Zion

We stayed in the town of Virgin at the Zion River Resort a few miles away from the entrance to Zion National Park. The park was beautiful and abutted the Virgin River and Katrina booked us a spot right on the river. Sounds good, right? Well, we were notified that the Virgin River had a toxic Cyanobacteria Bloom in it and that Bear could not get in the water. Good thing that there were boulders separating our site from the river so that Bear could not see the water. Very disappointing!

It was Bear’s birthday:

He sure knows how to celebrate! (It was actually someone else in the park that was celebrating as well – did you really think that we would get him birthday signs)?

We met up with Alan and Sheila Godfrey who we will be traveling with for a few weeks until the All Inclusive Motorcoach (AIM) Rally in South Dakota. Katrina and Sheila worked together at BeautiControl years ago and stayed connected via FB. About two months ago Sheila texted asking if we could talk. They had been following our travels and wanted to do the same type of adventure. We talked for hours and explained this lifestyle to them. Explained why we purchased our Newmar Dutch Star and compared it to other manufacturers. Long story short, they sold their house in California, purchased a Dutch Star and started their adventure with us in Zion. I really get the feeling that we are not newbies anymore! (Although at times I really know that we are still with lots to learn and relearn).

We got to park next to them and Katrina made a lovely tuna ceviche for dinner! Very good!

Another BeautiControl gal, Marly, and her husband Neil, drove in from Cedar City to hike Zion with us the next day. In order to get into Zion one needs to ride the shuttle and shuttle tickets are only available way in advanced. The other way is to buy the tickets at 9:00am for the following day. We were lucky enough to get tickets for every day that we wanted to hike Zion.

The six of us loaded into the Ram and headed up to the Zion Entrance. Parking was scarce so we continued into the park and found a spot at the Nature Center. Upon asking a ranger where the shuttle stop was, we were informed that we could walk back to the Visitor’s Center (Stop 1) or walk the other direction. Same distance either way. We decided to hike to the second stop which was about one mile. After standing at the shuttle stop and having about six shuttles fly past us, we realized that a number of the routine stops had been suspended (we didn’t know if it was due to COVID or not) and that we had to hike back to the Visitor’s Center. We decided to get into the Ram and drive back to the Visitor’s Center where we found a spot and boarded the shuttle.

Tired, we thought that we would just ride the shuttle around the park and forego any more hikes for the day. After the nice shuttle ride, we headed back to Zion River Resort.

It was very hot (100+ degrees) so we headed off to the pool to relax and unwind. Marly and Neil headed home and on Tuesday, friends of the Godfrey’s, Martin and Montyne Anderson

arrived for dinner and to see their new coach. The Anderson’s have a boat on Lake Powell (about 130 miles away) and we all decided to spend the following day on the water. They even allowed Bear to come along for the ride.

After driving for 2.5 hours, we arrived at Wahweap, AZ which is on Lake Powell and where Martin kept his boat. It is fantastic to have a tour guide any where you travel and Lake Powell was no exception. Lake Powell was created when the Glen Canyon Dam was built on the Colorado River. Martin and Montyne took us down river to see the dam circling Antelope Island and then headed up river. Beautiful lake (which was about 60 feet below its’ high a few years ago) cuts through the canyon to give you shear cliffs touching the water:

Motoring back into Utah and following the river they stopped at some of their favorite places so that we could jump off and swim around to cool off. We went all the way up to the Rainbow Bridge National Monument (Arch) where we had to hike about 1/2 mile to see this:

Beautiful landscapes! My favorite was the heart:

Back in the boat, we hurried back to Wahweap before it got dark.

Securing the boat on their trailer and packing up the Ram as the sun was setting wasn’t extremely fun, but we got it done and loaded up the Ram for the drive back home.

A big “Thank You” to Martin and Montyne for showing us your special place!

The following day the four of us hiked “The Narrows”. We had rented water hiking shoes and hiking sticks because that hiked was mostly conducted in the river. In order to get to The Narrows, we had to take the shuttle to Stop 9, the Temple of Sinawava. What a fantastic hike!

We hiked up to “Wallstreet” canyon and then continued on for about another 1/2 mile until we needed to cross a falls which meant that we would be in water up to our chest. We didn’t want to do that so we ate the lunch that we brought along and headed back down the way we came. All told, the hike was about 5.5 miles. Once we got back to the Ram we exited the park and returned our rentals. Right next to the rental place was the Zion Canyon Brew Pub where we stopped for a local beer. Delicious, particularly after hiking for five hours in the heat.

The rest of the day we hung close to our rigs and BBQ’s some steaks for dinner. Very enjoyable.

We decided to run into town the next day for supplies and had a wonderful cup of coffee at the River Rock Roasting Company. The best part was the huge, I mean huge, cinnamon rolls. So yummy! We also scheduled some shooting time with a local expert:

We got to practice with a 9mm and to shoot an AR-15. Loads of fun! We even hit the target once in a while!

We made reservations for dinner at the Bit & Spur Restaurant and Saloon in Springdale because Alan knew someone who knew the owners. Outdoor seating (due to COVID) and wonderful food!

Note to self: Don’t order mixed drinks in Utah as they are very watered down with little alcohol content!

The following day, Sheila, Katrina and I hiked up to the Scout Overlook in Zion. Alan didn’t go with us because he is still working and needed to close some deals. Poor fellow. We exited the shuttle at Stop 6 called The Grotto,

and started up the towards Angels Landing and Scout Lookout. Unfortunately, Angels Landing was closed due to COVID because in order to traverse along the cliff edges one needed to hang onto chains mounted in the stone. So we only could hike up to the Scout Lookout which meant that we had to hit the switchbacks of Walters Wiggles.

Walters Wiggles was very challenging:

Very nice hike!

Once we returned to the coaches we created a wonderful rib dinner on the grills. Started to pack up as we planned on heading out the next day for three consecutive stops at Harvest Hosts before arriving at the AIM Rally. Three nights of boondocking! Should be fun!