day 18

today we headed down to zion national park to spend a couple of days hiking around. once we got there all the campgrounds were full or super expensive ($30 a night for wifi and showers for tent camping). no thanks. we found out a free campsite 5 miles outside of town. we got dropped off and setup our tent. we were going to hitch a ride up to zion and hike a bit but wasn't sure about how late the shuttles run and the hours the park stayed open so we stayed around and walked the campsite next to the virgin river. evan kept getting bit by deer flies for some reason too. we read for a bit and napped. our camp neighbors rolled up and i started talking to them cause they are from eagle river! 30 minutes from where i live in alaska. super small world. they were really cool and invited us to a potluck with them and with some locals that live in the campgrounds. we made our soups and added it to the growing amount of food: steak, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, biscuits with gravy, and beans. it was so good and we just sat around the fire swapping stories. met butterfly, she lives in the campground and sometimes does massages; jon, he lives in a camper with a friend and he's been there for a handful of months; then there was the youngins (i can't remember their names but that was their nickname), they lived in a tent near jon and butterfly. we eventually went to bed.