Aug 8th to 11th - Utah, AZ, NV

Aug 8^th – Fri – to Zion Ntl Park

We had a very short drive to an RV park just outside the east entrance to the park. On the way, we stopped for breakfast at a nice little cafe in Hatch. We registered and set up and headed into the park on the bike. The east entrance is close to the big tunnel.

At this time of year, there are a lot of oversize vehicles traveling through the long, low clearance tunnel so traffic takes turns in each direction rather than stopping traffic just for one or two big rigs. Again because of the traffic, you have to take a free shuttle past the main visitor center. The parking lots were full so we went to a lot a bit further near Springdale where there is also a shuttle stop. The shuttles have a main “bus” and a “trailer” to accommodate more people. The trailer is like the bus but without an engine.

A lot of Zion is best seen by hiking and we are not hikers – especially in hot weather. So we rode the shuttle all the way to the end of the road, transferred to another shuttle that was at the head of the line and rode back down. We sat on the right side of the bus each time so we could see scenery on both sides and were quite happy with our tour which was narrated by the drivers.

Now it was time for a cooling snack so we found a place for ice cream and a shady table outside. We headed back out the way we came, visited the store at the RV park to try to get some wifi and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Aug 9^th – Sat – to Page AZ

We are getting good at short trips! We stopped in Kanab for a less than great breakfast at McDonald’s – sometimes the parking dictates the eating spot and McDonald’s is usually OK.

We were quite surprised by the size of Page and the large motels in town. We stayed at Page Lake Powell Campground which we found with only a couple of wrong turns. The office personnel informed us that the “best” tour company for Antelope Canyon was booked up until the end of next week. This was the reason for our trip to Page!

We set up and took the bike on a tour. We stopped at another tour company and they had an opening tomorrow at 3:00 or suggested that we could go to the parking lot where all the tours enter the tribal area and get on a tour “first come, first served”. We checked it out and turned around when everyone else started doing the same because there were no openings.

We went to the Glen Canyon dam to check out the visitor center and take some pictures. We made a quick stop at Walmart and then hibernated for the rest of the afternoon and evening. We checked out the indoor pool but decided all the kids could keep it to themselves.

Aug 10^th – Sun

We got up reasonably early and went to the tour staging area. There was a line of cars extending onto the shoulder of the road as the gate wasn't open yet. Soon the line was allowed to pull up to the entrance kiosks which weren't open until 8. When we finally moved, an employee told us that the earliest tour with space was at 1:30 so we joined umpteen other vehicles turning around and leaving.

We went back to the tour company that we visited yesterday to see if they still had room at 3:00. Nope – they had room on an 8:30 tour in a few minutes!! We grabbed some water and climbed onto the open back truck to go back to where we just came from.

The vehicles drive on a dusty, bumpy wash to get to Antelope Canyon. Our truck only had 8 people instead of a full load of 16 – go figure with people waiting for tours! - and everyone was having a good time. Our tour guide (Irene) was great and showed us amazing angles for pictures in the canyon which was beautiful. The bad news was large tour buses on Sundays and it was a bit crowded.

After the tour, we went to Dennys for a late breakfast. We stopped again at WalMart for dinner ingredients and headed back to the rig. We enjoyed computer games, PGA golf and AC for the afternoon and evening. It was quite hot.

Aug 11^th – Mon – to Las Vegas

We have been continually confused by the time since we got to Page as phones pick up Utah cell towers and Utah recognizes Daylight Savings Time – unlike AZ. It didn't really matter this morning as we got up & left when it seemed right!

We backtracked to Kanab and then went a bit south & west to Utah which avoided going through Zion park. We stopped in Mesquite NV for breakfast at a casino. We played slots a bit when we finished eating and I won enough so that we only added a few dollars to the reasonable price of breakfast.

We have not tried to find Main Street Station RV park from the north and the GPS kind of let us down due to fairly recent freeway modifications. We would have been fine if Main Street was not torn up and barricaded where we needed to turn! We had to go around a block or two and then made a sharp turn around construction cones – whew!

We set up and before Terry finished hooking up utilities & leveling, I made some changes inside that I thought about as we drove today. I figured if we removed one “bed/bench” in the back area, we could put both recliners back there when we take the bike out and leave the area across from the kitchen for a small computer table & folding chairs. Before we walked to Main St Station casino & hotel to register we had taken out the bed/bench and put it in the back of the truck. We also put the heavy table - that I have to take out every time we load & unload the bike - in the truck. It is going to be great!

The weather is very hot so we played some slots rather than going back to rig. We played for a short time when Terry hit a JACKPOT! We were both amazed to see the amount of $5,043.38 on the screen requiring a “hand pay”. YAHOO!

Once pictures were taken, paperwork was signed and money changed hands we were ready for more fun. About 4:30 we had dinner and then played more slots. We called it quits about 8 and were thankful for AC when we got back.