9/16 Zion National Park

I arrived here a couple of days ago after stocking up on groceries in Kanab, UT, the nearest town (80 miles) which has a real grocery store.  I found a credit union also and got some cash, so I should be OK for a couple of weeks. I’ve been trying to carry enough basics like paper goods and drinks to last me several weeks so I don’t have to spend money in the very expensive campground or local stores where a pint of ice cream can be as much as $8.50!!
Very nice, scenic road to the park, even though my GPS did NOT want me to take this road and kept warning me how curvy it was.  I need to find a fix because it also keeps warning me about my route taking me over so many miles of dirt roads, even when there are NO dirt roads.  It did this on expressways, so it is really nutty.

The entrance road inside the park has incredible views of what are really huge ancient sand dunes that have become sandstone. This one is called the checkerboard mesa:

Check out the signs on this Zion entrance tunnel.  My motorhome is 11’8” tall, which is very common.  Apparently, they used to let motorhomes drive through with other traffic, but then a lot of them got roof damage.  Now they charge you a $15 fee to close the tunnel and let you drive right down the mile-long middle.  In reality, you are really convoying with several other regular and large vehicles, but it was a neat experience. 

 

Here is what the tunnel openings look like from the outside and the rest of the entrance road:

And here is my campsite!  I have power, which is nice because the days are very hot.  Nights are very cold and windy, however, and sun rises late and sets early because of the canyon walls, but it stays light for quite a while. Nice to have large campsites which have some shade and a lot of landscaping between each. They ask you to be careful not to walk on plants.  Terrific views from all.

More in a couple of days.