My first few weeks in Zion have been a blast, a fresh start and a new change of pace! In fact, Zion is so cool we didn’t even spend our first weekend in the park, oops. You see, one of Michael’s bucket list items is to see his favorite baseball team, the Philadelphia Phillies play in every ballpark in the U.S. One of my high school besties, Gia, lives in San Diego now, and the Phillies were playing at Petco Park over our first weekend in Zion. We found cheap flights through Spirit Airlines and went for it! We had the best time exploring Cabrillo National Monument, taking me back to the Pacific Ocean for the first time in a year, watching the ballgame, and spending one day with Sarah who goes to San Diego State!

We set the record early for the latest return home of the season, clocking in at about 2:00am, oops. The time change didn’t work in our favor, but hey, while you’re young! Learning the ropes of Zion has been fun, there’s always a learning curve when you make it to a new park but everyone has been so friendly and welcoming. My roommate Jenn is super cool, and I like all of my colleagues. Here’s some silly and scenic photos of training I’ve been taking!

My good friend Ranger Zenja came through on her way to Mount Rainier as well and came through Zion to visit us for two nights! We were in training the whole time so we didn’t get to take her around much but of course it was good to see her!

Recently I turned 24, and had several fun events and happenings occur to celebrate the special occasion. Michael’s roommate Catie’s birthday was May 5th, so we did a cute little joint party and I made a cake for the occasion!

On my actual day of celebration, I kept it pretty mellow, but I was cleared by my doctor to begin hiking again the day before, so I did my first real hike in about 4 months! I chose the Watchman Hike, it was about 3.3 miles roundtrip with 300 feet of elevation gain. I kept it slow and steady, but my mind and foot felt strong, my body was a little weak but that will come with time. However, I was so proud of my accomplishment and this is a great start to 24!

Michael took me out to a Hibachi dinner in St George which was such a fun experience, they even gave me a singing flower candle to mark the occasion!

Afterwards, we went to a local park and hiked the ‘St George Narrows’ a cute 0.2 mile slot canyon and got some ice cream.

And of course to end the occasion we got groceries, because as Michael said, when you live remotely “It’s not a true date night until you end the evening with grocery shopping.” It was a wonderful birthday and I felt so loved.

Being so close to amenities (compared to my other parks) means lots of simple date nights such as late night strolls after work into town and by the Virgin River.

One cool thing we got to do for the end of our training was visit Pipe Spring National Monument. We checked off yet another park site off our list, one of many we are hoping to visit this summer.

This week, I had my first ‘green and gray’ day where I got to rock my full uniform and start working regular desk shifts. I am really looking forward to what this summer has in store for me, I know it’s going to be a great one! Until next time, and Ranger On!