Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

Our next stop is Bryce National Park, about 125 miles northeast of Hurricane, UT, our last stop. Bryce is also at an elevation of 8000 to 9000 ft, so it's much colder than St. George. It's definitely a good time of year to find a camping spot at the first come, first serve North

campground in the park.

The most popular section of the park is called the Amphitheater because the canyon is a bowl shape that opens into a valley below. My first views of the vast Bryce amphitheater as we hike up to the rim are breathtaking. The colors and the hoodoos remind me of the formations in the Badlands National Park in South Dakota, but, here, to be able to stand on a high viewpoint and look down on the landscape is humbling.

We do a ranger hike along the rim of the canyon from Sunset to Sunrise points. During the hike, the ranger talks about the formation of the amphitheater, the wildlife and the plant life here. While we are doing this, I look down and see the hikers on the trails winding into the hoodoos and want to be down there with them!

So the next day, we start down the Queen's Garden trail. This trail descends down into the hoodoos for a little less than a mile then returns back up the same trail.

The Queen

I thought this looked like a castle.

After reaching the bottom of the trail and seeing the Queen, we decide that we want to see more and continue on to Navajo Loop.

Almost to the top, looking back down at the switchbacks

 The hike was, in my mind, one of the best ever and ended with an amazing climb to the top!

Victory!

Zion National Park & St. George UT

Valley of Fire was a wonderful find, but now we're headed to one of the destinations for this trip, the St. George, Utah area and Zion National Park.

We couldn't get reservations camping in the park, but we found a couple of wonderful options just outside of St. George, Utah, about 20 miles from Zion.

The first is the Leeds RV Park and Motel in the small town of Leeds, just northeast of St. George. The site we have is shady, which is nice as it's still warm here. I love small towns, and I'd love to explore, but we've only booked one night here as a layover to an rv park closer to Zion.

The next day, we move to WillowWind RV Park in Hurricane, UT. 

One of our first excursions is to look at houses in the area. We end up in the Dameron Valley area of Utah. I think I'm putting it on my list of places to retire. On the way home, we stop for gas and decide to look for somewhere to have dinner. Looking at Google Maps, we find Chef Alfredo's. We were a little under dressed, but they let us in anyway. Dinner was delicious!

I need a case of that bread sent to me!

   

The highlight of the stay was, of course Zion. Hearing that parking in the park was non-existent by 10 AM, we left early to try to beat some of the crowd. There was a line to get into the park, but not too bad. We found a parking spot, stopped into the Visitors Center for a map, then headed off to catch the shuttle. The shuttle is great, it's free, runs often and takes you to 9 different stops in the park where you can find a number of trail heads and scenic views.

What I found in Zion was unexpected. After seeing so much of the red sandstone in the area, I was expecting more of the same but on a grander scale. What I found was a riot of fall colors along the Lower Emerald Pools trail and a waterfall at the top. 

Water is dripping from the overhanging rocks above

The most northerly shuttle stop takes us to the Temple of Sinawava.  From there we take the Riverside Walk up to the Narrows. We didn't do the Narrows hike because a good deal of the hike is in the river and requires special dress and equipment. 

On the way back down the canyon we take the short hike to Weeping Rock before heading home.

Valley of Fire State Park - Moapa Valley, NV

We're heading to Valley of Fire State Park, which is a little over an hour northeast of Las Vegas. We leave the freeway and drive about 15 miles along a flat, narrow road in the Nevada desert late in the afternoon, the thought crosses my mind that Valley of Fire is named after the blazing desert heat, and the thought of spending time in the bleak Nevada desert is not appealing.

We drive through some hills, and Valley of Fire opens before us, a blaze of red sandstone that is glorious.

Unfortunately for us, we arrive late in the afternoon. All the campsites here are first come, first serve, so we're in jeopardy of not finding a spot for the evening. There are a couple of dry camp sites at the Atlatl Campground that are large enough and unoccupied, but they are ADA sites. We check with the campground host and park ranger, and they agree that because they are the only sites left, we can stay there for one night.

So next morning, I'm up bright and early scouting out open sites. I discover a level RV site with water and electric hook-ups that has views of the park rather than the campground! So I park the car in the site and rouse Tom out of bed to move the RV. 

Our first evening, we drive out to Rainbow Vista and White Domes and see mountain goats grazing along the side of the road. Let me correct that, Tom sees mountain goats. I see nothing until some rocks start moving and turning into goat shapes...

While we are there, we hike out to the the Fire Wave. It's a warm day out there, and Tank and my tongues are hanging out by the time we get there. (Yes, Nevada let's Tank go on the trails with us! Yay Nevada!) But Tom's a great planner and has carried water in for us, so it's a great hike with beautiful rewards. 

On our last night there, we walked over to the Atlatl view point to look at the petroglyphs. 

This time, I was the one to spot the bats that were taking flight for their evening meal. I felt like they were dive bombing me! No wonder people used to be afraid bats would get tangled in their hair! 

Oasis Las Vegas RV Resort

Well, we have finally made it out of California on our way to southwest Utah. From Carpinteria, we skirted along the top of the L.A area and then took Hwy 15, which will take us northeast from Victorville, CA thru Las Vegas and then to southwest Utah. These are new adventures for me as I've never been to Las Vegas before. The Oasis, a little ways south of the main Las Vegas strip, is a huge RV park.

Our stay in Vegas was very short, so we did not venture into the main strip except for a quick drive through. I took many, many horrible, uneven pictures during that drive that I will not bother to post here. What I will post are pictures of my amazing breakfast, Andy's World Famous Sage Fried Chicken Benedict. from Hash House A Go Go. (I forced Tom to take me for breakfast after Cora's Facebook post.)

 
It was huge and delicious. I also recommend their mochas! I could have drunk a couple of these!

 If you are wondering... your eyes are not deceiving you, the mug is indeed leaning. Furthermore the subject "photobombing" in the background was not bored, but patiently (more or less) waiting for his food.

The outing was worthwhile of Tom. He saw a camera shop on the way back to the RV and got to try out a couple of tripods...not exactly what he wanted, but at least now he has narrowed down the field.

Carpinteria State Beach, CA

Just south of Santa Barbara is our next stop the San Miguel Campground at Carpinteria State Beach! I've been worried about this all week. I've booked a site meant for an RV about 3 ft shorter than we are, so I'm afraid we won't fit or that the authorities will turn us away! When we get there, all worry washes away. Score! Beachfront! Topping on the cake, we fit, and we're not even the largest rig there! Whew

We're not staying long because we have to head east, but after seeing our site and hearing how hard it is to get in here, I wish I'd booked an extra night or two!

Cayucos & Pismo Beach, CA

Pismo Beach

From Big Sur, we head down the coast past San Simeon and Cambria to Cayucos, another place you usually only see as you passed through on Hwy 1.

You can see Morro Rock in the distance if you look closely.

Cayucos is just a little way north of Morro Bay. We stay at a little mobile home village called Bella Vista. Bella Vista sits on the edge of town on a hill. It has a nice view and is close enough for us to walk into town.

Distant picture of Bella Vista from the downtown pier

Cayucos is a quaint, little town, but is only a short stopover on our way south. Next stop is Pismo Beach, just south of San Luis Obispo.  

Activities at Pismo include a walk on the beach and drinks and nachos at Wooly's next to the pier. FYI, the nachos were huge and yummy!

Another day was spent back tracking up the highway to Moonstone Beach in Cambria

and the elephant seal view point near San Simeon.

My one sad regret was not stopping to take pictures of the zebras next to the highway at Hearst Castle :(. By the time we passed on the way back, they were too far away.

She was chasing sea gulls and was fun to watch.