Saturday - March 22
Lazy morning. We then headed into Flagstaff to have a look around. Cute little town. Did a bit of shopping and picked up some groceries, then back to camp. Skies were looking threatening, so decided to hook up the car and get as much work done as possible in preparation for tomorrow's departure.
Sunday - March 23
Today we left Arizona, driving to Springdale, Utah, on the edge of Zion National Park. We climbed up to over 7,000 feet again, north of Flagstaff, then dropped down again into the Painted Desert, and left the ponderosa pine forest and pretty much any "real" trees behind. No cactus anymore - nothing but grasses and scrub trees. Traveled to Page, Arizona near the Utah border, where we stopped for lunch. Pretty little town near beautiful Lake Powell (186 miles long), created by the Glen Canyon dam.
Said goodbye to Arizona, for this year, and crossed over into Utah. When we reached Zion National Park, it was quite an eye full. Absolutely stunning, but pictures will have to wait for another day. There are two tunnels on the roadway through the park, and one is quite narrow and low (built in the late 1920's). Maximum height allowed is 13'1", and you have to travel down the middle of the road, as the side walls are only about 11.5'. Also, because of the windy roads, maximum length is 50'. So we had to pull over at the gate and disconnect the car, and I followed the behemouth through the park. When we reached the narrow tunnel, westbound, the ranger on the east side radioed to the ranger on the west side, and the tunnel became one way. Once all the eastbound traffic had cleared the tunnel, Robin led the parade down the middle of the road through the mile long tunnel. There are three "windows" cut into the wall of the tunnel, spaced out over the distance, so you aren't going for a whole mile in the dark (a claustraphobic's nightmare). I found myself focusing pretty intently on the back of the motor home for the whole drive, as it would have been too easy to be distracted by the scenery (plus the drop-offs make me a tad nervous - remember the height issue). Our RV park was just on the other side of the park and in no time we were set up and enjoying the wonderful scenery right in front of our site.
Lazy morning. We then headed into Flagstaff to have a look around. Cute little town. Did a bit of shopping and picked up some groceries, then back to camp. Skies were looking threatening, so decided to hook up the car and get as much work done as possible in preparation for tomorrow's departure.
Sunday - March 23
Today we left Arizona, driving to Springdale, Utah, on the edge of Zion National Park. We climbed up to over 7,000 feet again, north of Flagstaff, then dropped down again into the Painted Desert, and left the ponderosa pine forest and pretty much any "real" trees behind. No cactus anymore - nothing but grasses and scrub trees. Traveled to Page, Arizona near the Utah border, where we stopped for lunch. Pretty little town near beautiful Lake Powell (186 miles long), created by the Glen Canyon dam.
Said goodbye to Arizona, for this year, and crossed over into Utah. When we reached Zion National Park, it was quite an eye full. Absolutely stunning, but pictures will have to wait for another day. There are two tunnels on the roadway through the park, and one is quite narrow and low (built in the late 1920's). Maximum height allowed is 13'1", and you have to travel down the middle of the road, as the side walls are only about 11.5'. Also, because of the windy roads, maximum length is 50'. So we had to pull over at the gate and disconnect the car, and I followed the behemouth through the park. When we reached the narrow tunnel, westbound, the ranger on the east side radioed to the ranger on the west side, and the tunnel became one way. Once all the eastbound traffic had cleared the tunnel, Robin led the parade down the middle of the road through the mile long tunnel. There are three "windows" cut into the wall of the tunnel, spaced out over the distance, so you aren't going for a whole mile in the dark (a claustraphobic's nightmare). I found myself focusing pretty intently on the back of the motor home for the whole drive, as it would have been too easy to be distracted by the scenery (plus the drop-offs make me a tad nervous - remember the height issue). Our RV park was just on the other side of the park and in no time we were set up and enjoying the wonderful scenery right in front of our site.
We are here for three nights. Until next time dear followers, be careful. If you're too open minded, your brains will fall out.