A Night's Rest and Then Northbound

The Big Trip - End of Day 2

Once the sun had set on our eclipse viewing adventure, we high-tailed it east to Cedar City, Utah for a much-needed night’s rest. There was no need, nor desire at this point, to return to Beaver Dam State Park back in the mountains. It had been a long and adventure-filled day filled with driving and taking photos. Nearly 13 hours after we left North Las Vegas, we tucked in at the Cedar City Walmart around 9:00 PM.

We slept soundly.

End of Day 2 Detail Map - Our run from Modena, Utah to Cedar City, Utah to spend the night.
[5/20/2012] © Copyright 2012, ChasingSteel.com.

The Big Trip - Day 3

Day 3 Overview Map - Our route from Cedar City, Utah to Perry, Utah.
[5/21/2012] © Copyright 2012, ChasingSteel.com.Eager for the next big adventure on our journey, we hit the road early—about 5:30 AM. Today was just about getting to the next camping site for the night which was a small community, just north of Salt Lake City, with a killer name—Perry, Utah.

I intentionally wanted to ignore any opportunities for railfanning or photography along the way because I didn’t want to lose time, so we drove north on Interstate 15 right up the middle of Utah. This route was well out of the reach of the Union Pacific’s Caliente Subdivision. Despite this fact it was a great drive with plenty of beautiful mountains, farms, and vistas to delight our senses. It was a bit surreal — almost as if we were on vacation!

Brigham City / Perry South KOA

All of our experiences with KOA (Kampgrounds of America) campgrounds have been excellent throughout the period we have owned our camper. We like the facilities and more often than not we are able to locate a KOA near our day’s destination. They provide full-hookups, which gives us a chance to empty our waste tanks and fill up with fresh water, a small store, laundry facilities, and showers, all for a modest cost.

We located a KOA in Perry, Utah and once onsite we opted to drive around the nearly vacant campground to see if there was a particular spot that we liked and could ask for upon check-in. We made a partial loop around the facility and then we were immediately waved down by the manager and questioned as to what we were doing. Certainly not the usual greeting.

We explained our motive and were met with an unfriendly and curt attitude that left us questioning whether or not to even spend the night here. Considering our options we opted to go ahead and get a site. The manager got retribution, we assumed, by putting us up in a spot situated in the full sun with no shade at all. 

We made the most of it and decided that we would not be return visitors to this KOA, our first bad and unwelcoming experience at one of their locations. It happens. Upon reviewing the campground on the internet we learned that others were treated similiarly and, in one case, it was nearly identical to our experience.

We took this opportunity to take full showers and Deb prepared a great spaghetti dinner. Afterwards, we transferred our photographs from our SD cards and shared them with one another. As the sun began to set we took a walk and enjoyed the views of the Wasatch Range that cradles the Salt Lake City region in this part of Utah.

Tomorrow was big day for me as our destination was the Golden Spike National Historic Site at Promontory, Utah. We turned in early and rested well.

Willard Mountain - Our view from the Brigham City / Perry South KOA.
[5/21/2012] © Copyright 2012, ChasingSteel.com.