very pleasantly surprised with the breakfast at the hotel.  There was a pancake maker just like the one we used at the Bavarian Lodge in South Dakota, and the girls loved it.  There were also several kinds of omelets, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, cereal, fruit, pastries, etc.  The staff was also very friendly and helpful.

After filling up on breakfast, we waited a while, hoping for the rain to clear up.  During that time, I walked a half mile up the street to a grocery store to look at getting some food to go for our lunch that day, but didn’t have much luck.  Finally, around 11, we made our way into the park, where we parked by the visitor’s center and boarded a bus.  The buses weren’t too full today because of the on-and-off sprinkles.  We took the bus to the last stop, Temple of Sinawava, where we planned to take the one mile long Riverside Walk, which follows the Virgin River, and stops at the beginning of The Narrows, a trail that goes through the canyon via the river itself.  We walked the trail on our first trip in 2012, as its flat and an easy hike.  Before starting out, we got some “then and now” pictures that recreated one of my favorite pictures of myself and the oldest when she was 6 months old on our first trip.  We’d only gotten about a quarter of the way down the trail when we came across a large puddle that the oldest decided to try to jump across, getting her feet and shoes soaked.  We made the decision to turn back soon after, as everyone was getting cranky, though we stopped along the banks of the river for some pictures of the group and waterfalls.

2011 and 2018:

Even though we didn’t do much in the park because of the rain, it was clear everyone was done for the time being.  We headed back to the hotel, where we got naps and were lazy for several hours.  I got hungry while waiting for everyone to wake up, so I grabbed some chips and salsa and a couple pints at Jack’s Sports Grill, which shared the parking lot with the hotel.

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After everyone was up and ready to move again, we headed to Zion Pizza and Noodle Company, where Laura and I split veggie pizza and Thai Chicken Pizza, and the girls had their usual of pepperoni and black olives.  We headed back to the hotel and let the girls run around in the grass for a bit, while I enjoyed conversation with other guests by the fire.  I talked to a woman who is from Victoria, Canada, which we visited during our 2014 trip to Olympic National Park, along with a woman who is a pilot for FedEx, and another who is a flight attendant for Alaska Airlines.  Small world!  Overall, it was a fairly dreary day, so hard to do much outside, and everyone was a bit cranky.  Not every day on vacation can be perfect.