Lesson #3, things learned about traveling in a motorhome: When you change altitudes and you are carrying food items, be careful when you open them. The mayo came out a little quicker than expected, and a lot more than Martha wanted! Byron noted that the air pressure in the tires is 8 pounds greater.
Our Location
There are no small towns within 15 miles. There are a couple of campgrounds which have hosts that live in them for the summer; no communities, however. This has been an unusual place compared to the Midwest. We are in the middle of Kaibab National Forest. One side of the forest is flanked by Navajo Indian territory. From the time we left Marble Canyon until we reached Kaibab National Forest, we only saw one, single-family dwelling. On the other side of the forest, the land is public work land. There are no private residences there, either. The closest grocery store of any size is 40 miles away where there also is no Walmart.
It has been quiet. We listened to the wind sing through the pine trees. We had internet access through our Verizon mobile broadband service but no cell phone service through AT&T and no TV because we do not travel with a satellite dish. Not to bad, we don’t mind the quiet, but everywhere you go you have to drive for miles. Interestingly, there are six or seven motels in the Kanab, Utah which is 40 miles away because that town’s primary business is tourism.
At Kaibab Camper Village we are parked among Ponderosa pine trees. The roadway and pads are of native rock. On the dog path one can see very small sprouts of some variety of holly.
Our Sunday Begins
Since Martha was up so early with the dogs, and it was a Sunday morning, she started looking for a church for us to attend. There is no church in Jacob Lake, which is next to our campground. (Fredonia, Arizona is the nearest community 37 miles away. It's population is around 1,300. A few miles north of Fredonia is Kanab, Utah, population 5,000.) We had been given one of those Vacation Guide newspapers and found a list of churches on the back page. After looking over their websites, we picked New Hope Bible Church for our destination. Church started at 10 a.m. We were good to go.
Along the drive from the Kaibab Plateau to Kanab, Utah we drove across dessert terrain on a beautifully clear morning. The higher elevations seem far off in the distance. This is ”high dessert” at about 6,000 feet.
We left at 8:45 Arizona time and arrived at the church a little after 9:30, or so we thought. Our first clue should have been when we stopped at McDonald’s to use the restroom and the manager said they had just switched over to serving lunch (at 9:30 a.m.!). We pulled up to the church, a very small building, but there were plenty of cars. Sunday School was at 9:15 and thinking they might have a Sunday School class in the sanctuary, we decided to wait a until a few minutes before 10 o'clock to go in the church. As we walked up to the door Byron said, “What time is it?” I pulled out my iPhone and, guess what, it was 10:52 a.m. not 9:52. When we crossed the Utah line, the time went ahead an hour where they observe Daylight Savings Time. We had good intentions, we just did not allow for time change.
We wondered around town for a little bit. Kanab is where “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” or “How the West Was Won” were filmed along with 90 other productions; the last being Disney’s “John Carter.” We stopped at a place called Denny’s Wigwam and did a little shopping. This was a unique business. It includes a restaurant and a courtyard with western storefronts and photo area. We had a very good BBQ pork sandwich before heading on.
Byron shows off his new cowboy hat while standing next to a two horsepower RV.
Zion National Park
With the rest of the day ahead of us, we decided to drive on to Zion National Park since it was just 30 miles north of Kanab. We were not sure that anything could surpass the grandeur and majesty of the Grand Canyon. Boy, were we in for a surprise.
Zion National Park was a home to the Paiute Indians. Before that the Anasazi lived there. The first European homesteader to settle on the land was Isaac Behunin in 1861. Life was hard for Isaac, but he made this statement about the area: “A man can worship God among these great cathedrals as well as in any man-made church — this is Zion.” Isaac was right. Zion is such a contrast to the Grand Canyon, which is seem from the rim above. Zion is seen from floor of Kolob Canyons.
Checkerboard Mesa is just inside the park gate. It rises several hundred feet above the 7,500-foot roadway.
Looking up to one of the peaks around the Kolob Canyon rim from the visitor are at Zion National Park. The difference in elevation is about 4,500 feet. The visitor area is on the banks of the Virgin River that flows through the canyon floor.
The park was actually designated Mukuntaweap National Monument on July 31, 1909, by President William Howard Taft but was later renamed and established as Zion National Park in 1919, thinking a name that was easier to pronounce would draw visitors. Upon entering the park one travels a long roadway that takes you from the top (at 8,000 feet) to the bottom (at 4,200 feet) through two tunnels, one being a mile long through turns that descend to the Canyon’s floor. Of course, on the journey down the flora and fauna change and one is able to clearly see the four different zones. It’s a tremendous contrast from the dessert we drove through getting here. The majestic and steep rock formations along each side create a grandeur all their own. The patterns in the rock cliffs are different here than in Grand Canyon including one with a checkerboard pattern. The visitor center at the base of the Canyon sits next to Virgin River which creates its own song as it flows over rocks. Once again, we took many pictures. Again, they do not adequately show the beauty to be seen on this 12 mile ride from canyon rim to floor. Never mind that we missed church, we ended up having a unique worship experience that was all our own. Byron commented that the majesty and grandeur of this place made him feel so very small in comparison. As is says in Psalm 8: “What is mankind, that you are mindful of him?”
As we drove the road back to Kaibab CampeRVillage we wondered why we hadn’t heard more about Zion. It surely is as magnificent as Grand Canyon.
A place of tranquility can be found along Virgin River in the heart of Zion National Park. The willows growing by the river bank are a stark contrast to the sagebrush of the high dessert less than 20 miles away.
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