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And so finally, having spent ten days on vacation, it came
time for us to leave Zion National Park and return to Phoenix. Though we would
have loved to take a longer vacation and drive up to Bryce Canyon National
Park or other parts of Utah that interested us, we had to go back to work the
next day (Monday) -- after all, we still had a wedding to pay for.
 However, since we didn't have to leave right away, we decided to do another
hike before bidding farewell to Zion: an easy hike, one to "stretch out our
sore leg muscles," as John had said. We did the
Pa'rus Trail, a paved, 1.5
mile long trail leading from the Watchman Campground to the Zion Visitor
Center. Once we reached the Visitor Center, we stopped inside for a while so
that we could check out the Zion museum and pick up more brochures to add to
our collection. Then, we returned the way we came. Along the way, we
encountered a friendly deer, who was busy eating leaves off of a tree inside
one of the campsites. We took pictures of him as Erika approached him to pet
him; the deer touched her hand with his nose then went about his business. It
was a very precious moment.
When we returned to camp, we decided that it was time to go. We still had a
six hour drive ahead of us, and we still had to stop in Flagstaff to pay for
our wedding cake. After dumping the tanks and hooking the car up to the
trailer, we pulled out of Zion National Park and began our long journey home.
Our trip took us back through Kanab, Utah, where we decided to change our
return route to US 89A, which would take us through Fredonia then near the
North Rim of the Grand Canyon and Lee's Ferry before joining up with US 89,
where we would travel once more through the Navajo Nation on our way to
Flagstaff. The trip itself was very pretty but uneventful, except when Bill
and Erika slipped away to the bedroom while John was driving...
While in Flagstaff, we stopped at Smith's -- which had finally reopened as
Fry's -- so that we could pay for the wedding cake. Then, we stopped at the
Fiddler's Steakhouse for lunch. During lunch, Erika spoke with the manager to
confirm our reservations for the rehearsal dinner. With those details out of
the way, we began the final leg of our journey: I-17 south to Phoenix.
We made it home in one piece, bruised, sore, tanned (but not sunburned) and
exhausted, but still alive. It would always be an unforgettable trip, one that
will go down in the Verley family history as one big adventure.
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