The Wandering Wilsons

Home at Last. Whew, that was a whirlwind. The true definition of a road trip, a different National Park (or two) and a different campground every day. We covered 2,659 miles in 10 days. We visited 6 National Parks and many other sights. We hiked and shopped and drove, saw some sights, took lots of photos, drove some more, and took even more photos (until our phones were bulging). We crammed a 14-16 day trip into 10 days. We did a lot, saw a lot, had lots of fun, and, most importantly, made lots of memories. That’s what it’s all about. Where to next?

I was up and on the road by 6am and got two hours of driving in before everyone woke up. We stopped at Penny’s Dinner in Yermo for breakfast. Then, we had to make just one more stop, Calico Ghost Town. I used to go here as a kid, so this was a nostalgia stop for Jeff. The place was pretty empty, so we had the run of the place. We hit the shops, toured a mine, and went through their mystery house.

Las Vegas is our last stop before the long drive home. We made good time from Zion and gained an hour crossing into the PST time zone. Las Vegas was as hot as we left it, around 108. We caught a Lyft and headed for the Strip. Dinner was at the Venetian. Then over to the High Roller, the largest and highest observation wheel. Gelato at our favorite shop, Amorino, wrapped up the evening. Back to the RV. We have a long drive in the morning.

Although we are now home, I have a few more posts to make. Monday morning we went out to breakfast and then caught the shuttle into Zion National Park. Zion is a big valley of huge cliffs. At the end of the valley is The Narrows, a river flowing into the valley surrounded by 1,000 foot cliffs. To continue you must hike in the river. It’s the most popular feature in Zion. We went about a mile in. To wrap up our visit, we stopped at the gift shop (where else?). By 4pm we were out of the park and on our way to Las Vegas.

After a nice breakfast in camp, we headed over to Bryce Canyon, only a few miles away. We decided to take the shuttle because it would take us to all the main viewpoints, where parking an RV is sometimes impossible. First stop, the Visitors Center, as usual. After buying the obligatory souvenirs and watching the video, we were ready for our first stop. Not so fast, said the weather. Back inside for some ponchos. The rain lasted less than an hour and didn’t ruin the view any. After hitting all the viewpoints, back to Ruby’s Inn for a buffet lunch and more souvenirs. We hit the road around 4pm, made good time, and arrived in camp just south of Zion National Park at 6pm. A new record for us.

Arches National Park contains the greatest concentration of natural arches in the world, over 2,000. Only a few dozen of these (although the most significant) can be seen from the road, many more from the hiking trails. After spending some time in the Visitors Center, where they have an excellent movie describing the geology of the region, we spent a couple hours hitting the main view points. Shortly after leaving we got caught in the strongest downpour of the trip, complete with close lightning and thunder. We had to pull over to let the storm pass. While roadside, Shauney made lunch and the kids looked up what happens to people in an RV that gets struck by lightning. Chickens! The drive to Bryce was six hours of nearly constant rain. We arrived after 8pm, too late to cook in camp, so we went out for steak dinner, finally arriving at camp after 10pm.

We got up early on Friday the 13th to pick up our rental Jeeps in Moab. When we got there we decided to switch to a six-seater Polaris Ranger UTV so we could all be in one vehicle. The rental place recommended a route called Chicken Corners, a medium difficulty four wheel drive trail. We spent 4.5 hours climbing rocky hills, blasting down sandy riverbeds, exploring caves, viewing petroglyphs and enjoying incredible scenery. Lots of fun.

We arrived late in the day at Mesa Verde not realizing that it’s a one hour drive from the Visitors Center at the front gate to the cliff houses. We were too late for any of the tours, so we drove the loops and stopped at the view points. The story of the arrival and departure of the cliff dwellers is quite interesting. They built hundreds of structures, but only lived on the cliffs for about a hundred years. By the time we left the park, stopped for dinner, and drove 2.5 hours to Moab (once again in pouring rain), it was 11pm. Another long day.

Spruce Tree House

Square Tower House

Balcony House

Cliff Palace

Our first stop out of Bluff Thursday morning was Four Corners Monument. There’s not much to it, a slab of concrete in the middle of nowhere. We bought some Indian crafts and had some great Navajo tacos and fry bread. Next stop, Mesa Verde.

After Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend we drove through Monument Valley. Then camped in Bluff, UT, where we had a nice dinner out.