One beautiful campsite

©2013 Lydia Hinshaw

The Magic Bus is in the center, under the trees

 SPRINGDALE, UT -- Ordinarily at Zion National Park we camp in the South Campground, inside the park, where we can stay for $8 per night with our geezer cards.
 But getting a site there can be difficult, as reservations are not allowed.  Prospective customers must show up early in the morning to participate in musical campsites, a free-for-all in which new arrivals waste half the morning in frantic search for a site about to be vacated.  It is not fun, and it can get ugly.
 We didn't arrive early enough to get a site Thursday, and so we went to our backup campground, Zion Canyon RV Park, about a mile outside the park.  It's more expensive and the campsites are arranged sardine fashion.  But it has showers and wi-fi, which are not available at Park Service campgrounds in Zion.
 The plan was to drive over Friday morning and snag a campsite in the park.  But after enjoying our showers and wi-fi in the afternoon and evening, we decided to pass on musical campsites.
 We stayed in the expensive commercial campground for three nights. The picture shows the view facing the back of the property.  There was an equally impressive set of mountains in the opposite direction.
 There was a bus stop right out front that would take us to the park, or to our favorite Springdale restaurant, Oscar's Cafe.  And when we came home, it felt good just to sit in our increasingly battered beach chairs and gaze at the view.