Park City to Zion National Park

A little over a week has passed since I last wrote. It was a busy week, with ski lessons, excellent lunches, a brief day skiing outside of Park City and then the road trip to Zion National Park. We are actually back in California now, in the exciting town of Barstow, where we have found a cute little RV park to spend the night before we continue our journey.

I had two days of good lessons. The first day, Monday, I was in a group of four, myself and three others - a married couple, Bill and Pauline and a young man who normally snowboards but decided to take a skiing lesson. Our instructor was John, from Vermont originally; he was good - he kept us all in line and was able to dispense advice specifically for each of us as well as general enough for all. He helped me quite a bit and I felt my confidence increasing as the lesson was completed. The second day of lessons I lucked into a private - I started with one other man but while I was away for a quick bathroom run they decided to split us up. I had a wonderful instructor, Dan, from upstate NY. He is also a mountain bike instructor, so we had plenty to talk about. Dan was able to give me great individual attention and really brought my skiing to another level. I ended my lesson on Tuesday feeling great and able to conquer at least some Utah blues.

Both Monday and Tuesday we enjoyed lunches at Stein Ericson lodge. The wine list was the real draw, although on Tuesday we decided to try the buffet for the first time. That turned out to be a really good idea - several salads to choose from, a charcuterie platter, seafood platters, plus several different entrees and a carving station. I don’t know if I ate my money’s worth, but I certainly enjoyed myself.

Wednesday we decided to go to Brighton to ski. We had a leisurely morning and got there just at noon. It was a very different scene than Deer Valley. Deer Valley is pretty posh plus it’s huge. Brighton felt a lot more local. It is very pretty and we found a couple of good runs, but I, at least, found the other people to be the problem. One young man whipped past me within inches - why do good skiers insist on skiing the green runs that they have to know people are developing their skills upon?? We skied for a bit, then headed into Salt Lake City to get some lunch (excellent tacos at a place across from the grocery store we liked - with even better margaritas) and do some shopping.

Thursday was our last day of skiing and our last day at Deer Valley. We got their early and skied every green run we could find plus a couple of blues. I made my way down one blue that had been my nemesis the week previously (we had gotten on it accidentally and I ended up walking and sliding down it); we got on it the same way as last time, thinking it took us somewhere else. This time I didn’t take off my skis; it wasn’t pretty, but I did get down it and I thank my instructors for that. We enjoyed another lunch and buffet at Stein Ericsen. We will miss the wine list - we ended up drinking their last bottles of several wines - a Sancerre, a Burgundy and a Meursault. It was fun finding older whites on the list - what a treat.

On Friday we spent the day getting ready to head south. We were both tired of the cold - it snowed Thursday night and while it was beautiful, it was cold. Both Thursday and Friday morning we woke up to 6° temps and highs never got above the mid-30’s. I did more laundry and we cleaned up our rental car and Cookie, getting both ready for departure the next morning.

Saturday we woke early and hit the road around 8:30AM. The car rental place didn’t open until 9:00AM, and with an icy drive down the hill into Salt Lake, we timed it well. The return went smoothly and soon we were on I-15 South, heading to Zion National Park. The drive was uneventful, except for a stop in Fillmore, Utah, at Tacos Los Panchos for lunch. Fillmore was the capitol of the Utah Territory at one time, so it has a bit of history. However, the taco stand was excellent. Super friendly, a family owned spot with the son at the window, the mom cooking and dad making sure everything is OK. We enjoyed the delicious tacos as we sat in front of their spot before hitting the road again.

We pulled into Zion a couple of hours before dark. It was beautiful and (relatively) warm. We drove around the campground a couple of times before selecting a nice spot to spend two nights. Then we poured ourselves some wine and took a brief hike to watch the sun set against the rock walls surrounding us. We also purchased some fire wood so we could enjoy a fire in the fire pit - sitting outside in either Salt Lake or Park City was unthinkable. It was lovely to sit out and relax with the heat of the fire - though it did get cold; we woke up to 22° mornings both Sunday and today.

Sunday we woke, made coffee then headed on a hike. We stayed at the Watchman campground and there is a nice hike that starts along the Virgin River, which was just outside our door, then heads into the mesa about us. It was chilly but gorgeous. We got back, had a late breakfast, then decided to rent E-bikes just outside the park (a short walk from where we camped) to explore deeper into the canyon. I was hesitant at first - it’s an 8 mile ride, one way. But the e-bikes made it easy and fun. The canyon just gets more beautiful as you go into it and we saw several deer, does and bucks, as we rode in. On our way back we also saw some Big Horn Sheep, though from a long distance. It did get chilly on the way back - my hands were freezing and I was wishing for a coat - but it really was beautiful.

We had another fire and a cocktail to celebrate the day, then slept well to the sounds of the river nearby. We got up early this morning and decided to take a scenic tour in the RV - you can drive up towards the eastern entrance to the park. There is a tunnel that is shorter and more narrower than normal, so we had to pay $15.00 to go through - they stop traffic so we could drive in the center of the road through the mile-long tunnel. It turned out to be money well spent - the drive is gorgeous and we saw, quite close, more of the Big Horn Sheep. We decided it was worth the extra two hours of drive time it added to the day as well, even as we finally pulled into a quaint RV park just outside of Barstow, both tired from the day driving.

We are headed to Mercey Hot Springs tomorrow, where we will spend two nights before heading home on the final leg. We are both happy to be somewhere warmer - for the first time in three weeks we do not have a heater plugged in (normally we have two). We are also excited to see our family, friends and pets.