Our Visit to Page Arizona

In the middle of our vacation week Shana and I drove up to Page, Arizona. I had scheduled a float trip for us from the Glen Canyon Dam to Lee's Ferry through Colorado River Discovery. Careful examination of our schedule and budget argued against a river trip into the Grand Canyon, but through Colorado River Discovery we were able to book a half day trip at a very reasonable price that gave us a bottom-of-a-canyon experience we could fit into our trip. I was very satisfied with our tour. It was not a thrilling roller coaster ride through roiling rapids, but it was a slow paced smooth water ride down the river with a knowledgeable guide. The scenery was beautiful and our guide played the flute for us, which I enjoyed very much. We went through a Department of Homeland Security checkpoint which I found interesting although the checkpoint itself was not much to look at.

On the way up to Page Shana expressed a desire to alter our schedule to include one night in Page instead of driving back after dinner. After some discussion I agreed, and we set about planning another activity to see more of the area. I had seen pictures of Antelope canyon, but had not thought that we had time for a visit. Since we were staying through the next day I suggested that it would be a good place to go. To visit there you have to go with a Navajo Guide, and tours are scheduled at selected times. Luckily it was still early in the season and we had no trouble getting set up for a tour. We used Antelope Slot Canyon Tours, and went in a Suburban with our guide in a group of eight. The canyon is every bit as beautiful as it appears in photographs, and the small size of our group made it a very pleasant and personal experience. The crowd jammed into the tour office/trading post made me wonder if our trip would be a mob scene, but once we were underway the groups were well spaced out and I did not feel crowded at any time. We were picked up at our hotel at no extra charge, which was actually a big plus. Page is not very big and the tour departure point was easy to find, but parking there may have been difficult.

At the Grand Canyon

Late Saturday afternoon we arrived at the canyon and set up our campsite, finishing up the tent erection in the dark. We roasted hot dogs over the fire, and settled down for the night. The exertion at the altitude of the North Rim made my heart pound and I was hyperventilating a bit, so my brain thought I might be running away from wolves, so I slept badly. I wasn't worried about it - I seldom sleep badly and on vacation I can always take a nap. It's worth noting that because we had to reschedule our vacation we got the last available site at the campground. We camped at site 57, which I did not thing would be a good spot. As it turned out it easily accomodated our large tent (not all of the sites will), and while I had thought being near the toilet would be a drawback it turned out great. The sites on either side of the nearest facility (located right behind out site) are reserved for law enforcement emergencies, which meant we had no one behind us all week and instead of having to go the long way around to the bathroom to avoid going through someone's campsite (something like walking through someone's house in terms of manners) we could just go straight through.

We fixed a big campsite breakfast, then off to the Grand Canyon Lodge we went, to give Shana her first view of the Grand Canyon. From the park gate to the door of the Lodge you don't see the canyon until you walk across the lobby and go downstairs. The downstairs lounge has beautiful 180 degree floor to ceiling windows and is a great place for your first look at the canyon - so dramatic and so worth planning for Shana's first view to be this one! We hung around the lodge for a bit, then went out for a walk to Bright Angel Point. This was an ideal first walk as the entire .75 mile is paved, and you are rewarded at the end with a lovely panoramic view. On the down side, it's also one of the few places on the North Rim where you can get any cell phone reception, so lots of people were taking advantage of it.

After having lunch at the lodge we went back to the campsite to nap. Shana went into the tent and I took over her amazing lounge chair with my book to nap. Just as I was settling down our neighbors started up an afternoon musicale. He was noodling around with his guitar, and thereby attracted the attention of another camper with a fiddle, who invited the guy with a banjo...Ultimately they had two fiddles, a dulcimer, two guitars, a banjo and a harp. They played until dark. If I had not been so tired I would have enjoyed them very much because they really did sound good. As is was I was mentally cursing them and calling them the Celtic Pretension Society and wishing them anywhere else. We ended up going back to the lodge to watch the sunset and enjoy a good beer in (relative) quiet. I was too tired for dinner, and went right to bed when we returned to camp.

Refreshed by a good night's sleep the next day was spent driving to various overlooks and taking short walks. As far as I can tell there is no spot which is not gorgeous. I took a lot of pictures, and while I doubt that it's possible to take an original photo at the Grand Canyon it's really hard to take a bad one. Click on any of these to enlarge, or just hop on over to my Flickr Gallery for a slide show.

Tales From the Road Part Two

Once in Arizona we were ready to see some sights! We left Albuquerque early so we would have a couple of hours to devote to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert while still arriving at our campground before dark. I had stopped there briefly once before and was looking forward to seeing it again. Although we started out early it was midday before we had our first glimpse of the Painted Desert. The colors are not at their best under the blazing noon sun, but I thought it was still beautiful.

In addition the the colorful formations, there were some ruins and interesting petroglyphs to see. While we drove around to various viewpoints we enjoyed our leftovers from the previous day's lunch at the Big Texan. Shana shared her sandwich with one of the local Ravens.

The Petrified Forest was a treat. Not only were the logs beautiful and interesting, but we were lucky enough to see a few pronghorn antelope. I knew they lived there, but they are generally pretty shy and often you don't get a glimpse. They are also the fastest land animal in the New World, so if they don't like the look of you they can get out of view in a hurry. We lingered in that area for a while - there's a nice trail that winds around and lets you get a good look around. We left in the nick of time - we barely got the tent up before dark - in fact I finished staking out the fly in the dark. It was a long day, and we were glad to be settling down.

Tales from the Road Part One

Last Friday the long-awaited trip to the Grand Canyon started with the drive to Albuquerque, a city whose name I have yet to spell correctly on the first try. We had all kinds of things packed for every eventuality, including three books on CD. This was a good thing because the first one we tried was a real dog. We persisted over two CD's before giving up in disgust and putting in a Sue Grafton mystery which suited us much better.

Our lunch stop was The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, where we stop any time we pass through. This is the home of the free 72oz steak (providing you can eat the whole meal in one hour). It's absolutely worth a stop, even if you don't fancy yourself a contender for the free steak. The steaks are good, the service is prompt, and the place must be seen to be believed. It even has an attached motel, a gift shop, a bar and slots. It's right on I40 and cannot be missed - it's the loudest yellow you've ever seen and generously festooned with every kind over sized eye catching tacky western junk. When we were there two contenders were attempting to earn the free steak dinner. We were not contenders, in fact we took half of our meal with us to eat for lunch the next day.

On the way to Albuquerque we kept our eyes peeled for roadside tourist traps. We saw plenty of casinos and trading posts, each more eye catching then the last. I saw a sign I could not believe but was not fast enough to get a picture of: "EAT HERE. GET GAS". Not getting that picture will be one of the great regrets of the trip.

At least I did manage to get a picture of one of the fire extinguishers at the Best Western nearest Old Town tarted up to look like a shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Every one I saw in the hotel was so displayed, without apparent irony. We walked down to Old Town to enjoy a good dinner at the Church Street Cafe, and headed out early the next morning.

DON'T PANIC

It's Towel Day. Do you know where your towel is?

Back From the Depths

Well, maybe not the total depths, but I am back from my Grand Canyon vacation. A casual examination tells me that we arrived back in Oklahoma City with all equipment intact, if filthy. Our initial packing was careful and Shana's midweek reorganization kept everything under control, but the last two days were rainy, so packing was more casual and loads of stuff is just plain grubby.

More and better entries on the Big Trip will follow, but pictures are already up and labeled on Flickr, so go take a peek. I'm pretty sure two or three canyon views are mislabeled, but I will get that cleaned up ASAP. They are still beautiful even if the names are wrong.

Yes, I Have Lists

I have a list for every purpose. There is a camping list, a bike event list, a Florida vacation list, and a Boston vacation list. I keep them on Excel and print them off as needed. It's not really because I have any obsessive tendencies - quite the contrary. I keep them ready to go at all times because I am very likely to forget EVERYTHING. For a week of camping at the Grand Canyon there are a lot of things I don't want to forget. With list in hand I am ready to go anywhere. Tomorrow we put the bikes on the car and away we go. I won't be back until Memorial Day, so there will be no posts but Twitter updates until then.