The temperature was fabulous on our last night in Jackson, and we were able to enjoy another evening outside. As Tom was grilling part of our dinner, some paragliding folks entered the picture. They came off of one of the mountains that surround the campground, and really seemed to enjoy casually coasting down into the field next to our campsite. We had fun just watching them soar.
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| paragliders above our campground |
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| just soaring |
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| grilling with the game on tv (hahaha) |
That early evening, the moon showed up near the other mountain that surrounded us. For such a crowded and cramped campground, I have to say that it was tranquil and peaceful when we were there. Some of our neighbors were artists that had traveled to Jackson for the very popular Art Festival and were showing their work at the Design Show at Snow King. It was very interesting talking to them and hearing about the life of an artist.
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| moon coming up over the mountain |
Next day bright and early we were off to our halfway destination of Coalville, Utah. Surprisingly on the ride there, we noticed quite a bit of fall foliage. The alpine layer has already turned and looked to be near peak. Plenty of the lower trees were still green though.
The next leg of our journey was through Salt Lake City and ending in, Utah, for the night. Again, another beautiful campground! And all of the campers there were so friendly. Of course, we were all worried about the storm moving in to Southern/Central Utah and the effect on our travel plans.
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| oh no, more weather |
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| hoping to escape any driving issues |
In a 4 hour ride, we had about an hour of rain, and could see that we were just missing the bulk of it as we traveled. We got to our campground around 2, to the news that Zion Nat'l Park was CLOSED! Wow! Turns out, they got hit pretty hard. The third worst flash flood ever. The road through the park was closed so rocks (boulders) could be removed. The river was raging and causing all sorts of problems. Our campground is right outside the east entrance to the park, so lots of cars were parked and waiting for conditions to improve.
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| check the flooding on the side of the road |
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| almost at our campground in Zion |
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| concentrating |
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| okay....here's our campground now! |
We were so lucky.....the park reopened at 4 or so, and visitors were allowed back in. There is a shuttle bus that takes visitors through Zion, and its the only way to see the scenic drive and get to most of the popular areas of the park. You basically have to take the shuttle to see the park. So, turns out, during this infamous day, people were stuck on a shuttle for a few hours, and then.....once back at their cars, the road was closed so they were really stuck for a long time. We are so happy we just missed that scene ourselves!!
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| time for some burgers |
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| great campsite |
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| love the views |
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| cheers! we made it to Zion in this storm! |
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| dinnertime |
So, the campground is in a great location, with clean and large facilities right here. Across the "highway" is the trading post....and our new "internet cafe"! Again, we have no internet or cell service. No TV either. Poor Tom...especially during football season and the start of the new season of shows on TV. And with that beautiful outdoor TV and all!! I think I saw him tear up when we found out about the TV...hahahahha. Just kidding. We are so lucky to be in another amazingly beautiful place. We will be watching the night sky at night! WOW! We are having a truly amazing journey!!
Watch out for snow. If you do Facebook then like the national park you are headed to-they sometimes post road closures, etc there. Hope you can get a signal!
ReplyDeleteMary from Perry