Day 116. Friday 23rd August. Kanab to Zion National park. Utah.

Happy Birthday to Jaxon. 5 years old today…:). He’s a beautiful boy…:)

Oooops he’s 6 years old. Sorry Jaxy..:)

Last nights camp site was very nice. We had a young couple from Maryland with a Nissan SUV and a rooftop tent beside us on one side and a single young guy on the other. The single chap had hitch hiked through the ‘Stans a couple of years ago, so we had plenty to chat about this morning. Likewise the two with the roof top tent. They were seeing as much of their country as they could cram in, in one month. They had been half way around it already. The interesting thing about their roof top tent, was it was called a ‘Tepui’. You may recall we chatted with Rita and Shaun a week or so back, on the Shanandoh Parkway? Their daughters are over here and have launched their own brand of roof top tent. We didn’t discuss the name but they said it was selling very well.  The young couple with the tent said they were very very happy with it. They bought it at REI, a camping warehouse in North America. Could it be that it is the one we discussed with Shaun and Rita?

On leaving the campsite Jen shopped at a supermarket nearby. While she was shopping a lady popped over to say Hi! and tell me about her experiences in a Land Rover, with her husband. Driving from Saudi Arabia to Northern Ireland in the early ’80’s. It was lovely to see the twinkle in her eye recalling her experiences. Land Rover’s do that to people.

The supermarket gave discount fuel vouchers saving 15c a gallon. Taking advantage of this we refuelled and filled the jerry cans. Within a short time I knew that our loss of power was mainly due to the fuel, as it is now back to it’s lusty best. 

Our intention was to drive to the Zion National Park and then head to Bryce Canyon National Park and camp. Well, we spent so much time enjoying good wifi and talking, that it wasn’t till nearly midday they we left Kanab. 

On the way to Zion we stopped to see the Salmon Pink sand dunes.

Zion is pretty amazing. Fantastic rock shapes, colours and formations. Parking in the park designated for RV’s we took an articulated bus shuttle to see the outer reaches of the park. The Americans really provide amazing service to tourists. The shuttle busses run every few minutes and are completely free. Though there is a Park entry fee. Stopping at every scenic point allowing you to get off, see the sights and catch the next bus coming along behind. 

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Zion is a more interactive site. There are hiking tracks everywhere but we were not so inclined so stayed on the bus for the return trip. By the time we got back to the car park it was after 4pm and we still had 70 miles to make it to Bryce. 

By 5pm, still well short of our destination we stopped to check a couple of camp sites. $40 please. No thanks, and moved on till finding a small site with cabins. The price $25 plus tax. The site has clean modern facilities but it’s right beside a busy road and it’s going to be a noisy night. 

Our neighbours tonight travelling in a Winnebago camper that must be 30m long and towing a Chevy Colorado Ute, are from Pennsylvania. They are retired and have been on the road for a couple of months. 

Now, Jen said we need a holiday so she has booked us to go back to the UK for a couple of weeks. When we get to Portland we’ll find a storage place for the Landy and experience a normal life for two weeks in the UK, before returning and continuing this amazing journey. Hopefully we will get back to NZ a little later to spend some time restoring the house and the Humber in the garage. I’m really looking forward to getting that progressed.

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