A Couple of Route Changes

Friday, March 30, 2012
We again woke to wind whistling through the tree tops on a bright clear morning in Zion National Park.
Since we have been off grid since leaving home, Wilma got ready to take a shower in the camper. Turned on the hot water heater, hung the shower curtain, got all “need to stay dry” stuff out of the shower, checked the water temp in the kitchen sink. It was warm enough, so got in the shower. Turned on the water. COLD! Waited a while, checked again, COLD. After several more tries, gave up. Checked the temp in the kitchen sink again. Hot for an instant, then COLD. Heated water on the stove to wash hair. Before everything was back in shape, everyone else is waiting at the table for breakfast! Oh what a morning. But over breakfast we discussed the problem, and Barney came up with the solution, so now we have hot water and can try that again.
After breakfast cleanup, we took off for Pipe Spring National Monument in Arizona. There is a dirt road that is a shortcut between two highways, and we went to check it out. The first little bit is paved, and almost as soon as we hit the one lane dirt, we knew it wasn’t good. So we turned around (only two or three point) and took the long way around. The bridge picture is coming back to civilization from that little jaunt. It was probably only 30 miles extra to go on the paved road. That was the first change.
Less than one hundred miles later we stopped at Pipe Spring. It is a small area where there has always been a fresh water spring. The Indians used the spring from way back, but when the Mormons settled in Utah, they claimed it and built a small fort directly over the spring to keep others out. One of the pictures shows the trough that carried the water through the house. They brought cattle in and their grazing has killed off the native grasses and driven out the antelope and other game animals that the Indians depended on.  We had a very interesting tour of the “castle” as it was called, and enjoyed walking around the grounds. It was mostly women who lived at the “castle” and they made butter and cheese that was loaded on wagons and hauled to St. George to sell. St. George was about five days away by wagon.  We watched the movie and got our stamps before heading on out.

The Cheese Making Vat

The Spring Going Through The House

When we got to Fredonia we were going to top off the tanks and head around a loop drive through Marble Canyon, Page and on back to Kanab. We didn’t see a good station in Fredonia, Arizona, and since Kanab was only 7 miles, we decided to go there to fuel up. Then we really changed our plans and just cut off the whole loop trip, and headed for Kanab, Utah. We had decided to eat lunch at Wendy’s, but while stopped to fuel up, changed plans again and fixed soft tacos while parked in the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) VC parking lot. We had seen a BLM office building on our way into town and wanted to go back there to see if they had any stamps. But here was the Visitor Center! We got our stamps there, then went back to the office building. They had stamps, but no one could find them. We waited for a while, thinking someone would come up with them. Finally they called in a fourth person and just as the fifth person arrived, they were found. It was a little funny! They blamed it on Friday afternoon.
Then we headed out again to go to Bryce Canyon National Park. After finding camping spots, we headed for the VC. It had closed about 10 minutes before we got there, so we will have to do that one tomorrow. We went out to Sunset Point to see the view, and how awesome it is! We are staying through at least tomorrow night so will see most of the sights tomorrow. Barney wants to hike down in the canyon a little. At 8000 feet elevation, a little exertion goes a long way. Or at least you have to work to catch your breath! Also at 8000 feet elevation, it is a little cooler than earlier today when we were in flops and shirt sleeves. We think we will put on the extra blankets tonight!  Still snow in the depths of the canyon, and it looks like some of the trails are closed because of it. It is a little early in the year to come here, but there are still quite a few people around, and we hear almost as many foreign languages as English.
After a light supper at the picnic table, we are tucked into the warmth of the campers, ready for a day of beautiful sights tomorrow. Good night from the Bedrock Bunch.