Looking at Page in the Rearview Mirror

Upper Antelope Canyon - Page, Az

Our final full day in Page was interesting. We opted for a slot canyon tour, led by Ryan of the Overland Tour Company.  This tour company was aptly rated number one by TripAdvisor.com, our constant reference on what to do, where to eat, etc ANYWHERE.

Slot canyons have gained recent notoriety through Peter Lik, whose photo exploits are featured on the Weather Channel.  These narrow, twisty pathways through solid Navajo sandstone are a major tourist attraction in Page. During  our one hour tour, I snapped 181 pictures (no flash allowed).  I am no Peter Lik, but the amazing colors and lighting even found their way into my camera. Over 2 million people visited the local slot canyons this year. Amazing.

Page was founded in 1957 when the Glen Canyon Dam began construction. For nearly five years, the workers stayed in 1000 mobile homes installed on a deserted desert flat spot (where they enjoyed dessert after dinner). No doubt the bars and hookers followed close behind, but savory details like this were not included in my dam tour.

Annika got a brief swim in Lake Powell, enjoying compulsive ball retrieving.

Annika at Lake Powell

On the road early, we gassed up the rig at the local Navajo trading post station, lured there by a tempting $3.72 per gallon, which was about 2 cents cheaper than other stations in town. It was a ‘pay in the office’ type of station. After pumping $90.00 worth pf petrol, I walked into the office.The fine print over the register appeared: “$3.00 surcharge for use of credit card.”  This raised the actual cost of the gas purchase to about $3.84 per gallon. Is that snickering I hear from the Page wigwams?

Traversing through Monument Valley, mega monoliths rose out of the red badlands, like ancient ships roaming on land. We lunched in Monticello next to the local park.  Annika enjoyed a nice roll on the lawn.

After 285 miles of driving (the last 15 miles because we overshot the runway) we settled into the Riverside Oasis RV Park, along the buckskin colored Colorado River. As I was completing set-up, I glanced at a front tire.  Several small cracks appeared in the sidewall, precursors to a blowout, loss of control and a swerving head-on collision into a 70 mph semi.  This meant an immediate visit to Chip’s Tire Shop.  Chip and I will “consummate the deal” (his words) tomorrow morning when he finds out the shipping costs to have the tires delivered from Salt Lake City, 250 miles away. Fortunately, this is a 4-day stop…and we await the Fed-Ex arrival of the new refrigerator door. The meter is running……. 

Tomorrow we visit Arches National Park where our $10.00 National Park geezer pass will once again give us a freebie entry.