ya see one hoodoo, you've seen 'em all

as we headed out of zion mountain lodge on our way to salt lake city, we happened upon this eye-catching sign and decided that we needed to stop if for nothing else but to take a picture of it:

i mean, have you ever known me to resist a photo op like this??  heh.

but then our rumbling tummies told us that we needed to stop and grab something for breakfast lest we pass out from hunger.  and with several hours of driving in front of us, we took heed.  besides, who can say no to "ho-made" grub?  certainly not us.

the back of the menu gave the backstory on the restaurant, which has been there for quite a long time, as well as the origin of that "ho-made" tagline.  

the food itself was -well, it was fine.  i'd ordered the house special - deep fried scones with honey butter - hoping that i'd perhaps stumbled across some sort of delicacy that i'd drool over every time i remembered it.  unfortunately, that was not the case.  they were okay, but nothing special at all.

we did, however, enjoy the toast that was housemade, fresh and hot from the oven.

after a quick stop in the gift shop for souvenir t-shirts, we drove off and passed the small golf course that we'd read about on the back of the menu.

we drove through this on our way to bryce canyon national park:

and like our trip through zion, we drove along the road that wound through the park and stopped at all of the touristy turnouts to take pictures.  

i was super amused at the other visitors who came prepared in all of their hiking gear, while i walked around in skinny jeans, uggs and a jacket i'd impulsively bought on sale from the ragnar website.

the hub plopped the bean up on the wall for a picture, which made me a little nervous, but she was happy to pose for a shot.

the next stop was here:

then here:

and by the time we stopped here the bean was totally over it and didn't even bother to get out of the car.

i have to admit, i was getting a little bored myself.  i mean, how many different angles do you really need to see the same sights from?  yeah yeah, natural beauty blah blah blah.  i still got out at all the stops, but i was pretty much over it too.  we all got out at the last stop, just because:

and then she passed out for the rest of the drive.

she perked up when we finally pulled into salt lake city and got to our home for the night - the kimpton hotel monaco.  

this kid, man.  she sure loves her fancy hotels.