Day 1: Leaving Las Vegas, Onward to Zion

Today was the day we picked up our RV from El Monte RV in Las Vegas. Being total newbies at RV’ing, we weren’t sure what to expect and had a lot of concerns about everything that could go wrong with the rental process. The first concern was when we’d actually be able to get the vehicle and get on the road. El Monte handles vehicle returns in the morning and processes new rentals in the afternoon. You typically need to call early for in the morning to be assigned a time in the afternoon to come in for your vehicle.

So we were very pleasantly surprised to be told at 8:15, that our RV was ready and if we hurried over they could process us before they got too busy with returns. So we hightailed it out of our hotel and got over there as quickly as possible delighted with the thought that we could get on the road before noon.

The rental process is rather lengthy, and, rather than discuss it here, some of the details are provided in a companion post (https://jwd.postach.io/post/side-note-the-rv-rental-process) for others who might be considering a trip like this.

After spending a good deal of time familiarizing ourselves with the vehicle, We set out just before noon for the 140-mile trip to Zion National Park. The drive up I-15 was very pleasant with scenic desert and mountains. We made it to Utah and, after a WalMart stop to stock up on supplies, we were on our way to Zion.

Evidence of more redness in the rocks and lovely striations of various hues became readily visible as soon as we neared Utah. Finally we just had to stop on State Route 9 for a quick photo shoot.

About a half hour later we arrived at Zion Canyon RV Resort and were assigned a lovely campsite among trees and right on the Virgin River where people were tubing down the river amidst spectacular scenery.

Had a nice easy dinner, met our next door neighbors a wonderful Aussie family on a 10-week (!) trek across America, and enjoyed a nice evening stroll through the campground.

Overall we felt this day represented a very auspicious start to our trip.

#published #evernote