Just look at him...

It should be good, right? One would think that any movie with handsome Mr. Depp and dear Christian Bale would be downright delicious, yes?

eh...

A different kinda vampire...

The ones in this book are SCARY. Seriously scary. No romantic, slightly dangerous ones like those belonging to Sookie or Bella. These guys are bad. If you liked Pan's Labyrinth and/or The Orphanage (both good Guillermo Del Toro films), I think you'd like this one. Sadly it is the first in a trilogy, and the next book isn't due until 2010. Sookie doesn't show up again for a few months. I need a new obsession. Any suggestions?

Cedar Breaks National Monument

Our last stop was Cedar Breaks. We wrongfully assumed that we could do both hikes that day, but I think we (read "I") were just hiked out. The canyon was beautiful--hoodoo formations on the floor and lots of wildflowers. The National Park Service is testing a new GPS video tour, so we tried that out, too, and that was pretty cool. There was one section with a choir from the 60's singing "inspirational" songs. We played that as we hiked...perhaps we didn't get very far because we were laughing too hard!?

Great trip. I'll post/write about our accommodations tomorrow.

Angel's Landing hike

Angel's Landing is the hike to brag about at Zion, and we made it! The photo without us in it, is the peak from the trailhead. The pic with both of us is at the very tip-top of the landing. At some points, the trail is only 3 feet wide though in most places there are chains drilled into the rockface to hold on to. The individual shots are at random points along the trail, but you can see how high up we were. Today is a lazy day. We're headed to Cedar City for the Shakespearean Festival and a good steak dinner. Tomorrow is Cedar Breaks.

Zion National Park

We hiked the Hidden Canyon trail (super high-up with chains to hold) yesterday and did The Narrows (80% in water) today. I am glad that I experienced both hikes, but I enjoyed the canyon hike much more. We waded through some pretty rough waters in the Narrows. It was certainly a workout!

I cannot believe the majesty of Zion. What a beautiful place to spend time outdoors.

Television

I LOVE watching tv. I relish the time when nobody is home, and I can watch a Lifetime movie, or a Clean House marathon, or, don't even get me started, What Not to Wear. Scott and I would usually agree on an episode of Ghost Hunters in the evening by way of compromise. He would not have to watch anything on the Style channel, if I didn't have to watch anything on the Hitler (er...History) channel.

Well, my friends, we have been without a direct tv connection since June 8, and, you know what? It hasn't been THAT bad. You see, we had new shingles put on the roof in preparation for the solar panels, which are now up. The dish will go back up eventually, but I must say that escaping from SpongeBob Squarepants, Drake and Josh, et. al. has been quite a relief.