Watchman Campground, Zion UT

WOW, we have five new followers to mention today!  That might be a record.  A big WELCOME to you all!

Allen and Lolita, who already have a nice looking Class A rig and Jeep and plan to retire in 573 days.  You guys are going to love retirement, especially with an RV to travel to new places whenever you want.  Check out their brand new blog!

Collier Carlton,who doesn't seem to have a blog, but his description says, "Avid Harley rider with 20 foot toyhauler to keep it with me for local touring. Going full time January, 2013 (if I can wait that long!).  Don't worry, Collier, it'll be here before you know it!

Scrappin Stampers - this is not an RV site, but a site for scrapbookers and rubber stampers. Those have been passions of mine in the past.  I sold a lot of my supplies in my estate sale, but brought some with me to "play" when I'm in the mood, so I totally understand your passion, Jamie!

Dayton C, who also doesn't have a blog, but has joined some RV sites as a follower, so...   he already may be an RVer, or... maybe RVing is in his future?

Jool, who is works from home, has many dogs as her "family" and is considering full time RVing in the future - trying to figure out if this is the path she wants to take!  Well, Jool, following and reading RVing blogs will give you a lot of insight into this lifestyle. 

Welcome Aboard to you all, I hope you enjoy following along with Katie and me on our adventures. :)

Saturday morning we packed up, dumped, filled our on-board water and moved a short distance to the Watchman Campground here in Zion.

I was immediately ecstatic about our new campsite.  It's big, open, lots of bushes for a beautiful campsite, but no large trees near us.  During the hot summers this would be the worst campsite, but in the cooler weather, it's the best!  The sun shines on The Palms all day, keeping us warm.  Not hot.  Just perfectly warm.   The electric hookup is heaven after being without electricity for three days.  It was a long three days.  (I've become such a wuss!)  I think my dreams of becoming Senior Pioneer Woman are fading....

Here's our campsite:

 View toward the front

 View toward the rear, out the kitchen window

View toward the couch window side

 Restrooms

 Clean, up-to-date restrooms, no showers

 Dish washing station outside restroom

So, anyway, this campground and campsite are more comfortable, and I'm glad we're here.  The views are fabulous in every direction and we're closer to the Visitor Center and the Park Exit, which means we are closer to a small store and other shops. 

The park has FREE shuttle buses that take people through the park on roads that are only for the buses during summer; starting today cars are allowed and the shuttle is done until next May.  There aren't many parking spaces, though, so people wanting to drive through there and park better get there early.  I was lucky to catch the shuttle the last day of the year for these bus tours.   They have various stops along the way, and another bus will be by within seven minutes.  They were available from 9 am to 9 pm.  Really nice for park visitors and campers, and keeps the traffic down.

Katie stayed home; I closed all the curtains and turned on the TV low and she was a good girl while I was gone.

Here are some photos from that tour - I took a ton of photos, as you can imagine.

 

 Condor in it's favorite tree high up on the mountaintop.

  

 Right in the middle of the photo is a tree - that's where the Condor hangs out.

 Photo the Ranger had of one of the Condors in the park.

The Condors in the park are tagged like Condor #50 in the Ranger's photo above.  The Ranger said Condors like to hang out in a regular spot, just like people do, and she had her telescope set up to view the Condor on the mountain top tree.  I was able to see it stretching it's wings; according to the Ranger they do that to cool down.  Then he brought his wings in and turned his head so I could see it.  Really cool.  They have such large bodies and wide wingspans and tiny bald heads.  The heads just don't seem to go with their bodies, do they?

The photo above of the Condor in the tree was taken with the zoom lens of my new camera.  Can you believe it?  In the photo below it, you can hardly even see the tree.

The Ranger's telescope, though, brought it so close you could see every feature.  They think it's Condor #99.

 One of the rock climbing mountains.  In one of the crevasses, which you 

can barely see if you click on the photo, are three rock climbers.

Close up of three rock climbers

The young woman sitting next to me on the shuttle was a rock climber, she and her husband are from Switzerland and are here on a two month vacation.  They've visited Joshua Tree, Yosemite, The Giant Sequoias and other parks, I assume doing some rock climbing along the way.  They got off at one point, where there was a mountain they were going to climb. 

 Virgin River

Virgin River

 "This is my Halloween costume - I'm a Ballplayer - outfield because I run fast!"

(The best I could do...)

  Sunset from the park entrance - too many trees and 

mountains to get a good sunset shot from the campground.

From Me and My Dog, have a Spooky Halloween, everyone!  :)