Leaving Las Vegas (Hugh)

Up reasonably early to pack then cab it out to the RV rental center (sic) courtesy of an Armenian who corrects us when we don’t tip the appropriate 20%.


RV chicane is a very hot experience and we listen hard to pick up all the necessary tips. After an hour or so, we eventually set off, via WALLMART for hardware and FOOD FOR LESS for a staggering quantity of provisions. Our RV is 36 feet long, 12 feet high, 8 feet wide, sleeps 6 people (in theory) and has a “slider” which moves out electronically when you stop to create something approximately the size of our TV room at home.

We drive 2.5 hours to our first RV experience, the Zion Canyon RV park.

Sarah has been clever, this one is quite up-market. I immediately get RV envy – almost everyone has a nicer RV than us and most are towing Jeeps Renegade like our one at home. Some people have those aluminium AIRSTREAM Winnebagos; the one opposite us is from 1956. I love them and want one (of course), but I don’t think it would last even one Haslemere winter.

We rise late, for a 10am ride in a station wagon to Zion Canyon Park.
This canyon far exceeds my expectations, the walls rise sheer thousands of feet above us. We go hiking, splashing through the river at the upper reaches of the canyon.

At one point the river is 7 metres wide, and the cliffs 450 metres high above us.

Cool. I get all het up because I want to go back country hiking, but I can’t because I have 3 small children.


Get used to it Hugh.


The next day we go inner tubing on the Virgin River (you sit in an inner tube and float down the river). Not exactly class IV rapids these, but that’s probably a good thing as the kids have a fantastic time bobbing around.