Almost a week in the Las Vegas area...NICE!

With our fall travels winding down, it was time to head to Las Vegas to prepare to store BIW and then fly home for the holidays.

Our first stop along Lake Mead at the NPS Boulder Beach campground.  The park service continues to upgrade this campground with paved and level campsites.  Now under construction are the camping loops on the north side, so even though almost 50% of the campsites were closed due to construction, we once again scored a great site with views of Lake Mead.

   And a side note:  when checking out this campground we found the NPS photo that has our 2010 Winnebago Vista at another of the primo sites!  How cool!  

And now with our E-bikes we were ready to tackle the 26 mile bike trail loop.  One day we headed to town of Boulder City which was built to support the building of Hoover Dam.  Another day we rode the trail north along Lake Mead.

We did have a shortened stay at Boulder Beach, as Morey figured out what caused the smell of burning plastic that we had noted at Snow Canyon.   Our transfer switch which manages our shore power (110v) had a loose wire which was sparking and arcing...…...NOT GOOD!  No fire, but worrisome.  So on day two at Lake Mead, we were able to get an appointment at Findlay RV (where we go for oil changes in Las Vegas), and after some checking and needing to wait a day for the new switch, we were all repaired and back on our travels.

We then headed to Red Canyon, one of the most developed BLM parks we've ever visited.  Arriving at the campground we discovered our online chosen site would never accommodate our RV...and it was Veterans Weekend and the park was 100% full.  Talking with the campground host, we were able to obtain a site near the host's area.  AOK!

Once again it was time to take our E-bikes out for a spin; this time on the 13 mile loop road which also climbed almost 1500 feet.  We watched our battery level drop in the first few miles, but then the coasting back was a "free" ride...…..  So glad we've got these bikes.  We stopped at many of the lookouts and took some 2-3 mile hikes.

With only a couple of days until our departure back to home, we headed back to Las Vegas and stayed at Sams Casino KOA. Somewhat of a parking lot, but a great park to get our RV prepped for storage, our laundry done, and even time to take their shuttle to the "Strip."  Even took in a show, Beatles Love with Cirque du Soleil -- we loved the show and of course, the music!

   

 We all live in a yellow submarine.....err......a Winnebago RV !

Thursday morning was our travel home day, so we headed over to our newly chosen storage lot.  All good and only a $15 Lyft ride to the airport.  No record, but we arrived at the departures gate 2.5 hours early.   But of course!

Home we went...…………..and all good back in New Jersey.

Snow Canyon State Park, St. George, Utah

We were last here in St. George in 2013.  At the time we thought this would be a good place to spend some of our time....maybe even buy a small one-story house  Were we surprised when we drove up the road to Snow Canyon as obviously many people had the same thoughts.  There is development everywhere, but nice development, and all set against the red Navaho sandstone, the lava rock, and the muted green vegetation.

Our campsite at Snow Canyon was one of only a few sites with electric (and not in the well documented A&W car hop area where slide outs are dangerous).  {our site: 18}  Out our windows were all of the beautiful rock formations.

Over the four days spent here, we biked the "loop" three times with our E-bikes.  First we climbed to the top of the park road, then we swooped down and up the cycle paths that lead us 18 miles through all the great scenes. What wonderful biking!

Even found a bike shop for a minor adjustment and an ice cream shop!

We also hiked both inside the park and at Paradise Canyon.  The hikes included climbing up some of the petrified sand dunes, to a viewpoint of a lava tube, and high on the plateau where we could see all of the development.

RVing in Zion National Park

We've been to Zion a number of times with BIW, but this time we decided to spend more time, 9 days, and share this wonderful park with some of our friends ….. who are also RVers.

Six months (to the second), prior to our arrival, Morey booked campsites at Zion... Sites for us and the Feesers; both with electricity.  Unfortunately at the time of booking, all of the primo river side sites were taken, and the next sites along the loop which were reserved, turned out to be the two most unlevel sites in the campground...…. Oh well, lots of boards, and we were almost level!

Now we were ready for the majesty of Zion.  The soaring cliffs, the colors of the rocks, the Virgin River flowing through the canyon, and the hikes and bikes were all enjoyed.

We had planned an overnight backpack trip on the West Rim Trail.  Starting at Lava Point, we were going to hike the 16.2 miles along the plateau, overnight at a campsite reserved in Potato Hollow, and the ending, after passing Angels Landing, at the Grotto bus stop.  So excited, but then the weather changed...high temperatures in the low 50s (we can handle this), but night time temps in the mid teens or lower!  We were bummed,  we canceled our planned hike. Fortunately the Zmostny's, who were our backpack partners offered to drive to Lava Point and we hiked the first 4 miles of the West Rim Trail.  Then another day we hiked from the Grotto bus stop up 1,500 feet and 3 miles.  We now know we must come back and do this entire hike!

Our other RV friends, the Feesers, decided during our travels together that it was time to upgrade to a new larger motorhome.  So they left us after a few days at Bryce Canyon and arrived at Zion nine days later.. having driven out to southern Alabama to pick up their new vehicle.  Now that's dedicated RVers!

There is so much to do at Zion, nine days was not enough!