Captain’s Blog August 4, 2011 (Day 90) Zion National Park, Mount Carmel Highway, Hike to Canyon, Transfer Switch Blew in MH

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We headed out early to catch the shuttle. It was 9 AM and the shuttle buses were packed. At each stop no-one moved. I guess they all got the same information – go to the end and work your way back. We stood most of the way and were in a crushing throng of people.

 

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We stopped at the Temple of Sinawava Riverside Walk. It was quite pretty and Ron who loves to jump the rocks enjoyed himself.

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Next we stopped at Weeping Rock where the water that seeps through the rocks never stops. Yes, indeed we did get wet.

Keeping Dry at Weeping Rock

 

Then it was on to The Grotto and the Great White Throne. Little did we know that the Grotto was only a trail to the Zion Lodge – so really not much to see.

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We stopped at the Zion Lodge to look around. I did find a cute shirt for myself so made a purchase. Then it was off to the Court of the Patriarchs.

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Back at the CG we ran into an unusual place to spend a night or two. We’ve all see hotels, motels and the boatel when we were visiting Santa Barbara. Now we have a new one to add -a Rotel. Yep, a Rotel. A hotel on wheels. It looked pretty elaborate.

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An interesting way to travel. There were at last 15 young people that were traveling in the Rotel.

After lunch we decided to take a tour of the 13 mile Mount Carmel Highway. We planned to take that route to go to Bryce Canyon but we heard so many negative comments about going through the tunnel with the MH and the difficult switchbacks so were not sure what to do.

As we drove along the road we noticed that the topography was quite different  then what we had been seeing. The variations in the  rocks  and mountains were unusual and very stunning.

 

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We stopped at varying points and admired the different rock formations and patterns. One rock formation was particularly interesting to Ron. I tried to get a picture without him but he wasn’t co-operating. LOL

Finally - Off the Rock

 

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As we headed back we decided that the road would be fine to take the MH on. We would not be towing because there was  a length restriction going through the tunnel – no more then 50 feet combined and we are longer then that. So I will be driving the car until we get to a spot to hook-up.

Before going back to the MH we decided  to hike the Canyon Overlook Trail a one-mile round trip trail that rose in elevation 163 feet.

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No Heart Attack for Me!!!!!!

 

 

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The hike to the Canyon Overlook was tough in spots, scary in others but most beautiful all the time.

 

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After we completed the trek back down we talked about how beautiful the views had been. We rated it as one of our best hikes – ever!!! We had such a wonderful day all we needed was to have a great dinner and relax for the evening – NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back at the MH I was preparing dinner. We had both AC’s running (50 amp service) so no problem. I needed to use the microwave for a few minutes – also not usually a problem then WHAM – everything shut down. No juice – dead, dead, dead. Ron went out to throw the switch back on at the CG pedestal but no luck – still no power - at least not to the major appliances. We did have some 110 working but no microwave and no AC. Luckily our refrigerator was still working so no need to convert to gas.

Needless to say that ended our day of contentment. Now we needed to fix the problem. After some investigation and problem-solving Ron determined that the transfer switch that controls the flow of power either from shore or generator was blown.

We had an issue with the generator two days prior. It would start but didn’t provide any juice. Ron was going to check it out but hadn’t gotten around to it.  Now he did  and that was his diagnosis. He went to the office and asked Paul if there was anyone in the area that could fix our problem. Paul called someone he knew and when Ron talked to him he agreed that the transfer switch was blown. He didn’t have what was needed to fix it so he gave us the number of an RV repair shop in Hurricane  forty miles away. Since it was now 8 PM we would have to wait until the morning.

OK then, we were back to what to do for the night without AC. Fortunately, the weather had cooled down and it was bearable. Ron dug out a fan and we put in in the bedroom to try to keep it cool.

We  decided never to say things are going good or we’re having a great time. Because every time we do something happens to slap us into the real world of problems and issues.

We never did eat dinner and after discussing the issue at hand decided it really wasn’t the end of the world and everything would be fine.  We had already paid for an additional day, planning on taking the Slot Canyon hike again but now we would be waiting for a repair main- we hoped.

 

Slideshow of Day 2 NP

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