July 5, Day 5 Road Trip
Finding Zion
Goodbye Lake Mead, hello Zion Utah. 10:21 AM Jul 5th, 2009 via Twittelator
We woke up the next morning, ready to leave Lake Mead on route to Mount Zion, Utah. We had much road to cover and I was happy to get a move on.. After packing up camp, Steve pulled out his trusty maps and a course was set. Greg climbed back into the back seat and Miro, Henry and I remained up front with Steve..
For a few hours, the driving was uneventful. Miles and miles of desert scenery which seemed to repeat itself ever so often. Then, Steve starting to get frustrated, since there seemed to be new developments along the road that weren’t familiar to him. We pulled off the main road, and drove down many smaller roads, Steve was certain the road he was looking for was there. I knew that anything I could say would be taken as antagonistic so I tried to remain quiet. Steve continued to get more and more frustrated and it didn’t seem that his GPS registered our current location. Then, Steve pulled over the van, pulled out the maps again and retraced with his fingers the route we had just taken.
Then, he blurted out, “they must have MOVED the road I was looking for!”
I learned today roads are “moved” when people don’t know where they are. LOL 2:05 PM Jul 5th, 2009 via Twittelator
Oh shit. I lost it.
I started cracking up and Miro and I both looked at each other and knew we were in trouble. Without a word, I told Greg he needed to trade places with us and sit up front and Miro and I climbed into the back of the van, giggling in hysterics.
I just crossed the state line entering Utah, now I’m off to search for a bar…. 2:35 PM Jul 5th, 2009 via Twittelator
Steve managed to find his way back on track and soon, thereafter, we entered Utah.
Utah’s scenery was so surreal. The small towns we drove through on our way to Zion Canyon were quaint and idealistic. They were well kept colonial homes in the middle of the wood like scenery. Each home had manicured lawns and an American flag proudly displaying their patriotism. Yes, this struck me as ulta-creepy, in a Steppford sort of way.
We made it to the beautiful town of Zion Canyon. The town felt like a tourist trap, but the sheer beauty of the red cliffs made up for it. We walked along the main road and Miro and I stopped at a gift shop that had a “panning for gold” kind of troth set up in the front of the store. For $20 I could buy a bag of sand and Miro could pan for treats contained in the bag. He liked that idea. After close to an hour, Miro ended up with a couple of quarts crystals, stones that looked like petrified poop,and a couple of onyx arrow heads. He was happy.
Note to self, bring incense when I camp in an RV site so I have something to mask the scent of German neighbors emptying their septic tank. 10:40 PM Jul 5th, 2009 via Twittelator
http://twitpic.com/9gzgm – Wow! The Utah moon from Zion, from my iphone. 10:50 PM Jul 5th, 2009 via TwitPic
We met back up with Steve and Greg and we headed to the nearest cafe for margaritas, my treat. (…the least I could do in appreciation of the afternoon’s entertainment!) Everyone was pretty relaxed so we checked into the Zion Canyon campground, which had creek access. The good thing was, the beauty of Zion Canyon seemed to have dissolved any tension that remained in the group and we had a wonderful chill night together. This was by far, the most beautiful place we had been to so far.