We had changed our plan of driving through Las Vegas in order to see Zion National Park on recommendation of some bikers we had meet at a McDonalds in New Mexico. Neither one of us really cared to see Vegas but I wouldn’t have minded trying my luck at the roulette table for a spell and I wanted to valet park Charlie at the MGM, but other than that Las Vegas has a time and place and this trip really wasn’t it. And we couldn’t be happier with our choice.

Zion Canyon

Zion is a canyon that is cut into the limestone mountains of southern Utah, it was first settled by the Mormons, it’s a beautiful place and all the mountains and peaks have Biblical names still to this day. Its hard to compare the Grand Canyon to Zion because its two totally different experiences. The Grand Canon is just awe inspiring and mind boggling, but you just kind of stand on the rim and look down, but in Zion they have one of the most amazing roads that I have ever driven on in my life, and that’s saying a lot. Its cut right through the bottom of the canyon, well in most places, but it does zig zag, have a two mile long tunnel and some of the most amazing cliffs I’ve seen. Tina and I both agree we like Zion more than the Grand Canyon based solely on the fact that you are in the Canyon looking up, which is a whole different feeling. Zion to me was like going back in time, well some places in Texas was like going back in time also but Zion was like going way back in time, like prehistoric times. Standing there looking down the valley with 3000 foot sheer cliffs on either side, a crystal clear river flowing nearby and lush green almost tropical type plants growing everywhere I couldn’t help but imagine a T-Rex or some other prehistoric creature roaming in Zion. Its really a very “Jurassic Park” looking type of place. At least that’s what I thought, but you decide for yourself.

Traveling cross country is kind of tough due to the fact that you never know where you will be staying the next night, well at least we can’t really make any set plans driving around in a 32 year old VW. I pretty much just drive until I get worn out, which could be 475 miles or as low as 200 dependly on the terrain, and then there is the “we could break down at any moment and be making a campsite on side of the road” thought that is always with me. So not being able to plan ahead causes us to just kind of wonder into campgrounds about 4 or 5 hoping they have a spot for us, which thus far we have been lucky. But in Zion the only spot available for us was in the group section, and in the group section you never know who or what you will be stuck spending the night next too. Well fortunately we got lucky this time and ended up parked next to a young couple from Switzerland that turned out to be quite enjoyable. They had been living in a tiny apartment in Manhatten for two years and for their last 4 months in North America they decided to buy an old car off of craigslist and drive it around the U.S. and Mexico, which they have been doing since March. And not just any car, they picked an ’88 plum colored Chevrolet Station Wagon that had a huge dent down the drivers side. Turns out they had been in two wrecks since leaving New York, the first one in Memphis which caused one of the doors to stop working, then another in Mexico that somehow fixed the broken door and now it works just fine. They had two weeks left in the states and were heading to Vegas, said they hadn’t been there since getting married at a drive-thru wedding chapel two years ago, so they were pretty excited. Heres a pic of that ’88 plum colored beauty, and this wasn’t the first one they had bought, a few years back they toured Australia in one that was older and in worst shape than this one! I think I’ll stick to my VW’s…

Here is a pic of that plum colored beauty