This was an incredible drive, the vistas of scrub desert, brilliant red rock formations and surrounding black, brown and gray mountains were overwhelming. Unfortunately the picture at right just does not do justice to the amazing landscape we drove through. Our morning destination was the Valley of Fire State Park, another example of the Mojave Desert System.The VoF, as advertised, was hot. There wasn't much shade and we decided on a short hike to Mouse's Tank, AKA the Petroglyph Canyon Trail. Mouse was a renegade southern Paiute Indian who pestered settlers and other indians back the 1890s and this area was his favorite hideout because it contained a secret "tank" or basin of water even during dry periods. We took off on the approximately 1 mile round trip hiking leisurely and wandering off trail to observe the numerous lizards that were actively scrambling over the rocks.
The quickness and agility these creatures demonstrated running away from my pointed camera made me swear quietly to myself. Leapin lizards! Taking pictures here was challenging because the sunlight was so intense. At left is Jane and the kids embarking on the hike from the trailhead. There was a sizable and what appeared to be a deep waterhole at the end of the trail. Whether the pool just collected water or if there is a spring underneath that sustains it I don't know, but it's amazing that a pool of water, even shaded, could persist in the dry desert climate. We spent quite a lot of time looking for lizards (see picture below) .
We didn't stay in the VoF too long--this being just a brief stop on way to Zion. Of course along the trail were numerous examples of petroglyphs, hence the reason for the alternative "Petroglyph Canyon Trail" designation. Examples of the petroglyphs are shown below. 
On the way out of the VoF state park, Elroy took a picture a famous rock formation called the "balancing rock" for obvious reasons. This picture in one of my favorites.
After the VoF we made a second short stop at the "Lost City Museum" which supposedly documents the histories of native peoples who had populated the nearby Virgin River Valley. I'll talk more about the Virgin River later. When Lake Mead was filling-up after construction of the Hoover Dam, an Anasazi Indian archeologic site called the Pueblo Grande de Nevada and its' artifacts were moved to the museum. The museum wasn't much to talk about but did have life-size replicas of pueblos that we were able to walk into and experience. The pueblos were constructed half underground to take advantage of the cooler earth and in fact were comfortable 
even in the blistering mid-afternoon sun.
Onto Zion. The town of Sprindale is the western gateway to Zion Canyon NP. Springdale is a cozy little town spread over about two miles and is part of the same canyon system as Zion. This is a one street town with a collection of nice hotels, B&Bs and shops nestled among towering canyon walls. Altough Zion has a Lodge in the park, I think I would rather stay in Springdale, at least at the time of year we went. Mid-June was not yet peak tourist season and there was plenty of parking throughout the town so we could shop for groceries, eat-out or do laundry. The drive from the Driftwood Lodge (where we stayed) to the Zion visitor parking lot was probably about 5 minutes and if we didn't want to drive, there were free shuttle buses running continuously all day lone. Out the back door of our room at the Driftwood Lodge we had an wonderful view of the surrounding mountains and eagerly awaited tomorrow's adventure.
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