Today I begin a 7 part series on a quite anticipated family vacation. We've been flying here and there for 5 straight summers and I thought it would be fun to go on a family road trip. I actually thought this back in January. Vickie and I agreed that a circular trip to South Dakota and back in a week would be just the right thing. When we received our tax refund in late January, we put half of it on a rental car. Vickie ordered us a Chevy Impala.
After a few days of packing and dealing with pesky HOA issues (which made us want to leave even more), my friend Marla drove me to the rental car compound (in reality an unused corner in a GMC dealership). Expecting the Impala all shined and ready for me to destroy, I was informed that it would take at least an hour to get an Impala from the airport rental warehouse, but if I wanted there was a modern Ford Mustang just about ready to go.
This was to become one of a few mistakes on my end. Instead of doing the SMART thing and waiting for what we ordered, the impatient me did the ME thing and said yes. It drove well and had Sirius aboard, as well as a nuclear plant's control panel to decode. It also had a fairly small trunk in stark contrast to its large engine. As we had luggage and camping gear to pack as well as 3 passengers, it became a tight squeeze.
We technically left for our adventure at 1:30ish. However, there is this strange galactic-league magnetic pull that prevents you from leaving Vegas without applied herculean effort. We first had to get a few food supplies, ice, gas, and a quick snack before leaving. Even then, making our way to 215 and then 15 to leave the state of Nevada proved difficult. It was 5:00 when we crossed the Nevada line.
The 29 miles of Arizona that I 15 traverses are quite unique in that they are not connected to the rest of the state in any way. Old U.S. 91 services Littlefield and Beaver Dam before heading in a roundabout way to St. George Utah. 15 opened in Arizona in 1973 to wind through the Virgin River Gorge after Littlefield, making the journey to St. George about 20 miles shorter. It is a beautiful canyon both treasured and feared by drivers. Indeed, if a lane is closed, it can be a slow, treacherous trek among all the truck traffic.
When 15 emerges from the canyon, the landscape changes dramatically. Instead of a bleak brown desert, a series of high majestic cliffs in Zion National Park in the distance shows that Utah will be a different experience, although desert is a big part of it, just in a different way. Red rock cliffs in St. George make that town a pleasant place to drive through. Afterward, 15 begins a steep climb in the mountains with several exits that were once labeled as "RANCH EXIT", now with names like "SNOWFIELD" even though no such towns exist.
After the climb, 15 emerges in a lush green valley and enters Cedar City. We stopped for a little pick-me-up there, at which point it was almost 8pm. After a stop at a store, we continued down the road watching the sun go down. After a series of summits and valleys, we turned at the exit for I 70 east. After a sharp rise into the mountains and subsequent altitude drop, 70 entered the Sevier River valley through a series of small towns. We turned off at one of these towns, Richfield, to find our stop for the night: a KOA campsite!
We had never done this before. My colleague Christine had lent us her family's tent, 2 sleeping bags, and a lantern. We did a practice tent setup in our living room a few days before just to get it right. What we should have done is turn the lights out because we ended up pitching the tent at 10:30! We'd bought a queen-sized air mattress and a pump, but had not tested them, so most of the air we'd put into it was gone quickly. It was a tough night to sleep indeed!
I will say this, though. In all of my travels through various states, Utah remains number 2 in my list! Number 1 will come later!
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