Thursday, October 11, 2012 (Travel to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, Utah)

It was close to 9:30 when we left Red Canyon RV Park and went the short distance back to highway 89 and turned left...south towards Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.  We have decided not to go to Zion at this time.  Apparently, when you enter the park from the east side, there is a tunnel (or 2) that are not really conducive to big rigs...they have to stop traffic in both directions to allow the rigs to go through (the middle)...and it costs $15. We also needed to do laundry and pick up groceries and should we decide to go into Kanab, which would mean going back and forth through the tunnel adding more cost.  We also were a little leery of the campground after seeing the one in Bryce Canyon...so we decided that when we go to Zion we would enter from the west side...perhaps on our way back north in the spring (or maybe another year).

Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park is about 12 miles off highway 89 as you head south towards Kanab.  We plan to take 89 south down into Arizona, so although not far from Bryce...about an hour and a half, we thought we would make that our stop today.  We had heard about the coral pink dunes from people in our travels last year and wanted to see them.  They also allow ATV’ing on the dunes right from the campground.

There is definitely a change in the weather...rain is to start this afternoon...

Just starting to see the start of the dunes now...

We arrived at the park at about 11:00 and spoke to the fellow at the entrance gate.  He said site #9 was available however he really didn’t think that we would fit into it...the only other site available was a double site...and of course, it would be double the price ($32).  Our only other option if we wanted to stay in the park would be the big parking lot where we would have access to all the facilities of the park (restroom, showers).  Well, we use our own facilities and we had passed a huge OHV (off highway vehicles) area just a few miles back.  Basically, it is a big area of BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land where you can offload your ATVs and access the trails/dunes...you are also allowed to camp for free.  So, rather than pay $16/night in the State Park’s parking lot, we decided to go back to the BLM land and park there. We are totally self-sufficient and just needed to fill up with water so after a visit to the sani-station, we were on our way.

Steve hadn’t quite managed to get all set up outside before the rain started....figures!  He was just trying to get the satellite dish set up when a gust of wind blew it over cracking the LNB.  He used some duct tape to hold it together and luckily, we still managed to get a signal!   Unfortunately, though...we have no signal on our MiFi...which means no internet....yikes!  Oh well, we knew it would happen from time to time.

The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent inside...it was cool and windy out with occasional rain.  The forecast for tomorrow was 90% rain...I think we may just be hunkering down here for a day or two.  We were trying to remember the last time we were in rain...it’s been a long time!  We think it was back in mid August when we drove through Hope, BC on our way to Fort Langley...wow!  We certainly have had a great long stretch of nice weather.