October 28, 2019
We woke up freezing. The weather in Utah is much colder than in Las Vegas. It was darn hard to get out of bed when it was so cold but eventually we managed it. I went to the local visitor’s center and got some maps and advice on our trip while Holly and Olivia got ready and had breakfast in the RV. I had planned to immediately drive to Zion National Park but we were so impressed with how nice and clean St. George was that we decided to spend the day there and leave in the afternoon.
We went to Tonaquint Park, a local free city park and I must say that it is one of the nicest city parks I have ever been to. It had a dinosaur theme, a large array of interesting equipment including a rock climbing structure, two kids zip lines, spray park, a small mountain with occasional dinosaur roars and best of all a very nice kids train that only cost $1 per person. The park was very clean, the equipment in great condition and since it was a Monday morning it was not crowded at all. We spent a couple hours there before going to Olive Garden for a late lunch.
Then Costco to get gas cost a very reasonable $2.67 a gallon. It seems the further away from California the cheaper the gas is. $160 to fill up our tank at $4 a gallon is enough to make me cry but just over $100 to fill up at $2.67 a gallon isn’t too terrible. I also found a free dump station at Nielson RV so we got rid of a bit of weight before heading out of town.
It is about an hour’s drive from St. George to Zion so I planned to stop for the night near the park before heading in the next day. Once we got to La Verkin we made a quick stop at McDonalds to get some Ice Coffee, milkshakes and a few minutes in play place before continuing. We were able to start using the Gypsy Guide which recommended we go the La Verkin Lookout, a spot with 360 degree views of the town of La Verkin and surrounding mountains and valleys. It was a very nice lookout although we had to slowly drive about a mile of bumpy, unpaved road to get to it.
After that, I used the IOverlander app to find us free parking space near Rockville, about 20 minutes from the Zion Park south entrance. It was on yet another unpaved, bumpy road but our RV was able to get through it. Holly made dinner while I taught Olivia how to count money. In preparation for a cold night I put sunscreens on our windows and we decided to all sleep in one bed.