Zion National Park again

We visited Zion National Park again, in the late afternoon and evening, and took several hundred more photos. Here are a bunch of the nice ones.

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Jenn & David

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Heading through the mile-long tunnel:

Tunnel

Tunnel

Tunnel

Tunnel

Tunnel

Tunnel

Tunnel

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

A couple of the tunnel windows:

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

A fun game we play when visiting parks is to look for and pick up garbage. Because people suck, and we want to leave our parks better than we found them. This is my haul from one viewpoint:

Garbage

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

We had dinner at a Thai restaurant just outside the park:

Jenn at Thai restaurant

Thai restaurant

Thai restaurant

Thai restaurant

We’ve seen a couple of restaurants that have checkboxes for tips. I wish every restaurant would do this; it’s so much more convenient:

Thai restaurant

(Bringing an ApplePay terminal to the table is even nicer. Better yet, how about paying a living wage and getting rid of tipping, but this is an improvement over having to do the math.)

Back into the park:

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Back through the tunnel:

Tunnel

Tunnel

Tunnel

Tunnel

Tunnel

Tunnel

Tunnel

Tunnel

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

The smaller tunnel:

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Jenn & David

Cactus

Cactus

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Zion National Park

Travel from Orange to Santa Barbara, CA

We departed Orangeland RV Park in Orange, California, and headed to a week at Ocean Mesa RV Resort in Santa Barbara, California. Or more specifically El Capitan beach, near Goleta.

Here’s the route map (right to left); 144 miles, a non-stop four hour drive in our coach:

Map route

Departing Orange:

Departing Orange

As usual, Paladin wasn’t thrilled that his house was moving again, though only complained once:

Paladin

Heading towards LA on I-5:

Heading towards LA on I-5

Fork to route 101:

Fork to route 101

Downtown LA:

LA

LA

A couple glimpses of the Hollywood sign:

Hollywood sign

Hollywood sign

Sign for Universal Studios etc:

Universal Studios

Paladin loafing on the mat between us:

Paladin

Suddenly we’re out of the city and into some hills:

Hills

Whenever Paladin was in the cockpit area I kept a close eye on him, to make sure he didn’t go by Jenn’s feet, and risk interfering with the pedals. When he showed interest in heading in that direction, I picked him up and put him on my lap. He wasn’t thrilled about that:

David and Paladin

There were no rest stops on this route, so I grabbed some salami and a slice of cheese as a quick lunch (we had more food after we arrived):

Lunch

7% grade downhill:

Downhill

Continuing along 101:

101

Reached the coast:

Coast

Coast

Coast

Paladin on my lap again; still not too keen:

Paladin and David

Countryside:

Countryside

Our exit:

Exit

Arriving at Ocean Mesa RV Resort:

Arriving

We followed another Tiffin in, a Phaeton:

Phaeton

Our coach when checking in, after unhooking our truck:

Our coach

As usual, I’ll have a timelapse video of this drive tomorrow, and a post about our time here later.

A hike in Joshua Tree National Park

We visited Joshua Tree National Park when last in the Palm Springs area back in December, but decided to visit it a second time in early February, specifically to go for a short hike.

We went in the south entrance (where we exited last time), and stopped at the visitor center there. There was a singing park ranger:

Singing park ranger

After exploring a campground (too small for our coach), a picnic lunch, and considering a hike near the visitor center, we continued on towards the joshua tree part of the park. Passing some interesting rocks on the way:

Rocks

Some joshua trees:

Joshua trees

Joshua trees

Joshua trees

The parking areas were too full to do more popular hikes, so on a whim we turned down a dirt road:

Dirt road

Some interesting rocks by the road:

Rocks and dirt road

We stopped at an access point for rock climbers, and explored that area as an informal hike:

Rocks

Rocks

Rocks

If you look closely, you may spot several rock climbers:

Climbers

A selfie:

David

I’m valiantly holding up a rock:

David holding up a rock

Branch and rock

A wave-shaped rock:

Rocks

Young joshua tree:

Young joshua tree

Rocks:

Rocks

IMG 6246

Rocks

Me taking a photo:

David taking a photo

Of this:

Rocks

Jenn and me:

Jenn and David

Another rock climber:

Climber

More rocks:

Rocks

Rocks

Rocks

A small cactus:

Cactus

Joshua tree:

Joshua tree

Rocks and joshua trees:

Rocks and joshua trees

Rocks

A bird:

Bird

I like the glowing effect of the sun behind the tip of the rock:

Sun behind rocks

More lens flare with the sun touching the tip of the rock:

Sun and rocks

Joshua trees:

Joshua trees

Rocks

We’re liken the lichen:

Mossy rock

Three colors:

Three colors of lichen

Rocks and joshua trees:

Rocks and joshua trees

Jenn on a rock:

Jenn on a rock

Me joining her:

David

Jenn posing:

Jenn posing

Jenn posing

Me:

David

Shadows:

Shadows

More interesting rocks:

Rocks

Rocks

Rocks

Rocks

Truck windshield rock chip repair

While driving on the aforementioned Dillon Road (on another occasion), another vehicle threw up some sand and rocks, and one hit the windshield of our truck, taking out a chunk of the glass. That’s the first time we’ve had that happen.

This isn’t a low-flying plane over the road, but the chip, soon after it happened:

Rock chip

Our insurance includes free rock chip repair, but (for some reason) we decided to fix it ourselves. So I bought a windscreen repair kit from Amazon.

The recently acquired step was useful to get easier access to the windshield:

Step

The repair kit included a suction-cupped holder:

Suction-cupped holder

Inside view:

Inside view

Adding resin:

Adding resin

The repair worked really well; one can hardly tell where the damage was.

The kit is good for more repairs, so a useful thing to have, should we get any more rock chips in our truck or coach windscreens.