May 22 - United States: Zion National Park, Utah
We went for runs this morning that took us down a long and somewhat industrial road. The air was cool because the past few days have been cold and windy, but that was perfect weather for a run.
We had a 2:00 appoint at the mechanic, so we spent the rest of the morning downloading songs and packing up our stuff. At 12:00, we headed down Main Street and had lunch at a place called "The Pastry Pub". Then we went to the Chevy Dealer and handed over the keys to the Beemer.
Car Repair!
We waited in the lobby, watching TV and laughing with the guys who worked the front desk. Two hours later, the car was ready to go. Unfortunately, the guy who drove the car around sort of broke the gear shift. The shift into Reverse is a bit sticky, so the guy thought there might be a release mechanism and tried to pull up to find it. Unfortunately, he pulled the shift cover clear off the gear shift. No big deal, mechanically speaking, but it didn't fit on quite as tightly after they'd epoxied it back on. So Jon worked his wheeler/dealer magic and got $20 off the bill. And then we left Cedar City, quite happy that we don't have to worry about shattering windows anymore.
Zion was only about an hour and a half from Cedar City, so we didn't have too far to go. We'd made reservations ahead of time at a private campground 12-miles outside the park. The Zion River Resort is a brand-spanking-new campground and RV Park, run by a very nice couple. The facilities are INCREDIBLY nice, and worth the 12-mile drive into Zion. We were one of two tents set up there, but they were expecting a full house this coming weekend.
We fired up the campstove and made pasta, with enough leftover for lunch tomorrow. Then, we hit the hot tub! The air was cool when the sun went down, but the hot tub was around 100°. So we hung out for a while and relaxed with our book and magazine.
Jon Reading In the Hot Tub