Golfing and Swimming--Living the High Life

We are at a little campground in a little place called Mount Carmel Junction, Utah. The plan was to stay for two nights, until we found a free place to boondock in the vast acres of BLM (Bureau of Land Management) that surrounds this area. We went hunting for free camping spots, and found that most of the public land is covered in sand. We've heard horror stories of the towing bills charged for pulling motor homes out of sandy camp sites. In that case, that free site would be mighty pricey. We finally found 3 different spots that filled our criteria of being just a short distance off a paved road,

and on a firm surface that wasn't too sandy or two muddy if it rained. Even though it was temporarily filled, this was our first choice in an old gravel pit just off the highway north of Kanab.

We had a second and third choice also planned, and were ready to do some free boondocking while we explored this picturesque part of Southern Utah. But sometimes our best plans are changed. The best spot in our little full hook-up campground came open, and we found out we could convert the money we had already paid on our two-night stay into a very affordable weekly rate. So instead of roughing it with no hook-ups, we are living in luxury with 50-amp full hook-ups for this week.

Part of the amenities at East Zion Riverside RV Park is the use of the golf course across the road. We don't carry golf clubs with us, but for $5 we rented a set (that we shared) and didn't have to pay any green fees. It's a nice little 9-hole course surrounded by mountains. If we got tired of golfing we could just look at the views.

We haven't played golf for many years, and we're sure the other golfers around us were getting a few laughs from our attempts at hitting that little white ball. We aren't good with big numbers, so we didn't even count the number of times it took Denisa to go from the tee box to the cup.

Hole number one runs parallel with the highway, and Mark hooked his second shot to the left. The ball bounced across the highway right as the sheriff's pickup drove by. He honked, and we were wondering if Mark was going to be arrested for trying to assault an officer. When Denisa got a phone call, she didn't play hole #7. It was her best hole yet.

Our RV park is owned by East Zion Best Western Hotel, so we could also use the hotel pool and hot tub. After all that golfing exercise, it was nice to relax at the pool for a while.

So instead of roughing it like we had planned, we are living the high life. We are 20 minutes away from Zion National Park, an hour away from Bryce Canyon National Park, and 20 minutes from Kanab, Utah. We think we're going to like it here!