March 22, 2022 - Near Toquerville, Utah to Rifle, Colorado

We must have been tired because we BOTH slept in this morning until 9! We were planning to go to Arches National Park but decided with the wind and colder temperatures to just head back to Colorado.

We were back on I-15 north and soon spotted snow all along the roadways. We were both glad it was on the hills and not the highway!We enjoyed all of the beautiful scenery as we made our way to I-70 eastbound and through Utah. These are some of the pictures taken through the window of the RV. (excuse the bug spots!)No matter how much we love traveling, this is always a welcome site when we see this sign.We worked our way east stopping in Grand Junction for gas and encountered a few snow flurries outside of town. We were thankful when we drove out of them and were on our way to Rifle, Colorado for the night. We hope to get an earlier start tomorrow as we make our final trek to Fort Collins.

March 21, 2022 - Valley of Fire State Park, NV to near Toquerville, Utah

Some days go as planned and others are like today! We had hoped to get to Zion National Park fairly early in the day … well, that didn’t happen. Between a sleepy wife who didn’t want to get up this morning, motorhome speeds and a time change (not in our favor!) it was after 2 pm by the time we got there! The views along Highway 9 were great, however, as we got closer to the park. Going through Springdale, Utah didn’t help. There are signs everywhere about no RVs in the park and there are paid parking lots with free shuttles into the park. They wanted $40 to park the RV for the day and most of them were full!! (that’s more than lots of campgrounds!) We did the loop through town a couple times before just going to the park entrance and feigning ignorance. It worked in our favor. The ranger was great and said they have oversized parking at the visitor’s center for RVs and we were in luck – there were two empty spaces. After parking we had a quick lunch then caught one of the shuttle buses in the park to tour the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. (There no RVs are allowed on the road and limited cars.)

We rode to the last stop (9) and took the Riverside Walk at Temple of Sinawava. The trail is paved and follows the Virgin River into a deep canyon. The park was packed and every trail we went on was busy.At the end of Riverside Walk you can continue onto The Narrows. The Narrows hike is up to 9.5 miles depending on how far you want to go. We saw lots of folks coming out. They all had on water-type shoes, waterproof pants and tops and hiking poles since you cross the river multiple times. Maybe another time – when the temperature is above 50 and the wind isn’t blowing so hard! We opted to turn around here and head back. Roundtrip was a 2.25 mile hike.We stopped at Big Bend to get a look at Angels Landing. (stop 8)In the panorama view you can see all of the formations.We were on to Shuttle Stop 5 near the Zion Lodge. We hiked to the Lower Emerald Pool (1.2 miles). While the trail is paved, there are steep drop offs along the way and I am not fond of heights, so I made Tobey walk on the outside!It was the wrong time of day to actually see the emerald color of the pool because there wasn’t enough sun. It was still an amazing view. The trail does go behind the small waterfall and yes, we did get a little wet.We had a beautiful view back at the trail on the west side of the Virgin River.It was already past 5pm, so we decided not to hike anymore, but stopped at Court of the Patriarchs for a photo. There is a small trail up the hill across the road which gave us a nice view. From left to right, they are Abraham Peak, Isaac Peak, and the white one on the far right back is Jacob Peak. The peaks were named after three towering figures from the Old Testament. In 1916, a Methodist minister, Frederick Vining Fisher, gave the religious names to the peaks. Today it isn’t hard to imagine how the grandeur of the view could inspire such reverence. Each of them are over 6,800 feet in elevation.

We arrived back to the RV after 6pm and both decided that Zion deserves more time for a visit, but we would both like warmer temperatures.

We drove about 30 minutes to our camping spot for the night. We are again on BLM land near I-15 and Toquerville, Utah. The wind is still blowing but we are blocked a little by the cedar trees so we hope to have a calmer night.

March 20, 2022 - Las Vegas to Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

The forecast for today was mostly sunny, but high winds. Well, the winds started last night and rocked our little RV most of the night! It was pretty brisk as we were packing up to head out and then the rain started! Fortunately, it was off and on and didn’t last too long. By the time we arrived at Valley of Fire State Park, it was just super windy, but dry.

Valley of Fire is Nevada’s first (1935) and largest state park (40,000 acres). The area has been used by Native American’s for over 4,000 years. Their many petroglyphs are found throughout the park in the sandstone formations. The park got its name from the red sandstone which were once sand dunes over 150 million years ago!As we approached the park, we spotted four bighorn sheep. The road was busy so we couldn’t stop, but it was cool. Coming in the west entrance we took the first loop road toward Arch Rock and Atlatl Rock. The scenery was beautiful.We stopped and to see the petroglyphs before continuing on to the petrified logs. They have constructed this huge stairway so you can get a close look at the petroglyphs. Having been to the Petrified Forest in Arizona, their logs were pretty disappointing but it was only 1/4 mile hike so that was okay. Unfortunately, they have had to chain link fence to protect the few logs in the park.Our route continued to the visitor’s center, and a view of Balancing Rock. At the Mouse’s Tank stop, we took the .75 mile hike to see more petroglyphs. The trails were relatively easy, but over loose sand. Lots and lots of loose, red sand! More about that later …The Rainbow Vista trail was a little over a mile and also took us to a look out over Fire Canyon.  We definitely stopped here!From Rainbow Vista, we continued to the end of the road at White Domes Loop trailhead. The White Domes Loop trail is a 1.25 mile hike. Again, loose sand and some rough terrain heading down the trail, but awesome! There is a small remnant of a movie set (The Professionals with Burt Lancaster) from 1966 before we dropped into a slot canyon. Several other movies were filmed in the park near this area.The rock below reminded us of an elephant lying down with his trunk curled in front of him.Other views as we made our way south on White Domes Road.We took the Fire Canyon Overlook and Silica Dome turnout on our way back and had some really great views of the red sandstone and gray and tan limestone rocks.It was getting late, so we started toward the exit but stopping at the historic cabins. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935, the three cabins are tucked in next to the rocks. They are constructed from native sandstone and were used for years by campers and visitors to the park. Just before exiting the park we took the .25 mile hike to see Elephant Rock. The park is pretty amazing and I am happy we added it to our itinerary! Now, the final bit about the sandy hike. Before leaving we stopped to empty our shoes … Tobey definitely gets the prize for “most sand in your shoes.”We are camped on BLM land about seven miles south of Overton tonight. It is a busy spot with lots of RVs – and LOTS OF WIND!

Tomorrow it is on to Zion National Park.