The North Rim of the Grand Canyon behind the lodge at sunset. This was taken on Monday, September 14, 2009. It was a gorgeous sunset.
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Scenic Sunday
Becky and The Parents Day Three: Bryce Canyon National Park
We spent the night in Kanab, then got up early the next day and drove up to Bryce Canyon National Park. Again, the drive was just as beautiful as on the previous days. The photo above is one view along the way of a river in southern Utah, in Long Valley.
To get to Bryce Canyon from Kanab, you take Hwy 89 north until you get to Hwy 12, then turn right. You go through an area of red rock formations in the Dixie National Forest that is spectacular all by itself. If you didn’t get to Bryce, you would still be in awe just from the drive on Hwy 12.
Once you get into Bryce Canyon National Park, there are several different areas and viewpoints. We went to the Bryce Ampitheater, which included Sunrise Point, and to Fairyland Point. FabGrandpa and I went to Bryce last year, but we were there in mid-afternoon and the sun was too bright–all my photos looked washed out and did not truly show the gorgeous colors. This time, we got there early in the morning. The light was better and I got some fantastic pictures.
The pictures below were taken at Sunrise Point:
Becky and FabGrandpa at Sunrise Point
And the pictures below were taken at Fairyland Point:
So, so far, we have been to Antelope Canyon, Zion National Park, and Bryce Canyon National Park. Three canyons, all different, and all very beautiful and awesome in their own ways. Then we went home to the North Rim and took Becky on a tour of the Grand Canyon.
Becky and the Parents, Day Two continued: Zion National Park
On Saturday, after our tour of Antelope Canyon, we drove from Page, Arizona, to Kanab, Utah where we ate lunch at Houston’s Trail’s End Restaurant. After lunch, we went to Zion National Park. I’m telling you, if you are easily overwhelmed by spectacular views, don’t come to this area! We found ourselves wondering how “they” decided one place should be a national park and another place was just ordinary. I don’t know how “they” decide this, but I wouldn’t want that job. If I were the one having to make that decision, I think half of northern Arizona and southern Utah would be one huge, continuous national park.
The photo above is of the scenery just opposite the entrance station to Zion National Park. I could look at that every day, yes I could.
FabGrandpa and Becky at Checkerboard Mesa in Zion National Park.
Out the window of the car as we drove through Zion.
It was such a fabulous day here, the sky really was that blue.
As usual, these photos don’t show how really grand this landscape is.
Gorgeous!
We drove all the way through Zion, starting on the east side, then out the west gate into the town of Springdale. At the far end of Sprindale is Springdale Fruit Company. They have the best smoothies, made with apple juice from their apple orchard. MMMMMM. We also got some of that delicious Old Navuoo jam they sell there. Then back in the car, to drive back through Zion, west to east.
This is in Springdale, headed back into Zion National Park.
This place is so amazing!
We stopped to watch and photograph a herd of Mountain Rams. These two just posed and posed for us. I got a video of them, too.
This is the Utah countryside on the way back to Kanab, where we spent the night that night. We went to dinner at Nedra’s, Too, a great Mexican restaurant in Kanab. We stayed at the Best Western in Kanab, on the top floor I might add. We got some good sleep that night, but the wi-fi didn’t work. Oh, well, I guess you can’t have everything.
A Preview of Becky and The Parents, Day Three: Bryce Canyon
Scenic Sunday
The Colorado River at Navajo Bridge on Highway 89A near Lee’s Ferry in Arizona. It was so gorgeous on Saturday when we were there.
Becky and The Parents Day 2, Antelope Canyon Tour
We spent the night in Page, at Amerca’s Best Value Inn, which turned out not to be what it’s name claimed. For only $116 per night, we were allowed to listen to the crackheads upstairs from us stomp around their room until well after 3 a.m. I really don’t know what they were doing up there, maybe they had a bad case of Montuzema’s Revenge and had to run to the bathroom repeatedly during the night, who knows? But, I can tell you this: They kept me awake most of the night, and the maids said their room was trashed the next morning. At any rate, I would not recommend staying at that motel even if it is the only one in Page with vacancies. I’m just sayin!
After leaving the motel and eating breakfast, we went on a guided tour of Antelope Canyon. Wow! OMG! I have been wanting to go there forever! I am so glad we got to go on that tour. It is so fabulous. I took over 150 pictures, but I will only be showing a few of those here. I checked them out online, and all the different tour companies websites quoted prices of $32 per person for the one and a half hour tours. But, we walked in and paid for our tour in person, and for three of us it was only $88. It was the best $88 we spent all weekend.
We rode out to the slot canyon site in this big four wheel drive vehicle. It was a very bumpy ride in places, but it was fun.
There are Becky and FabGrandpa on the truck, waiting to take off to the Navajo Reservation.
We bumped down this road, which is actually a wash when the rains come. Notice the power lines–there is a nuclear power plant nearby.
We finally got there, and got out of the truck. The ground is very fine sand, which made walking difficult, but we managed to do it. Becky was wearing flip-flops, and I had on sneakers. My shoes were full of sand at the end of the tour.
This is the entrance to the slot canyon.
It is so hard to describe this canyon to someone who has never been there. It is very deep and narrow. The sun shines through the top of the canyon and makes the inside glow orange and red. At different times of the day beams of light come in and iluminate the walls of the canyons. It is absolutely amazing!
Of the many pictures I took, a lot of them are not very good. These are some of the best ones. You can get a “Photographer’s Tour” for a little more money. You get to stay longer, and the guides give you more time to take pictures at each stop along the way of the tour.
The tour guide took the photo above for me. He was very helpful in letting people know what settings to use on their cameras, and in some places he took photos with each person’s camera for us, to make sure we got some good shots.
There we are, back on the truck after an hour and a half of tour time in the canyon. It was an awesome tour, one of the best tours I have ever been on. The only thing about this tour I was not happy with, was that there are five tour companies that take people on tours of this canyon each day. There were probably close to 300 people in the canyon at one time. Considering that it is a very narrow canyon, it was very crowded. However, that was a very small price to pay for such great tour, and to get to see the place with my own eyes. I want to go tour the same canyon again, at a different time of day.
If you ever get a chance to go to Arizona, Page has to be on your list of places to go, and this tour has to be top of the list!
Becky and The Parents Day 1
We left the North Rim headed for Page, Arizona early enough to have breakfast at Jacob Lake Inn. We stopped at the scenic overlook of House Rock Valley. Here is Becky with the Vermillion Cliffs in the background.
The next stop was at the balancing rocks near Cliff Dwellers in Marble Canyon. Those rocks are huge! How they don’t tumble over is a miracle to me!
This is a view of the Colorado River from Navajo Bridge. It is absolutely gorgeous!
And this is looking across at the other side of the bridge at the very eastern edge of the Grand Canyon.
We stopped for lunch at Fiesta Mexicana, where Becky and I both ordered Camarones a la Plancha. Yummo!
After lunch we toured Glen Canyon Dam. It is the second highest dam in the United States. The highest is of course the Hoover Dam.
This is one of the old turbine rotors. Th original on was placed in service in 1964, and was replaced this year. That is FabGrandpa’s backside there in the photo.
Lake Powell, so much blue, blue water in the middle of the desert.
The Colorado River where it comes out of Lake Powell at the Glen Canyon Dam. That bridge is Hwy 89 in Page.
See that water pouring out of the pipe at the bottom? That is what they call seepage, water that seeps through the concrete and rock from behind the dam. 1600 gallons a minute worth of seepage. Amazing! And there is enough moisture for those plants to grow right on the rocks.
More tomorrow!
Remember Whensday
That’s Becky, my step-daughter, in the middle.
When FabGrandpa and I got married, we had three teenaged girls between us. My two daughters, and his daughter, Becky. Since he had custody of Becky, she lived with us, too. I have to admit, it was not all rosy and fun–Becky and I clashed a lot as we learned how to live together as a family. Now, though, we get along just fine.
I remember one very trying weekend, a couple of years after we were married, that I had baked a ham, and then all hell broke loose in the household before we could eat dinner. It involved taking one of my children to the hospital emergency room. While I was away taking care of business, Becky cleaned up the kitchen and threw the ham away. When I got home, I was very stressed due the happenings of the weekend, and all I could think about was having a ham sandwich. I had held myself together pretty well, up until I found out that Becky had thrown the ham away–the whole thing. That is when I started crying and couldn’t stop.
All these years later, it sounds pretty silly, but at the time it was tragic for me. We laugh about it now, but that day was awful. I have not ever cooked a ham since then that I haven’t thought about the one that was tossed in the trash.
Becky is here to visit us this week. We are going to see the sights–Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell, and Antelope Canyon. We’ll go out to eat, do some shopping, and just hang out together. I doubt I’ll be baking a ham, though!
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