Horses, Mules, Donkeys and Beefalo

We started the day with a ride through Bryce Canyon.  When we arrived at the corral, they paired up the horses, or mules in some cases with their riders.  They seem to have had our numbers.  Sarah rode Sassy, the gassy girl, and they gave me Tony, a stubborn jack-ass.  We had a good time, seeing a new perspective on the canyon, the skyline and the hoodoos(spires of rock).  After we were done, we headed off to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  On our way in, we read about two native, or sort of native creatures that we wanted to see.  The first, was the native squirel, but no ordinary squirel, this is the Kaibab squirel, native only to the North Rim and surrounding Kaibab forest.  It has really large, almost bunny like ears and a very bushy tail.  We did see one, but I couldnt get a photo.  The second was an animal called the Beefalo, a local rancher back in the 30's decided would be a good tasting cut of meat.  A cross between the Buffalo and ordinary cows, they grew in number and wandered into the Kaibab forest area where water and food were more abundant, but alas, we could not spot any, just more mule deer.  We arrived late afternoon and decided to enjoy some local brews at the Saloon.  That could be the subheading to the title on this blog, 'supporting local breweries across America'.  Also, we had to stop in the lodge for Sarah to see Brighty, a storied mule about which she had read a book as a child(and bought again in the gift shop).  Legend has it that if you rub the nose of the bronze Brighty statue in the lodge, it brings good luck, Sarah had to give it a try.  After we finished at the lodge, we headed down a long narrow winding road, among more Aspens in their fall glory, to Cape Royal.  It had the best views of not only the canyon, but also of sunset, which was approaching.  So we hiked out to the point, and stayed for a magnificent sunset over the canyon.  Then it was off to grab a late dinner and push towards the Four corners, a perfect touristy cross country stop if there ever was one.