Time for another day off from hiking. I'd read about a nice drive along the backside of Zion, leading to a local reservoir. The entrance road was only a few hundred yards up the road from our RV park, so even better.

We were amazed and pleased at the scenery we discovered there; in some ways, we found it preferable to Zion itself, primarily because there was some distance between us and the sandstone. The surrounding meadows gave us a better perspective from which to admire the unique rock formations.

It had cooled considerably and we noticed that the trees high atop the cliffs had a dusting of snow on them; I was able to pull it in, sorta, with my zoom lens.

We stopped a lot to take pictures, so the thirty-mile drive took a while. The country road was remote and without facilities, so once again the P-mate came in handy.

The road peaked at the Kolob Reservoir, a small lake at over 8000 feet. On this day, it was rather cold and bleak; summer hasn't come to the high elevations yet. So we snapped a quick photo and turned around.

A dirt road led off the main drive to Lava Point, a scenic view that overlooks the upper rim of Zion Canyon. The road was wet and muddy, and Mike drove with, um, interesting caution to make sure we didn't get stuck. It was so cold I had to put on my snow gear, but the beautiful view was worth it.

After our drive, we went into Hurricane for some lunch. We scanned the main drag for restaurants and chose a place called Barista's which advertised "world-famous burgers". Inside, we were greeted by Beau, a big talker who flirted with me shamelessly. He cajoled me into a rather exotic-sounding burger with mango on it; the bun was greasy and the burger was so-so. Mike said his enchilada tasted more like a chili dog. The one good thing was my bottled Coke from Mexico; down there, they still make them with real sugar instead of corn syrup. Yes, you can taste the difference.

When I crossed the street to take a picture of the restaurant, Beau couldn't resist coming out front to pose with his girlfriend -- the owner's daughter, naturally.

We came home to discover that Peanut had finally come out of his hidey-hole and was acting a bit more like himself again.

Ginny, bless her fur, is so easy-going and adaptable. She doesn't like the driving part at all, but as soon as we stop moving she's as good as new.