To Utah and Back...On My Bike!

Well, it's not as impressive as it sounds.  Utah is just up the road.  In fact, our cell phones think we are in Utah right now, but we are really still in Arizona.  The Wahweap area of Lake Powell is right on the state line.  Part of the lake is in Arizona and part is in Utah. 

Actually, my bike ride was only 5.5 miles.  It's a bit hilly here and the elevation is almost 4000 feet, so the bike ride was a little harder than usual.  Dave is off playing golf at the public course in Page. 

I rode down to Lake Powell Lodge and to several of the boat dock areas.  Here is a view of some of the many houseboats that are berthed here.  Check out the one in the middle of the right hand side.  It must have at least five stories!  Still, I prefer RVs to houseboats because we aren't limited to living on the water. 

Another look at the many houseboats.  These are just the private boats, not the rentals.

And now a few more shots of the campground, including the store, the amphitheater, and one more shot of our site.

A final look at Lake Powell.  Tomorrow we leave for Utah, for real.  Time to catch up with the time on our cell phones!

Glen Canyon Dam

We are enjoying our stay here at Wahweap Campground.  We paid $38 per night and they have no discounts.  We have full hookups with 50 amps, and free wifi but no cable TV.  Our satellite antenna works well and we have Verizon cell coverage.  The campground also offers tent/RV sites with no hookups.

Another view of Lake Powell and Glen Canyon from Wahweap Campground

The best part of this campground, besides the views of Lake Powell, is that it feels like a state park or national park.  Each site is paved and is very spacious and natural, and each site has a picnic table, campfire ring, and barbecue grill.  We're in a pull-thru site, but there are lots of back-in sites, with views from the back window, and some back-in sites with views from the front window. 

The campground is arranged in loops, so there isn't much traffic in each loop.  The park is very quiet and quite dark at night, so we enjoyed looking at the stars last night.

We didn't realize that this was an interagency pass area.  So once again, our America the Beautiful Pass saved us the $15 entry fee into the Wahweap Marina and Campground area.  You do not need a pass to go to the Glen Canyon Dam Visitor's Center.

Glen Canyon Dam created Lake Powell.  The Colorado River serves as the water source for several states.  The nearby town of Page, Arizona, was created in 1956 when the dam work began.  There was no town, no roads, and no way to get from one side of the canyon to the other.  First they built a temporary bridge for the workers to cross on foot, then eventually the current bridge was built.

John Wesley Powell was the person who named the Glen Canyon.  Of course, this was a long time before the dam was built!  The dam was dedicated by Lady Bird Johnson in 1966.  We watched a couple of movies at the visitor center and learned about the history and construction of the dam and about the history of Glen Canyon. 

Beyond the dam lies Lake Powell.

Prescott Valley, AZ to Lake Powell's Wahweap Campground

View of Lake Powell from Wahweap Campground

The motorhome's front end alignment went well and we left Kirby's in Prescott Valley by 11 am.  We got to Lake Powell's Wahweap RV Park and Campground around 4:30 pm.  We have a bit of a view of Lake Powell, and a great view of the restrooms and dumpster.  But the wifi antenna is on top of the restroom, so at least we are close to that.

Today was another sunny, warm, windy day.  We took I-17 north to Flagstaff, and then went north on state highway 89, all the way to Page, Arizona.  We crossed over Glen Canyon Dam and soon reached Wahweap Campground.   

During today's journey, we saw a variety of terrain. 

On our way north to Flagstaff on I-17

Sand hills north of Flagstaff on state highway 89

The scenery changed from sand hills back into red rock hills.

We drove between the rock hills.

The bridge across Glen Canyon Dam.

Lake Powell is very low right now.

Our home for the next few days, site B18 at Lake Powell's Wahweap Campground.

Sedona, Arizona

We  left the motorhome bright and early today since we decided to have it washed and waxed by a mobile service that comes right to the RV park.  Today's destination was Sedona.  This is another place where my little camera simply could not take pictures that show the extent of the awesome scenery. 

My favorite sight today was the well-known Chapel of the Holy Cross, which was completed in 1956.  The chapel is 250 feet high and emerges from a 1,000-foot wall. It seems to be suspended into the blue sky and clouds. The red rock cross can be seen from miles around Sedona.

Chapel of the Holy Cross

The peaceful interior of the Chapel

A mansion that's being built near the Chapel of the Rocks, reportedly costing $45 million.  Who has that kind of money?

One of the first places we visited was the visitor center for the Coconino National Forest.  In order to do any hiking, everyone needs to get a Red Rock pass.  We already had the national park pass which could be used for this. 

There were scenic turnouts every mile or so just before we entered Sedona.  This was one of our first views.

One of the scenic viewpoints was from the Sedona airport.  The helpful volunteer guide at the National Forest visitor center gave us a map with a bunch of places to visit where we could get good views.  They were all spectacular and we would't have known about these places otherwise.

We didn't even have to get out of the car to see this part of the magnificent landscape.

One of the views from Red Rock State Park, where we ate our picnic lunch, visited the visitor's center, and watched a DVD about Sedona.  We wanted to take a walk around the park, but by then it was too hot for us sea level folks.  Sedona is at an elevation at 4500 feet.

A closer view of the red rocks.   Far different than anything we see in the Pacific Northwest!

Montezuma Castle National Monument, Arizona

Today's excursion was to Montezuma Castle off I-17 near Camp Verde. Just to be clear, it's not a castle and has nothing to do with Montezuma. But somehow the name has stuck. It's a fascinating place, and I'm glad we got to see it since we may or may not make it to Mesa Verde National Park, which has many more cliff dwellings and ones you can actually see up close if you are able walk up and down the ladders.

Southern Sinagua farmers began building this five-story, 20-room dwelling early in the 1100s.  It stands in a cliff recess 100 feet above the valley.  Early settlers marveled at the structure and assumed that it was Aztec in origin, hence the name Montezuma Castle.

This is part of Castle A, once an imposing six-story apartment-like building with about 45 rooms.  It is now badly deteriorated.  This dwelling was built against the base of the cliff. 

An audio diorama display told us about life in the "castle".

And a picture showed more about how the people lived in the rooms.

The community got their water from nearby Beaver Creek.  The creek was a reliable source of water, and there was fertile land on the nearby terrace.  By the 1400s, the Southern Sinagua had abandoned their cliff dwellings and we'll probably never know the reason why.

Western soapberry

The trees and vegetation at the Monument were interesting and added to the peaceful, contemplative visit.

                         The Arizona Sycamore tree.  I really liked this tree!

After touring the National Monument, we took a drive to Cottonwood and Jerome and decided to go to Prescott Valley to find the place where Dave is going to get the alignment on the motorhome done.  We took 89A south.  That was a mistake, but at least we were in the car, not the motorhome.  The route was narrow, winding, and took us to over 7000 feet.  We called it the "Road to Hana".  In fact, the real road to Hana, in Maui, Hawaii, is at sea level.  I'll admit that it has more potholes than 89A, but that's the only positive thing I can say about 89A.  We won't be driving that road again, even though it did have spectacular views of the red rock, multi-colored cliffs near Sedona.

A Change in Plans

This morning we were at the Grand Canyon, and now we are camped at Distant Drums RV Park in Camp Verde, Arizona, about three hours south of the Grand Canyon. 

Dave has not been able to sleep the last two nights.  He starts to fall asleep and then wakes up not able to breathe unless he sits up.  Because of his lung cancer surgery five years ago, he is missing one lobe of his lungs.  We reluctantly decided to leave the lovely Grand Canyon in favor of someplace lower in altitude.  This new RV park is around 4000 feet instead of around 7000 feet as it was at Trailer Village.  Dave feels better already and is taking a nap, lying down, and able to breathe. 

The other reason that we decided to leave the Grand Canyon two days early is because Dave noticed that it looks like our motorhome needs an alignment job.  We will probably have to go to Flagstaff or Phoenix for that.  In the meantime, we are going to enjoy the Verde Valley area of Arizona.  Montezuma's Castle National Monument is at the same exit as this RV park, and Sedona, Cottonwood, and Jerome are all close by. 

We were amused to see that when we left Grand Canyon Trailer Village this morning, it was snowing, just like when we arrived on Thursday.  But on Friday and Saturday we had beautiful weather.  Thank you, Lord, for that blessing!

We saw some beautiful scenery on our way to Flagstaff.  We took Highway 180 south to I-17.  It snowed on and off all the way to Flagstaff, but light, hail-type snow that didn't stick.  We had to go up to 8000 feet in the Flagstaff area before we started descending as we got closer to Camp Verde.

We had heard that many of the rest areas in Arizona are now closed.  Sure enough, so was this one on I-17, just south of Flagstaff.  Luckily we didn't need to stop!

The Verde Valley, after many steep downgrades which we welcomed because it meant that Dave could breathe easier.

    Our first view of Distant Drums RV Resort

All set up in site #105.  Now Dave can relax and get some sleep!

Grand Canyon--Desert View and Watchtower

Today was another busy day here at the grandest of all canyons.  Did you know that the Grand Canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world?  My pictures don't begin to show the awesomeness of this place.

This morning we went to a ranger talk about the Colorado River at Yavapai Observation Point.  They built a new center there in 2007 and it's a great facilities, with magnificent views inside and outside the building. 

View from Yavapai Observation Point

Yavapai Observation Point

After learning about the Colorado River and how it flows through the canyon and helped form the canyon, we went to the visitor's center again and saw Mather Point.  They are doing construction there, so we had to take a bit of a detour to get to the viewpoint.

Mather Point

After lunch in the motorhome, we drove to Desert View, which is to the east near the east entrance to the national park.  On the way, we stopped at the Tusayan Pueblo Ruins and Museum.  This was a fascinating place.  800 years ago, around twenty people lived in this community. 

Mountain lion crossing on the road to Desert View.  Last evening's ranger talk was about mountain lions in the park.

Tusayan Pueblo Ruins

Food storage area in the ancient Pueblo ruins

Then it was on to Desert View.  Here we saw the famous Watchtower, designed and built by the Fred Harvey Company and Santa Fe Railroad in 1932.  Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter was the architect.  Primarily an observation station and convenient rest stop for Grand Canyon visitors, it was also intended to bring about a better understanding of the American Indian and his life in past and present.

Watchtower designed by Mary Colter at Desert View

We climbed all the way to the top of the Watchtower.

Look closely (click on photo to enlarge) and you will see the meandering Colorado River.

Another view from the Watchtower area.

On the way back to Grand Canyon Village, we stopped at some more observation points.

In this photo you can clearly see the Colorado River, over 5000 feet down.

One of the final shots of the Canyon for today.