After a lot of poking, reading, web-searching, and talking to friends who know the area, we have set our plans for the first phase of our “great loop” of the western US. As part of my time off for Career Coffee Break (CCB), we want to see a bunch of the sights in the western US that we’ve never had a chance to vist. Places like Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and the Grand Canyon, to name a few.
Our initial thought was to just “wing it”, but based on research we’ve determined that would be a profoundly bad idea for the timeframe we intend to be there (Sept-Oct). So with that in mind we decided that the best bet would be to try and home-base out of St. George, UT or someplace nearby. As luck would have it, we found a great Airbnb in Leeds, UT that has plenty of space to park the camper trailer.
For Phase I of the trip, we’ve picked a route that will get us to Leeds, UT in four days. Once there we’ll stay for ten days, with day-trips to the stuff within driving distance, a one- or two-night overnight to Bryce, and visits to whatever else strikes our fancy.
The route to Leeds will take us through SE Washington, NE Oregon, SW Idaho, and down through central Utah. We have some nice state parks booked along the way:
We’d really like to see Monument Valley, but I’m afraid that the distance from Leeds to MV is going to be too much for a day trip. I don’t think we’ll have enough days in Leeds to do an overnight. Maybe on the next trip. After our ten-day stay in Leeds, we’ll head south for 5 nights at Mather Campground on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We really got lucky with our reservation at Mather - my wife had been checking for spots and this one popped up with five days of availability. It’s a no-services spot so we’ll be boondocking, but that’s OK. Keep an eye out for a future post about how we’ll cover power needs when we’re staying in no-service spots.
That’s all for the Phase I plans at this point. We’re still trying to decide what Phase II will entail. Lots of thoughts, but nothing solid yet. We know we want to get to Joshua Tree, but beyond that we’re up in the air. Stay tuned!
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