June 4, 2004 - Zion N.P. - Day 3
Well, happy anniversary to us! We met 34 years ago today. Barb's 1965 VW bug quit and she called the VW dealership where I was working as a Service Advisor. Had the car towed in, couldn't find anything wrong with it, gave it a tune up and sent her on her way. Before leaving she told me in no uncertain terms she didn't think we'd fixed it, and sure enough, in 20 minutes or so she was back on the phone, madder than a hornet. We towed the car back in, did everything we could to make it quit, but it ran just fine. After several attempts the next few days to fix the dang thing, she made me take her home in it and I drove it after that. Guess what? As I was driving back to the shop, it quit on me. AHA! Fuel problem! Sure enough, there was a tiny piece of what appeared to be gum that was in the float bowl and would get the needle stuck and starve the poor little engine to death. Quick fix. But by then I was smitten by her funny way of looking at things and her ferocity (besides, she wore killer mini-skirts), and we were married 4 months and 6 days later. Poor girl had no idea what she was getting herself into!
Today was a driving day as we recovered from a tad too much walking/hiking yesterday, and we chose to go into Springdale (up Hwy 9) to the IMAX theatre to watch "Zion National Park: Treasure of the Gods." Great flick. What scenery! The rock climbers made my hands sweat! Then back into Rockville where, after asking around, we found the road (dirt) that would take us south to Hwy 59. There was something called the "Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park" that Barb wanted to see, along with "National Butte Smithsonian Backway." I was interested in driving up to see the Kolob Reservoir because the road looked real kinky. Since the movie didn't start until 11AM, we opted to take Barb's choice. Besides, the Reservoir trip would have been an up and back trip on the same road, and the State Park trip would be a loop. Or so we thought. What a joke! No signs anywhere indicating which one of these dirt roads went where, and we went out of our way a good bit before finding the right road.
The scenery in southern Utah is constantly changing, and yet ever the same. Mountains, different colors, and lots of contrasts. The field of yellow flowers offset by the dry grass and desert rocks.
Surprises abound. We are pretty sure that tumbleweed didn't get up there by itself, but it sure did catch our eye.
Different shades of green, grey, and the ever-present red rocks. Woops! Barb had the camera, and from the looks of the background, we've found some pavement. We're in the campground and what a great campground it is! You see the paved roads, but also 22 pull-through camp sites, picnic table and grill, modern rest rooms, hot showers, sewage disposal station, and the spectacular sand dunes (no wind please). Too bad it's so far out of the way.
We've arrived. Managed to drive right by the Smithsonian Butte without recognizing it and, of course, there were no signs. Today was one of those frustrating days that you just kind of muddle through. We had specific things we wanted to see that were shown on the maps/brochures the different governmental agencies and chambers of commerce put out, but the follow-through fails us. No signs telling us which roads to take, no names of roads on the maps, no indication of where we are on the roads themselves. Grrrrr. But we got here anyway, so there!
Coral pink? Well, maybe, depending on the camera settings an my adjustments here on the computer--actually looked more like salmon to us. This is largely an ATV (all terrain vehicle) park, with a boardwalk extending out into the dunes a bit. We could see some ATV's off in the distance, and could hear some closer, but were hidden from view.
Well, we drove nearly 200 miles to get these wonderful pictures of the sand dunes. Like I said, some days are like that. Is this a great lifestyle or what?
On the way out, Barb spotted this RV with an ATV alongside it outside the "official" parking, and apparently for free. We drove in and discovered they had the same dunes to play on, but were just parked on the sand. Looked official, just no quiet hours and no park fees to pay apparently. Several rigs were parked there. And some more of the same unusual rocks even this far south.
On the way home we had to go through the tunnel, and as luck would have it, an RV was holding up traffic in our direction, and we were first in line. Great chance to actually see what it looked like. It looked like this guy could have gone through without having to stop traffic or pay the $10. But maybe not, too. Then, since we were first in line, we could speed up a little and get ahead of the rest of the parade so I could slow way down as we'd pass the "windows" that had been punched through the wall of the 1.1 mile tunnel.
Barb managed to catch a couple of good shots out these windows, and then after we came out of the tunnel, and made a switchback or two, she could catch this shot of the outside of one of the windows. This made the whole day worth it for us. Bryce Canyon tomorrow.