We have been exploring some great places and our pace has slowed considerably now that we’ve reached the Desserts, Mountains, and some fantastic State and National landmarks, monuments, parks, sites, and forests.
Our first night after leaving the Grand Canyon was Lee’s Ferry National Monument at Marble Canyon, Arizona near the Utah boarder and Glenn Canyon Dam at Page, Arizona. In fact, we drove into Page to visit Wal-Mart for some supplies and then backtracked 30 miles to Marble Canyon. The canyon is a magnificent red color with high mountainous walls surrounding us. The campground was on a bluff overlooking the Colorado River less than ¼ mile away. We
walked down to the river and saw the early 1900’s town where a steam powered ferry was operated in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. This is another gorgeous place.
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| View from inside - Lee's Ferry |
Our first night after leaving the Grand Canyon was Lee’s Ferry National Monument at Marble Canyon, Arizona near the Utah boarder and Glenn Canyon Dam at Page, Arizona. In fact, we drove into Page to visit Wal-Mart for some supplies and then backtracked 30 miles to Marble Canyon. The canyon is a magnificent red color with high mountainous walls surrounding us. The campground was on a bluff overlooking the Colorado River less than ¼ mile away. We
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| Lee's Ferry Nat'l Monument |
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| Lee's Ferry Nat'l Monument |
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| Coral Pink Dunes State Park |
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| Coral Pink Dunes State Park |
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| Coral Pink Dunes State Park |
The next day we moved about 100 miles into Utah to Coral Pink Sand Dues State Park. An interesting site full of, actual coral pink sand dunes covering over 1200 acres. This is the prettiest sand I have ever seen. The area is popular with the folks who ride off road vehicles and sand buggies. There are hundreds of acres set aside for these enthusiasts. Looks like it would be fun. We hiked a mile long trail through the dunes – it’s not easy walking up and down hills in sand.
From Coral Pink Dunes we drove 80 miles to Bryce Canyon National Park and arrived around noon, so we had plenty of time to explore some of the beautiful vistas, plus we hiked down one of the trails for a good view from the canyon floor. The trail was only 0.8 miles down, but it seemed like 8.0 miles hiking back out; steep with a lot of switchbacks. The National Park Campground was pretty and with our Senior pass, only $7.50 for the night – and that included entry to the park. We visited Bryce Canyon back in the 70’s and recall it to be the prettiest place we had visited; it’s still up there on the pretty scale, but we’re discovering a lot of new places that are right up there!
On a more personal note – during the night, 4:00 A.M., while I was in a deep sleep, June woke me to tell me the refrigerator light was not working. …………………………….. Well, this brings up a bunch of questions. Why did she look into the refrigerator at 4:00 A.M.? Was I suppose to check the bulb? Call 911? ………………….. While I pondered our dilemma for the next couple hours, June went back to sleep. While pondering, I guessed that somehow our battery went dead during the night. We had no electric connection here so that was a possibility, although when we went to bed, all was well – lights worked and there should be very little drain after the lights were turned out at about 10:30 P.M. We’ve lived this way on battery power before so why now? I wondered if the engine would start in the morning; it should, as the engine battery is separated from the house battery, except when charging. At 7:00 A.M. I decided to try the engine – it started just fine, so I turned on the heater as it was 30 degrees outside and 47 inside. I walked down to the showers, pondering all the time and when I got back tested my theory - there is a switch near the floor at the step leading outside the motorhome. That switch, when turned off, turns off everything inside. I turned the switch on and guess what – the refrigerator light came on! How that switch got turned off in the wee hours of the morning is a mystery, but it’s on now and we can see what’s inside the fridge. June had a good nights’ sleep, so she got up in the now toasty warm RV and wondered with me – how that switch got turned off, but no answers were forthcoming.
Our Next stop was Kodachrome Basin State Park; 28 miles from Bryce Canyon. The park was named in 1948 after being suggested by a group from National Geographic due to the parks’ vivid colors and panorama. The two Utah State parks we have visited so far were each small, with only 27 camp sites, and facilities appeared to be fairly new. The visitor centers, rest room and shower facilities - all first class; and, for a very reasonable camp fee - $16.00/night including the park entry fee. We spent the day hiking some great trails and captured some fantastic photo shots as well. This trip just keeps getting better! After our two hour hike on the Angels Palace Trail, the drive to Chimney Rock and the half-mile hike to
Shakespeare Arch, June and I both agree this was better than Bryce Canyon. The Park Ranger pointed out that with only 27 camp-sites, this park is not well known, but I think we found a real gem here.
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| Kodachrome Basin State Park |
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| Kodachrome Basin State Park |
Shakespeare Arch, June and I both agree this was better than Bryce Canyon. The Park Ranger pointed out that with only 27 camp-sites, this park is not well known, but I think we found a real gem here.
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| Kodachrome Basin State Park |
On a more personal note – during the night, 4:00 A.M., while I was in a deep sleep, June woke me to tell me the refrigerator light was not working. …………………………….. Well, this brings up a bunch of questions. Why did she look into the refrigerator at 4:00 A.M.? Was I suppose to check the bulb? Call 911? ………………….. While I pondered our dilemma for the next couple hours, June went back to sleep. While pondering, I guessed that somehow our battery went dead during the night. We had no electric connection here so that was a possibility, although when we went to bed, all was well – lights worked and there should be very little drain after the lights were turned out at about 10:30 P.M. We’ve lived this way on battery power before so why now? I wondered if the engine would start in the morning; it should, as the engine battery is separated from the house battery, except when charging. At 7:00 A.M. I decided to try the engine – it started just fine, so I turned on the heater as it was 30 degrees outside and 47 inside. I walked down to the showers, pondering all the time and when I got back tested my theory - there is a switch near the floor at the step leading outside the motorhome. That switch, when turned off, turns off everything inside. I turned the switch on and guess what – the refrigerator light came on! How that switch got turned off in the wee hours of the morning is a mystery, but it’s on now and we can see what’s inside the fridge. June had a good nights’ sleep, so she got up in the now toasty warm RV and wondered with me – how that switch got turned off, but no answers were forthcoming.
Being April, we have made few reservations in advance. Tonight was no exception and we planned to stay at Zion National Park but to our chagrin, when we arrived about 11:00 A.M., the campground was full. That being the case, and since we were there early in the day, plan B was to park – do a little hiking – enjoy the sites – then head on to some other place for the night. We entered from the East which meant we had to pay $15.00 for an oversized vehicle permit in order to be allowed to drive through the one-mile long tunnel that was cut through a mountain and completed in 1930. The drive was again, the most gorgeous we have seen. (seems like everything is the best to this point in time) We were able to pull over a couple times, get out and take some pics, but plan B called for going to the Visitor center, measure our options, then go from there. When we arrived at the Visitors Center, there was absolutely no place to park, so the only option left was to leave the park. Being a little miffed at my mis-calculation – that being not thinking it would be busy this early in the season – we looked for a restaurant and had lunch. The clerk told us there was a free shuttle bus that would take us to the Zion Park visitor center, so that’s what we did. We took a short hike, enjoyed Zion a little more, then drove to a campgound 50 miles away in St. George, Utah. That’s where we caught up on laundry, e-mail, etc….. Having a great time……….
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Zion Nat'l Park
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