Camping in Zion

Rock formations at Weeping Rock.
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We arrived at Zion at around 4pm and tried scouting around a few places to try and find somewhere cheap to stay. We went to 3 or 4 hotels and motels but they were all a bit pricey. We considered staying in a motel a bit further out but decided it would be more fun to camp in the park instead and give us the opportunity to test out our new tent. Nikki wasn't over the moon about this idea, especially as she had done almost all the driving since Vegas and was looking forward to a decent nights sleep. Patrice and I sung the virtues of camping, plus argued we'd be saving a fair bit of cash which was a pretty good idea after Vegas. Nikki eventaully gracefully conceed, more probably to shut us up than actual being convinced of the merits.

Putting up the tent.
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We didn't have much time before nightfall so we drove into the park and jumped on a shuttle bus which takes you around the park. We hopped off at Weeping Rock to have a wander around and look at some of the cool rock formations formed by the water errosion. There were also quite a few deer about which was pretty cool.

We headed back as light was fading to find a camping spot. We had the tent up in no time using the car headlights to help us see what we were doing. The tent was a bargain at 50 bucks and was plenty big enough for the 4 of us. With the tent up, we headed back to Springdale to get some grub and hopefully some beers. We'd picked up a leaflet that seemed to suggest that the strict Utah drinking laws meant you could only buy alcohol with a licence, which had to be purchased in advance. Still the shopkeeper didn't seem too bothered with this legislation so all was good.

After a gormet dinner of beef sarnies and potato salad, we headed to bed. It wasn't the best nights' sleep, but coming from the Luxor hotel it was a bit of a step down!