We were awakened this morning by a phone call and a few texts from family and friends checking to see if we were alright. They heard about the shooting in Las Vegas and knew that we were there. Thanks everyone for being concerned and checking on us! All is well. We got everything ready and pulled out of the campground at 10:15. We got on I-95 and cruised out of town.
Auggie found a comfortable spot in the back seat in the sunshine to enjoy the ride.
One thing I noticed about the bridges and overpasses in AZ, NM, and NV, they are very artsy and have beautiful designs adorning them. These are just two of the ones we’ve seen lately.
It was a beautiful day with a cloudless sky and cooler temps of 73 degrees. The scenery consisted of rolling hills, ringed by mountains.
As we neared the AZ/UT border, the elevation rose and mountains appeared. I love how the roads cut a notch right into the hills.
Flat Top Mountain stretched out before us for a long way.
Wherever there were cactus and greenery, there was water….and a golf course. It was like an oasis in the middle of the desert.
We crossed the Nevada border around noon. We would only cross the very northwest corner of Arizona for a short distance before entering Utah and the Mountain Time Zone, losing an hour.
We were on I-15 heading towards the mountains…I mean right at the mountain. We could not see up ahead where the road went.
Eventually, we saw that the road would take us through the Virgin River Gorge…and what a gorge it was! It was awesome!
The road consisted of many twists and turns with a 5% grade and possible gusty winds. It was beautiful passing through the gorge where the Virgin River flows.
The scenery throughout the area was gorgeous as we traveled on this scenic section of I-15!
Once we were through the gorge and out on the other side, we passed through the bustling towns of St. George and Washington. We got off on Highway 9 which brought us to the town of Hurricane in the valley, before we made the climb up and over the hills. Our destination for tonight is Virgin, UT where we would find our campground, Zion River RV Resort and Campground.
It was a beautiful campground with hills and mountains all around us. We checked in around 2:30 and set up camp. We were given site #50 which backed up to the Virgin River. We could hear the river gurgling right behind our camper. This is the first campground that we’ve been to EVER that has no cell service whatsoever. We are off the grid for a few days. The town of Virgin has no gas station, no grocery store, no services.
The bushes and trees were beginning to show their golden colors around us. After we set up, Auggie and I took a walk down to the river. There was a path 2 sites over from us right off the park. The river was running pretty fast and it was cold.
We have a rocky berm right behind us and Bob was told that they built that to keep back the rising water from the river in the spring. Auggie discovered the squirrel that lives nearby and the other creatures that live in the rocks behind us. From our campground we have an awesome view of the hills around us.
We had a later dinner and Bob and I took a walk down to the river as the sun was setting behind the hills.
We came back to the campsite for Auggie and took our evening walk around the campground. As the sun set, it turned the hillsides and mountains around us a brilliant orange color.
We went inside as the temperature started to drop when the sun went down. We watched some TV and made plans to do some hiking in Zion National Park tomorrow. The weather looks good for the 4 days that we will be here–in the 80’s during the day and the 50’s at night. Lots of sun and no rain in sight!
