Vaccine, RV and Zion
While the COVID-19 pandemic still dominates our everyday life, as more people are vaccinated, we see the light at the end of the tunnel. Both of us were fully vaccinated on April 17. On that day, we joined REI's Arizona Star Walk event. The tour guide took us on a two-hour hike under the stars in Tonto National Forest. It is the first time since the last March that we had physical interaction with other people, although we all wore masks and kept physical distance. The star walk was joyful and educational. We made the first step to come out of the shadow of the pandemic.
The next day, we were pondering where our next trip would be, from Cancun to Iceland. Then we decided to rent an RV to visit Zion National Park on Tuesday (4/20). It took us a couple of hours to make the reservations for RV and campgrounds. It is the shortest time from deciding to starting the trip. It illustrates how eager we for us to get out of home and go back on the travel. RV travel is always on our top of the bucket list. We used to talk about renting an RV from Seattle and drive it to Alaska when we retire. This trip could be our test drive for RV travel. We rented an RV from Cruise America. Cruise America has three different sizes of Class C RV, extended, standard and compact. To our surprise, the standard RV at $109 a night was cheaper than the smaller one, compact one. It has two beds and a full bathroom, comfortably for four adults. We rented it for six nights. After chatting with our friend, Steve, he and his wife, CC decided to join us on the trip.
On Tuesday (4/20), we picked up an RV from Cruise America in the afternoon, packed our stuff, filled the refrigerator, and drove to Flagstaff. We stayed at the KOA Holiday in Flagstaff. The KOA campground was decent, and staying was pleasant. The next day we drove to Zion National Park.
On the way to Zion, we stopped at the world-famous Horseshoe Bend near Page, AZ. The outlook becomes the major tourist destination in reference by social media in recent years. It is our first visit to the site. The view is gorgeous, and there are not too many people around. We were glad to make the stop.
Private vehicles are not allowed to drive to the scenic canyon area inside Zion National Park. The park provides free shuttle service to various locations. Since the pandemic, due to a reduced number of seats available, the park requires tickets for the shuttles. A portion of the tickets for the shuttle was released online at 5 pm on the day before the day of the visit. Those tickets are usually gone within minutes. Since we had a late start from Flagstaff, we were still far from reaching Zion before 5 pm. We were driving on Highway 89, with no community nearby, before 5 pm. But somehow, we still had a strong 5G cellular signal. 15 mins before 5 pm, we pulled over to a national historic site on the roadside and got the phones ready to grab the tickets. Fortunately, one of three iPhones was able to get noon shuttle tickets for the next day. We were so happy and excited to visit Zion National Park.
Our RV campground, Zion Canyon RV campground, was just outside Zion National Park. One way to get there is to go through the tunnel in the park. It is free for small vehicles but $15 for an RV. Since the tunnel is narrow, the park ranger has to stop both traffic to allow RV to go through only. It is also the first time to use our lifetime senior national park pass. We made it to the campground before dark. CC made four delicious hot dishes with one soup for dinner. After the gourmet dinner, we lighted the fire and enjoyed our first day in Zion.
Our RV is on the right.
On 4/22, we got up early to get our morning coffee from a local coffee shop near the park. Interestingly, most customers wore the masks but not the workers. We felt great having the first-morning coffee walk with a magnificent view since the pandemic started. We got on the shuttle a little bit earlier before noon. There are nine bus stops, but half stops were closed due to loose rocks. We rode it to the last bus stop, Temple of Sinawava. We did a 2.2 mile Riverside Walk along the Virgin River and took a lot of pictures. We didn't go into Narrows because we didn't have the dry suit and were afraid of toxic Cyanobacteria Bloom in the river. Then we rode the shuttle back to the Grotto. From there, we hiked 3.7 miles going through Kayenta and Lower, Middle, and Up Emerald Pool trail to arrive at Zion Lodge. On that day, we did a 12-mile hike total and 26000 steps. Everyone was exhausted. However, CC still managed to cook four hot dishes with one soup for dinner. Life was good.
The next day, after yesterday's 12-mile hike, we just wanted to relax and made a moderate 3.3 mile Watchman trail near the visitor center. Finally, after climbing 370 feet elevation, we reached the top to have a beautiful view of the Temples and Towers, lower Zion Canyon, Watchman Peak, and Springdale. Then, we went back to our RV to get our next shuttle tickets.
Last day at the park, we decided to attempt Angel's Landing via the West Rim trail. The West Rim trail starts at the Grotto. Not long after short walking on the canyon floor, the steep incline goes up for a little bit until we get to a zig-zag Walter's Wiggles that takes us up to the top of the ridge above the Canyon. We took a break and had a light snack at Scout Lookout. The traffic at the entrance of Angel's landing was crowded since there is one way going up and down. After watching people going in and out, we decided to climb the first section of the chains and come back. We did manage to take some nice pictures of climbing Angel's Landing. It was worth the effort.
The first RV experience was great. The staying was comfortable, but driving was not. We had to switch the seats every hour or so to avoid car sick. We were not sure we would rent Class C RV again for a long distance travel and this RV life is not cheap either. It works out to be $250 per night and $0.69 per mile.
