Our drive to St. George, Utah was a bit longer than Mike prefers. 345 miles which equaled ~8 hours of driving in Ruth. The planned drive was made even longer by a passage through the very busy traffic around Las Vegas and a 30 minute one-lane road construction delay on the the other side of Vegas. AAAAAUUUUGGGHH!
We were more than ready to arrive and get settled in for our 3 week stay at Southern Utah RV Resort. Upon our last turn onto the road where our campground was located, something about the angle of our right turn released the cabinet door above my head and caused our domino game to hit me right on the head. Mike was still trying to navigate Ruth to the campground. We quickly assessed for any significant skull damage and proceeded to our site. It was a rude ending to a very long day, but no permanent damage was done.
The campground was very new with nice facilities. We had a back-in spot away from the road noise. There were some longer stays like us, but many one nighters rolled in and out.
While we were in Casa Grande we had purchased some fabric so that we could sew some mirror covers for Ruth. You might ask, "Why would such a thing be needed?". Strangely enough, two reasons 1) to keep them clean for the duration of your stay once you clean them upon arrival 2) birds and other smaller creatures of nature can build nests in the crevices of the mirror which are difficult to remove. Sounds kinda nuts I realize but its a thing in the RV'ing world. Anyway, we had measured and cut the fabric before we left and I thought that I could just hand sew the 4 or 6 seams needed to complete them.
I have a new respect for the pioneer women and many world inhabitants before me that fashioned clothing and other things by hand sewing. But my momma didn't raise a dummy, so I got through one seam and I headed to Walmart to pick up a portable sewing machine to finish the rest. I finished the mirror covers and they are burgandy to match some of Ruth's stripes. Now I am prepared for any on the road sewing requirement.
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| Pioneer life is overrated. |
One one of our first couple of days, Mike was able to get my bike operational after its failure at the Grand Canyon. That was a huge deal as there were so many awesome bike trails in this part of Utah. They were awesome but hilly. I was grateful to have my e-bike to give me a boost during our rides. We rode many trails during our stay in Washington City/St. George.
Our first weekend was Cotton Days, in Washington City. We enjoyed the local small town experience with an outdoor evening concert in the park, exploring the Washington City Pioneer Museum, a tractor pull, an ice cream social and a car show. The weekend was the definition of Americana. It was fun to experience.
We had the opporunity to attend the WE Western Rock Climbing Competition in the 3 Peaks Recreation Area in Cedar City, Utah. There were 4 course laid out across many large boulders in this park. We were there no more than 30 minutes when we witnessed an overturned vehicle that couldn't make it up the rock hill. The machines were tricked out in every concievable manner with men, women and kids as drivers. On our way back from Cedar City, we took a drive through Kolob Canyon which was just lovely.
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| Does he look more than 12 years old? |
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| This guy is upside down. |
No trip to this area would be complete without a visit to Zion National Park. We had been there a couple of years ago on another trip, but it's beauty is worth seeing again. We had a lovely warm, but not hot day to explore the start of The Narrows and the Kayenta Trail to check out the upper and lower Emerald Pools. A relaxing lunch at the local brewery at the Zion Village entrance wrapped up a terrific day.
The Saturday before Monther's Day brought a fun experience. The 2022 Ironman World Championships had moved to Utah from it's regular location in Hawaii due to Covid. Our campground happened to be just a bike ride away from the bicycle route. We got up and watched these incredible physical specimen's roll by on the bicycles. It was fun to cheer them on their incredible journey.
This stop was chock full of hiking an bike riding in some of the most amazing scenery. Our day at Snow Canyon State Park was a terrific combo day of hiking and biking and a spectacular lunch spot.
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| Prettiest pit toilet ever. |
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| Petrified sand dunes |
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| Lunch at the foot of the sand dunes of Snow Canyon |
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| Janice and Mike Bobble at Snow Canyon |
Our last day in the area we booked a tour with Foodie Field Trip. This was a really fun walking tour of historic St. George hosted by a couple who curated some fun food stops while providing the pioneer hisitory of the area. We learned a lot about this community that got its roots from pioneers sent there by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to grow cotton when the Cival War was eminent. It was palpable how this religion permeates the culture of this this state, and somewhat thought provoking as it is the only place that I have been where you could feel it so acutely.
We really enjoyed our stay here in Utah. So much more to explore, but time for us to move on to our first stop in Colorado, Fruita. Looking forward to meeting up with friends there and exploring a new spot.
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