This was NOT in the weather report!

Friday morning we were awoken to the sound of high-pitched chatter that we couldn't recognize. Ashley and I got dressed in our hiking gear and snacked on some breakfast ready to check out Bryce Canyon National Park. We opened the hotel door to this...

SNOW!!!! What the...?!

The noise we were wondering about? A whole tour bus of Japanese tourists with their phones video taping the weather. Well, after going back into the hotel room to put on more layers, and spending several minutes cleaning off the car we were on our way to Bryce.

We were literally just down the road from the entrance. The snow was coming down in huge flakes as we stopped by the sign to take some photos.

It was so cold we decided to stop and check out the visitor's center. It was very interactive. I got my patch and while we waited for the weather to warm up we watched a video about Bryce.

Here's what Ashley learned about the video... the rock pinnacles everywhere are called hoodoos. The Native Americans pronounce that "ooodoooos" and believe they are their frozen ancestors. Ashley's biggest takeaway though was this - a man named Bryce lived near the canyon and people just started calling it Bryce's Canyon. When asked about his canyon he said, "It's a hell of a place to lose a cow!" Yep, that about sums it up, that was her favorite. She quoted him for the rest of the day.

We again made a decision that we would question later. I suggested that maybe we should drive down to the other end of the park (there is no exit there) to see if it was lower in elevation and so maybe warmer with less snow.

Ha! Not only was there more snow, the roads had not been plowed yet. We barely had tracks to drive through with drop offs on either side of us. We passed the plow going the other way, not helpful, kept the car in four-wheel drive, and made it to the end.

The snow did make for some absolutely specatular views!