This was my third visit to Utah. The original plan for today was to head east to briefly see Canyonlands and then head west again to get to the next hotel in Henderson, Nevada (just outside Las Vegas). Since I bought the national parks pass, the entrance fee was covered and I could spend three hours or so there without feeling like I wasted the entrance fee. However, since it would take more than an hour to get there, and then it would be seven hours to get to the hotel in Nevada, I decided to save Canyonlands for another time. I was to exhausted to have eight hours of driving today.
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Oil Change
I also decided to have the oil changed today. When I rented the car, the Avis agent told me to get the oil changed when I got up to 4,000 miles. (I normally change my own car's oil at 3,000 miles.) I was getting close. Finding a place to change oil in southeast Utah is an adventure. In looking at the phonebook, I only found places ninety minutes east of the hotel. That was worse than trying to visit Canyonlands. In speaking to one of the garages, the guy nonchalantly suggested I go up to Salt Lake City when I said I was heading west. Out here, people truly think nothing of a four or five hour drive. However, Salt Lake City is four hours NORTH (and slightly west) and into the I-80 corridor. I needed to get to Las Vegas, which is west via I-70 and then southwest via I-15. I saw Salt Lake City on my 2008 cross country trip and don't plan to include it on this trip.
In searching around online, I found that after going two hours west on I-70 (which was the interstate I needed to take), there were several cities with Walmarts that could change oil. No appointment was necessary. Problem solved in terms of finding a place (though getting the oil changed still wasn't smooth).
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As soon as I got on I-70 from Green River, there was a warning sign indicating that there were no services for the next 100 miles. It's good that my gas tank was full. There were few exits and each one had a "No services" sign on it.
Scenery Along I-70
I-70 in southeast Utah is basically like its own national park. The rock formations are beautiful. There is a section called the "reef" and the road passes through a narrow area between giant rock formations. I-70 was extended into southern Utah in the late 50s/early 60s and they of course had to blast through the rocks. It was quite an expensive project. There are numerous viewing points along the interstate and even trails to look at canyons nearby. Obviously, unlike a national park there are no park rangers or anyone else to help, so it's best to be very careful. Cell phone service is very limited. In one of the viewing areas, there was a sign indicating no soliciting or vending. The funny part is that literally below that sign were table cloths featuring turquoise jewelry, pottery, and other items for sale.
The viewing points had the usual signs explaining the area. In one case, they talked about some of the more infamous old west outlaws using the canyons to hide out. They unfortunately even took Native Americans into slavery and sold them for $200 apiece.
Getting the Oil Changed
Getting the oil changed was an adventure. First, the GPS sent me down some service road along I-70 to a business that was clearly not Walmart. Finally, I drove around a bit and found Walmart on my own. The vehicle was so new that the make and model (despite this being a model that has been around for a while) was not in their system for the 2010 year. A manager decided to just list it as a 2009 even though it was a 2010 vehicle. At first they were suggesting I might have to purchase oil filters at a garage somewhere else for them to do the work. All of this for a simple oil change. (During my 2008 trip, I do recall being turned away by a garage in Wichita, Kansas --- a city of 350,000 and the largest city in the state --- because the vehicle was too new.) Then I had to sign a waiver that they were not responsible for loss of any items in the car. So, I hauled the various electronic items out of the car and watched the vehicle like a hawk as they did the oil change. After the experience with my friend Dan having his laptop stolen at the hotel in Birmingham, I was not taking any chances. They may have felt I was rude, but too bad.
After finally having the oil changed, I decided to see Zion Canyon so I could at least see something else before the hotel. This would be my first return visit to a big national park in the West. (I've visited the Adams and Van Buren Presidential homes --- which are national parks in the Northeast --- multiple times.) My previous visit to Zion was in August, 2007.
Kolob Canyons/Zion National Park
When I arrived, I noticed the more prominent name was Kolob Canyons. I didn't remember the park being called anything other than Zion National Park last time I visited. Things looked very different from what I remember. Still, the scenery was nice and some of the rock formations had snow on them. I remember Zion had two entrances last time I visited. I expected to drive through one and come out the other side. However, what I found instead was a road that ended in a cul-de-sac and visitors left from the same entrance they entered. Evidently, this is a subunit of Zion NP not connected with the main part of the park. I set the GPS to get me to the main section of the park. However, it was getting later in the day. It would be a half hour of driving after the exit from I-15 just to get to the park entrance. Then there would be time in the park plus another half hour drive to get back to I-15. I decided to skip it. I just wanted to get to my hotel.
Getting to Nevada
As I saw that I crossed the Utah state line on I-15, I kept wondering why I was not seeing a sign welcoming me to Nevada. As I turned a corner, I noticed a sign welcoming me to Arizona! I hadn't planned on visiting Arizona at all in this trip. I had forgotten that I-15 runs through AZ. In my 2007 trip, I drove this route heading towards Utah. This was another case where they had to blast through mountains to build the interstate. But the scenery looked far more beautiful than I remembered. I was only in Arizona briefly before I got into Nevada.
Nevada Desert
Once in Nevada, I was in the Pacific Time Zone. I gained an hour on my trip for the final time. When I switch time zones in the future, I will be losing an hour each time. As there was still some light, I noticed that despite this being the desert, the grass and other plants were lush green. All previous trips to the American desert were in the summer, and everything was brown and spent by then.
Lights of Vegas
As I got further into Nevada, darkness came. When I got closer to Las Vegas, I got to see the lights. I had never seen the Vegas lights from so far away before. While I had briefly been to Las Vegas at night in 2007, I only saw a few casinos lighted up. I didn't see the entire area from a distance. It was amazing. No wonder they say it can be seen from space.
Cheaper Gas
Gas was much more reasonable in the Las Vegas area. They had 87 octane for regular as we do in the Northeast. The price was $2.83/gallon.
While it had been cold at night in many of the other areas I had visited, it was very pleasant in Henderson. The hotel (Comfort Inn) was relatively inexpensive, but it was one of the nicest hotels I have been in on this trip. It's only a year old. If I'm ever in the area again, I would definitely go to this one.
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