It was raining and cool in the Valley of Fire when we woke up and it remained stormy the rest of the day changing from rain to snow as we drove into higher elevations.
Back on I5 we crossed a corner of Arizona and went into Utah where we stopped at a coffee shop in St. George to buy plane tickets for our upcoming trip to Asia. As always, when using public wifi, we also used a private VPN service to keep our information secure.
We left I5 on UT 9 to Hurricane then took UT 59 to Colorado City, Arizona. From there we drove across the remote Arizona Strip on AZ 389 to Fredonia where we turned onto US 89A. The Arizona Strip is well worth exploring and on a previous trip we spent two weeks there visiting Pipe Spring National Monument, Toroweap Overlook, Grand Canyon North Rim, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, and South Coyote Buttes.
On a clear day you can see Bryce Canyon National Park from US 89A, but on this trip it was snowing. At Jacob Lake we turned towards the North Rim on AZ 67 and, looking for a place to camp, we drove down a Forest Service road. Not knowing how much snow was expected, we decided not to stay and returned to Jacob Lake where we parked in front of the locked gate to Jacob Lake Campground. There was a small car already parked there, it’s occupants in a tent in the closed campground.
It was cold and getting colder; the temperature dropped into the ‘teens during the night. Even with the furnace on we layered up then went to bed in long wool bottoms and hoodies.
Lesson Learned: The cab-over bed is colder than the rest of the camper. When the temperature drops into the 20s or colder, sleep in a down sleeping bag instead of under the duvet. Wool long johns and an extra blanket blanket are not warm enough.
Lesson Learned: Public wifi is not secure. We always use a private VPN service on our phones, ipad and computers when on public wifi.
