Thursday, August 25, 2011

Day 81 - August 24, 2011 - Bryce Canyon City, Utah

You may be pleased to know that I exercised more control over my "photography finger" today and did not take as many pictures!  In fact, Glenn took twice the pictures that I did!  He does do a better job of putting comments with his pictures but, hopefully, you will not see as many duplicates as in the past.

Did I mention that "Ruby's" is, we think, the "only game in town"!  Outside of the national park, it seems Ruby's is the only place to go...Ruby's Inn, Ruby's RV Park and Campground, Ruby's Restaurant, Ruby's Canyon Diner, Ruby's General Store...the Post Office is even located inside Ruby's Inn General Store!  So now a little history of "Ruby's"!  Hint...Ruby is a man!

In 1916, Reuben (Ruby) Swrett brought his family to Southern Utah, establishing a ranch near the present site of Ruby's Inn.  A few weeks after his arrival, another nearby rancher told him about Bryce Canyon.  Ruby and his family made a Sunday visit to the canyon rim and were so impressed they started telling others about the canyon and soon became hosts to the visitors.  By 1919, Ruby had obtained permission from the state to build a lodge, the "Tourist Rest" near the brink of the canyon. 

In 1923, when Bryce Canyon became a national monument, Ruby moved "Tourist Rest" to the location of his ranch and named it Ruby's Inn.  Soon, Ruby's Inn became a large business operation and now provides everything a traveler needs!  Today it is owned and operated by Ruby's grandchildren and great-grandchildren! And what an operation it is!

We discussed this while we were having breakfast at Ruby's Restaurant and thought you might be interested too!  OK...maybe not!

We spent the day at Bryce Canyon!  It was great, even with a couple of thunderstorms during the day!  We met some really nice people and the temperature, I think, didn't get out of the 70's!  And to top it off, we saw another rainbow!!!  They did have to close the Navajo Loop because lighting struck a tree and it was still smoking.  We were still on the trail when this occurred but, thank God, had passed the point where lighting struck!   Thunderstorms occur quite frequently here, but they are very brief.  Unfortunately, someone was fatally struck by lighting last week while hiking at Bryce Canyon (we found this out after our hike).  When you look at the pictures you will not even know we had several thunderstorms during the day!

Click on the two links below to see today's pictures!  Bryce Canyon is another beautiful national park!

https://picasaweb.google.com/104959812223133937279/August242011BryceCanyonCity?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJy0irLhidHT-QE&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/104959812223133937279/August242011BryceCanyonCiityUTGlenn?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLKjpNLA3sSt6wE&feat=directlink





1 comment:

  1. Can't tell you guys how much I enjoy looking at the previous days pictures each morning. I really look forward to it. I hope you never go "home"! Love the comments on the pictures too!!

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