Rainbow Point

After the walk, we took Heidi Anne to the Bryce visitors' center. For the longest time visitors centers seemed like glorified gift shops to me. 

We've discovered there are more to the centers then stuffed animals. They are practically mini museums complete with displays, fun hands on activities for kids, maps,  park information, (letting the rangers know I am around), and a little "passport" station. Every visitor center has a special stamp and you can track how many parks you have been to (like an international passport).

After we played at the visitors' center, we found a Ranger who informed us that there aren't many (if any) trails I can hike in the Canyon. He suggested we take the scenic road to the top of the canyon and stop at as many view points as possible to get the best (safest) visit to the canyon.

We started our drive to the top of the canyon, Rainbow Point. How high is this place, you may ask. Oh, the elevation is only 9,115 feet above sea level, that's all. The drive was breathtaking (on many levels). 

Again, it took us over an hour to drive 18 miles. What can I say, we enjoy the journey to the destination, not the destination itself.

It was amazing to see the canyon from such a high vantage point. 

Heidi Anne wanted to sit on a post to see better. So twice in a 3-hour period, I watched my little girl (at 9, 118 feet this time) be awestruck at the landscape. 

I wasn't worried about her falling this time, there was a little strip of ground just under the ledge. I have a feeling a mom must have designed the layout for this viewpoint.

 We decided to have lunch at Rainbow Point. We let Heidi Anne pick the table, she analyzed the five tables and found one to her liking. 

While Dada made sandwiches' Heidi Anne went to explore the woods a bit more. 

As we ate she chatted on and on about the things we had seen so far, what a pretty place this is, and if we were going back home after lunch. 

After all, we got there so quickly. It took us a few minutes, but Char figured out what she meant. To her the drive down to Bryce had only taken 2 hours, since she was asleep for the first 4 or so hours of the drive.