Hiking Zion National Park

One of the busiest parks. Shuttle system in effect April 1. I caught a bad cold and was not my normally energetic self so we did no hard hikes. Stayed extra night due to storms so we had 2 full days in park. Went up to Zion loge late both mornings for brunch then walked some of the easy trails in the valley. More like dawdled most of the time.

I also rested and slept in middle of day and we had to repair the slide out (see previous blog post) so our walks were limited. Still it was just the best place to R&R.

The family from hell (next door first night) was replaced by a very quiet couple on each side with rental RV's. Sweet! We have observed many many smaller rental RV units driving around. Mostly European couples from listening to them speak Apparently they rent from places in Las Vegas and drive around to all the national parks.

Great way to do it!

Yesterday, while I was resting, Sraddha headed up into park for a long stroll. I was to join her after 3pm and we would the go on up to Narrows. She calls me from canyon stop about 3 and we plan to meet there around 3:45. I was to drive keep into visitors center and catch shuttle. I

When I discovered park full I turned around raced back to camp, left jeep in motel lot and scurried to catch the town shuttle into the park. I scurried a little carelessly and, for the first time in many, many years, tripped and twisted my ankle real good. Ouch. Got up and limped to the shuttle. Wasn't hurting too bad. Figured it was mild sprain, not broken so kept going.

Arrived at canyon junction early, found Sraddha and we walked up to Pome creek bridge (see pics) which is where highway 9 crosses over on its eastbound journey through tunnel to the other side and Bryce Canyon park.

We poked around underneath Pine creek bridge and walked back to shuttle then road up to end and walked up the 1mile riverside walk. Ankle hurting pretty good now. Ok though as long as I stay on flat surface.

The walk was worth the effort as I captured the late afternoon light reflected off the running waters of the Virgin river. See the iPhone pic below.

The light was incredible all over the park as we returned to shuttle and road back to visitor center.

Due to my ankle, I had elected not to haul big camera. Just iPhone. Which was kinda fun since time was limited. I have to say it is handy in these situations and a lot faster when posting to blog. Will continue to use it more for blog posts.

Looking up Narrows of Virgin River

Pine Creek Bridge looking east up into Canyon

Valley of the Patriarchs with some waterfall in distance (center)

Poking around under Pine Creek bridge looking Westward back to main canyon

Tucson - Resting at Catalina

Resting in Tucson.  While we had cruised through most of our checklists to restore the RV to working and traveling order, I decided to take the afternoon off while Sraddha visited the Tucson museum of art.  After resting and reading for a while I repacked and consolidated the camera gear into a different bag. I had purchased a little tuner hooked it up between the antenna and the old standard definition tv so we could get HD over-the-air channels if we wanted. Unfortunately we could not get the PBS channel but we could get local news if wanted. All in all, it was a nrestful afternoon

Vereo with breakfast snack outside our RV

Yesterday morning as we set outside drinking morning beverages we watched birds.  No surprise there.  We had set out our bird feeder and the neighbors (mentioned before) had 2 bird feeders so we see a lot of activity.  I got the camera out and was able to shoot this Vereo who landed nearby.  Not a good photo because the background is washed out and I don't have the photoshop skills yet to fix it but he had a bug in his mouth.  kinda made the picture


Cooked dinner for S from some of the frozen (and now thawed) items we brought from home and she read to me before bed time.  This has become an evening favorite activity.  We are currently reading the Biography of Yogananda by J Donald Walters (Swami Kriyananda).

Today we head over to Camping World (about 45 minute drive) to get Water heater checked.  Seems the last time we heated with propane we got a lot of black soot coating the outside wall of the RV.  We have been using the electrical heater while staying at parks, but the campsite in Big Bend doesn't have electrical so will be dry camping and want to have this functioning correctly.  plus a couple minor other things.   This could take an hour or half a day.  Will see.  Sraddha is going to shop for a small list of non grocery items like a 5/8's open ended wrench to replenish the one she accidentally dropped behind a wall under the sink and now we can't get it out wtihout removing half the motorhome wall.  and some batteries, etc.

Made it to Tucson

After driving 950 miles over past 2 days, we have returned to Catalina State Park north of Tucson.  The first 850 miles were by Jeep to Tempe, neat Phoenix, arriving at the storage place around 10 AM this morning (doesn't that sound like we went overland through hill and dale?). We had prepared the RV for storage during a driving rainstorm last December and it sat unattended in a secure, covered storage facility for past 2 months. We had filled the gas tank with stabilized fuel, drained the water and waste tanks and lines, and disconnected the batteries. One reason for selecting Phoenix was the likelihood of the temps remaining above freezing which happened.  Nevertheless, we were prepared for something to have gone wrong.

Our Catalina campsite

Well, cross your fingers, but it hasn't happened yet.  We reconnected the batteries, checked the levels and started up the engine on first try!  Woo-Hoo!  then checked the tire pressure, visually inspected everything and were out the door by 10:45.  Drove 5 blocks to a shopping center to hook up the jeep and have lunch then headed for Tucson, arriving at the park around 2:15 PM local time.  Fortunately we had made a reservation last December for our original spot because we had just realized it is President's day weekend and the campground was full.  So we pulled in, received our passes, drove to the campsite and proceeded to hook up.  We noticed the brand new 40 foot motorhome next door made by the same company as ours when the Claire drove up to it and I asked her who was the "Gator" fan of the family to which she replied, "Both of us" then came over to introduce herself and invited us over for a little tour.  She and her husband, Chuck were long time RV'er's from North Carolina having spent time out here in previous years and were roaming around the southwest for the winter.  They had bird feeders out, drawing the finches and woodpeckers, which made Sraddha real happy. Real nice neighbors, with 2 beautiful Collie dogs, and we hope to see them again.

We wanted to get back to settling in and were hoping all the water lines were ok, which they were along with all things electrical.  Whew! After stowing gear for 2 hours we headed out 3 miles south to replenish a few needed fresh supplies to get us through a couple meals.

Desert flower

The desert is beginning to bloom here and I saw this cool little flower nearby which was only 6 inches high so I  managed to grab my camera with the closeup lens and shoot a few pics of it in the late afternoon light.  If any of the readers can identify it please comment so I can caption the pic.

We prepared some dinner after a little quiet time and were remarking how blessed it is to be here again.

As I am typing I can hear the coyotes howling in the distance, a nightly occurrence.  it is approaching bedtime and the campground is getting real quiet. It will be great to get a good nights rest and enjoy the quiet.