Well, another year and another trip to Bryce Canyon for Thanksgiving. This year it was Margaret, Mark Clark and Mark Salomon, along with me of course. Mark C. and Margaret rode together and Mark S. and I drove up together. As usual we stayed in the cozy little cottage at the Bryce Canyon Pines Motel. The weather this year was pretty good - nice and warm and sunny for the most part - so we did most of our hiking and traveling about in shorts with a warm top layer. I did the usual "shoo yourselves to Bryce so I can cook" turkey dinner with all the trimmings for Thanksgiving day - our first full day there - and if the comments are to be believed, it turned out quite tasty. This was the first year I did the salt-brine turkey and it was sooooo tender and juicy! Afterwards, we sat around the living room enjoying the warmth of the fire (all the wood you can burn) while playing Sequence and quaffing a multitude of Coronas and various other alcoholic beverages. It was a very nice Thanksgiving day filled with relaxation, beautiful sights, bountiful food, and the wonderful pleasure of being with good friends.

We had two newbies along for the ride this time - Mark S. and Margaret - so everything was a first time to be there/see that to them. I think they were impressed. Though Mark C. has been there before our Friday and Saturday destinations were new for him too, while for me, the hike to Upper Calf Creek Falls was new (though Mark C. and I had come pretty close to them the year before). All destinations were beautiful, and scenic, and great! The following words and pictures are but a muted testimony/representation of what we saw and experienced.

I hope you enjoy them as we did.