30 April ‘08
Tuesday
11am was check-out time and by the time we had packed up, filled the freshwater tank, and said our “Good-bye’s” to Bob and Laurie it was 10:48. I wanted to top off our fuel tank before we left town so we headed into Hurricane. With the prices of all the fuels going through the roof, I decided that after filling, we would try to find a place we could purchase lockable gas and diesel fuel caps. Just as we were leaving the edge of town, I spotted a NAPA store but the only parking for us was about 50 yards past them. Not seeing a problem with that and noticing a light pole that I would have to work around, I edged over to the curb. All of a sudden I hear this scrapping sound… I looked out of the passenger side mirror and saw that because of the steepness of the incline that was built into the shoulder of the road, we were now leaning into that damn light pole. The shoulders of the roads were made this steep as to allow a lot of rain to run easily to the storm drain system. Well fortunately, I was able to pull away from the pole without a scratch. Don’t ask me how, but luck was with me. Now what about the fuel caps??? Heck with it, I’ll find them somewhere else. Our drive took us back over to Hwy 15 and then continuing on east to Cedar City. At Cedar City, we took Hwy 14. This highway took us high up in the mountains. Fact is, when we finally stopped just a ½ mile short of the summit, our GPS told us we were at 9,987 feet. I knew we were high, but that really surprised me. The views from up there were amazing but unfortunately I don’t think the camera shots did them justice. Then it was on to find our campground. We will be (are now in) a state campground in Kodachrome Basin State Park. Prior to getting to Kodachrome, we had to pass through Red Canyon.
Tuesday
11am was check-out time and by the time we had packed up, filled the freshwater tank, and said our “Good-bye’s” to Bob and Laurie it was 10:48. I wanted to top off our fuel tank before we left town so we headed into Hurricane. With the prices of all the fuels going through the roof, I decided that after filling, we would try to find a place we could purchase lockable gas and diesel fuel caps. Just as we were leaving the edge of town, I spotted a NAPA store but the only parking for us was about 50 yards past them. Not seeing a problem with that and noticing a light pole that I would have to work around, I edged over to the curb. All of a sudden I hear this scrapping sound… I looked out of the passenger side mirror and saw that because of the steepness of the incline that was built into the shoulder of the road, we were now leaning into that damn light pole. The shoulders of the roads were made this steep as to allow a lot of rain to run easily to the storm drain system. Well fortunately, I was able to pull away from the pole without a scratch. Don’t ask me how, but luck was with me. Now what about the fuel caps??? Heck with it, I’ll find them somewhere else. Our drive took us back over to Hwy 15 and then continuing on east to Cedar City. At Cedar City, we took Hwy 14. This highway took us high up in the mountains. Fact is, when we finally stopped just a ½ mile short of the summit, our GPS told us we were at 9,987 feet. I knew we were high, but that really surprised me. The views from up there were amazing but unfortunately I don’t think the camera shots did them justice. Then it was on to find our campground. We will be (are now in) a state campground in Kodachrome Basin State Park. Prior to getting to Kodachrome, we had to pass through Red Canyon.
Going into Red Canyon was like driving through a private gate and then….BAM !!!! The most unbelievable red rock formations…yep, again with the red rocks and the formations.
There was a sign that told us we were about to enter this area, and that there would be a “scenic view” in ¼ mile…we saw the same sign every ¼ mile for the next 2 miles. You couldn’t believe the beauty of this place…it was something else. Well like I mentioned, we are now in Kodachrome Basin State Park.
Our campsite is surrounded with natural rock formations of red, white, pink, and dark burgundy. The trees and plants all complement the formations.
We have already taken a short 1 mile hike and a 6 mile off road ride (the car is again one big dust ball) to see some of this Kodachrome area. Tomorrow we will be doing a lot more of both if the wind will let us. Yep, the wind had found us again, blowing this red sand into every crevice available. Lets just say it’s tough to stay clean. The days are staying light well into the 9pm area, but after that…boy, do the stars make their appearance here. It’s hard to believe there are that many stars in the sky above.