Saturday, June 24th

Page has come and gone, in a huge hurry.

First, a few thoughts on that "dutch oven" cowboy dinner. Now, this is just my opinion, but I would think that if you are going to charge someone $42 for this outstanding "dutch oven" dinner from a horse drawn wagon ride . . ., well, I don't know what I expected. Maybe I don't know how to start what I was going to say. We showed up at the "recreation center" as instructed and walked over to the barn to meet the "wagon." Amos and Andy (our horses) were getting connected as we walked up. It was covered and it was pulled behind, but the way that thing creaked and moved I was afraid we would all fall apart quickly. I also found myself thinking about the people who traveled all across the country in wagons and wondered if they were as fragile as that one seemed to be. Amos and Andy lead us (there were 19 of us on the trip. One 8 member family from the DC area who were on a 3 month journey accross the country to see as many National Parks as possible.) around in a big circle for about 45 minutes. They impressed me by running up some hills (as far as they could go) that my car really worked to pull itself up. We then returned right back to the barn where we started and walked up the hill to a tented area for the dinner. The food was good- no complaints - but it wasn't really what I was expecting.

After dinner, I went back down to my campground to attempt to organize and shake out my dust filled "clean" laundry. Yes, it had all dried, but even the items that hadn't tried to blow away still had dust in them. I think I spend more time organizing and reorganizing my car/laundry/bags than almost any thing else.

After finishing up with that, I walked back over to the recreation center becauseI had signed up to go on a star gazing tour. I met up with a group of people that were on some educational multigenerational bus tour from St. George Utah. They told me that they were all grandparents (or of that generation) and most had brought teenage grandchildren along. They would learn about the places, but then they had time to explore and "be active" for the kids. They actually were heading for Page after Zion as well. One of the ladies was from Wisconsin and she decided we should be fast friends due to our Lake Superior connection. I visited with them for about 40 minutes before our tour guide came out. At that point,I realized that some of the obnoxious children (teen aged boys mostly) that had been playing on the playground and making irritating LOUD comments at everything weren't the out of control boys (on a big boy scout camping trip or something like that) that were staying all around my over in the campgrounds, these were the grandchildren of these nice people. Oh no!!!

A note to grandparents. Your grandchildren are NOT cute and funny when they are teenagers and think that they should LOUDLY disrupt and talk over any presentation attempting to be given. A little discipline would go a LONG way, for some. I think one young man and I would REALLY struggle had he been in my classroom. Not sure any discipline would reach him. Anyway, our poor guide lead us about a quarter of a mile up the hill from our compound. We then want to sit/lay on the "water tower" (yeah, it was just a raised disk, but make a great viewing point). He let our night vision come in before starting, but by then the children thought they had the right to mess around and talk in whatever way/manner they wanted and at any time. Our poor guide! He tried SO HARD to keep those kids on track and to share information. The skies were perfectly clear and the stars were vibrant and beautiful. The air cooled off enough that long pants and a light jacket actually felt comfortable, however, I must have muttered "shut up!" about 5 times (and I don't even use that word any more). I was irked and angered and couldn't wait to get away from the naughty - naughty teens that were traveling with grandma and grandpa.

Once walking the VERY DARK trail down to my campground I encountered the boy scout troup running amuck and causing some sort of trouble in the bathroom area. There was no adult to be seen, but by their actions it was very plain for this teacher to know they were up to SOMETHING (again!) I figured I would take the out of control scouts (at 11:30 PM) to the undisciplined grandchildren, however. Next thing I knew, one of the boys crept out of one the the shower stalls with a horse-head mask on. I rolled my eyes and said, "Oh my...I teach way too many children like you all for that to have surprised me." The giggled and by the time I had come out of the bathroom someone must have moved the troups on to bed - or at least out of the bathroom area.

The next morning, I knew I wanted to shower before I headded out because I didn't know what the shower circumstance would be in Page. I opted to shower first. The first shower room that I looked at had dirt, water, "stuff" all over. It was very dirty. The only other open and available one had a bad odor. Ugh...I picked to smelly stall and got cleaned up. Most of the room was actually quite clean and it wasn't until I was getting ready to leave that I think I found the source of the smell. Yeah, I think the boys may have been up to more trouble that wearing a horse mask the night before. It looks like someone had thrown a bag of feces up high above the door and left the stain on the wall/ceiling area. At least there was nothing on the floor or the area that I had been using. Ugh...kids.

I then wandered back to my tent feeling nice and clean and started to pack up all of my belongings. UM??? Really? What was I thinking? Setting up that tent in the extreme dust, sand, and heat had been a horrid mess. What on earth made me think I could stay clean while doing that. My brand new, clean clothing was stained - stinky, and allow me to repeat stained by the time I had that tent put away again and everything loaded in my car. I looked at my dirty shirt and didn't have the energy to care of dig out more clothing. I wore the dirty shirt ALL DAY!

The drive from Zion down to Page was pretty fast. I was at my new campground (which was actually in Utah, but if I walked about a football field further I would have been in AZ) by about 11 AM (10 AM AZ time). I was able to set up camp early and I thought that given the prediction for a VERY VERY HOT day I should set up the tent earlier rather than later. My campsite was a picnic table, a fire pit (which was completely full of cigarette cartons, about 20 plastic water bottles, some pop/beer cans, and styrofoam cups), and one little bush- little (no shade). It was wide open sand perfect to bake the floor of my tent and provide no relief in the heat of the day. However, because it was so open and SO BIG I decided it would be a good chance to set up the BIG TENT again. I needed the practice and I was already dirty, so I set to it. The actual set up went much better this time around! I only struggle with the dumb tarp, but next time when I have more people that will go better. I felt very hot but accomplished after getting that done.

I went back down to the bautiful campground office: A. to cool off in the great AC, B. to look around, C. to get some maps of the park area and hiking trails so I knew what to explore. My intention at that time was to let them know about the mess in my fire pit, just so I wasn't blamed for it, but I forgot. I got all the other information I needed and set off.

Stop #1 was the resort where my boat tour on Saturday was supposed to leave from. I went to ensure that I had actually booked for the correct dates and make sure I knew what time to arrive. I had wanted to use the restroom, but there was some crazy nasty smell coming from the restroom all the way out into the lobby, so I decided I would wait until I got into Walmart, which I was SUPER EXCITED to see! One of my biggest complaints, or discomforts, on this trip has been that my heels are so beat up and dry that they catch every single night on my sleeping bag. I would like to sleep with socks on (and have tried most nights) but it just gets too hot. I wanted to get some sort of pumice and lotion to try to work on that. Also, due to the dry weather I keep getting nose bleeds (minor ones) but it makes my nose uncomfortable, so I wanted to get some nasal spray to try to work on that. I had also learned that the two bras that I had packed to come along on this trip were NOT enough. Given the amount of sweating and DIRT I was managing to get myself into I knew I needed a few more to wear between washes. Ideally I was going to wash things out at night and hang them out, but it wasn't like I ever had any privacy in any of these sites. I wasn't about to do that upon seeing where I was staying.

So, in the middle of the day, to avoid some of the heat I was going to head to Walmart for those very important items! However, on the way I found the Carl someone or another visitor center for the Glen Canyon Dam. I thought that I might as well stop in there to visit and look around (and cool off). I thought maybe I would use the restroom there before going on, but when I tried to come in a gal was trying to clean it. Instead of telling me, as any proper MN person would do, "I'm sorry if you could give me about 10 minutes I will have this cleaned and open for you." Her response was to wave wildly at me and say, "NO! GET OUT!!!! NO! NO! NO!" Good grief. OK! Glad I don't have to go that badly.

I walked through the exibit area and learned that they had a lovely theater that showed three different movies that I would have liked to have seen. Unfortunately, I didn't see the movie. The lights went down and I had a lovely 20 minute nap instead. OH well... I thought I'd hit the bathroom on the way out before continuing on my way. It should be clean anyway, right?

UGH! PEOPLE!!!! There was already toilet paper all over the floors! I saw a lovely blonde woman come out of the stall that I was planning to use. I thought, that she looked put together, so at least it should be clean. NO!! There was urine on the seat of the toilet. I got frustrated and decided that I didn't have to go bad enough to endure that. Walmart, surely, would be better, right?

Next stop was Walmart! I went immediately to the restroom where there was a line of people out the door AND I could already see the floors covered with toilet paper. I felt like I was back at school dealing with the kids! This is crazy! I left and decided to shop first. I went as slowly through the store as I could because by that point I had been listening to the radio. They were talking up the excessive heat warnings (109) for the day. They were also talking about how if you were out hiking on the sand that would amplify the heat making it seem even hotter from ground up! I agreed. So, I crawled through the store and found (as usual) there was a pristine restroom in the back. Aaaah! Yay, and finally!

I made my purchases (including a blow-up mattress to take with me into the grand canyon on Sunday. I see pictures of people floating by the waterfalls on their mattresses. I figured if it was going to be 110 down there and the water would be my only relief, well then I was going to buy the mattress.) and made my way back to the oven I call my car. I thought maybe I could find a movie theater because the thought of going to sit in my HOT tent wasn't appealing. I found a movie theater, but they weren't playing anything until 7 PM. So, I found some offices that represented the tours of antelope canyon I was taking the next day. I decided to stop in and verify my reservations. The first place I stopped in warned me that due to the excessive heat they had to cancel the afternoon tour that day and they expected that would probably happen the day I was taking my tour too. Uh oh...then what? If they cancel my tour I have more time to try to fill in an already HOT an unsheltered environment. A girl can only wander Walmart for so long! My morning tour was going to go no matter what, I did learn that much.

This caused me to really re-evaluate my time in Page. I came to the conclusion that perhaps it would be a better idea to cancel my boat trip and hike for Saturday and try to leave town after my morning tour on Friday. I could perhaps switch my tent site over to a hotel site at the "Grand Canyon Caverns" where I was supposed to stay Saturday night. I thought that maybe having TWO nights there - in a hotel instead of a tent - would be a better plan in the heat. In addition, leaving from a hotel room at 2 AM is a lot easier than leaving from a TENT at 2 AM. Yup! I then spent about an hour driving around - making phone calls and changing all of those plans! SO GLAD I DID THAT!

By the time I talked to everyone and arranged that, it was 6:15 PM, or so I thought. I had seen a sign saying that there would be a "Ranger Guided Hike" out the the "hanging gardens" near Glen Canyon (which was where I was camping) at 6:30 PM. I thought it would be close, but it was something I was interested in. I made sure I had water, used the restroom at the campground, and hurried on out! I made it to the trailhead by 6:31. Where was everyone? There wasn't another car in the lot. NOBODY! I waited a while and then though, hmmmm...maybe the ranger thought it was too hot and cancelled? I got out and decided I was going anyway. A car full of Europeans pulled in behind me followed by some Asians and then another car. Oh well, I guessed I would just go on my own. I couldn't find my map, once again, and had NO IDEA how long the hike was, but I was positive it was shorter than or equal to 3 miles. No worries there. Ranger guided hikes are usually short, so I set off. That was one of the easiest hikes I have taken this whole trip! I did meet one other couple on the trail and then passed one of the Europeans who had turned around (I learned later due to heat) with her friends before getting there. I was back to my car in about 25 minutes! SHORT! However, as I was pulling out in pulled a ranger in his fancy little ranger truck. I thought I would just find out why he wasn't there for his talk at 6:30. I told him that I missed his talk, but enjoyed the walk. He said, he was going to get ready to do his talk in about 20 minutes. WHAT?? I then asked him what time it was. Arizona is an hour earlier!!! Uff da! I missed the talk because I was too early! Oh well. That gave me time to go out to try to hike horseshoe bend (which I asked about an learned it was 1.5 miles total! Another "easy" one.)

I drove out there and explored that area. Unfortunately, the sun was starting to go down in the same direction that I wanted to shoot pictures, but at least I could say I had seen it. Upon walking back to my car, I looked to the North and saw that a big wall of smoke was just descending upon the whole area. I was aware of 3 out of control forest fires up in Utah, and my dad had mentioned one in AZ. I had driven by one on my way down to Bryce, but I didn't know where this one was. It got to the point that visibility was very low and the smell of smoke was heavy in the air. I asked about it at my campground when I got back there and they mentioned that it came in very fast and they hoped the wind would switch and move it out too. It was from one of the big fires in Utah.

I opted to have some dinner and then try to sleep. I had left my windows (with a very fine mesh) open while I was out exploring hoping that it would keep some cooler air moving through the place. HA! It maybe did, but EVERYTHING in the tent had a fine layer of that red clay dust on it now; my floor was all gritty and so was the top of my sleeping bag. Ugh...I felt as thought I had in-floor heating in my tent as everything was radiating heat from the day. What would be the point of showing now? I would only get dirty again. I thought it was cooler and that I would sleep fine, but alas I didn't know that it was still about 80 degrees and there were a large group of drunk partying young people who would descend upon the campground at about 10:00 PM. This time, I wasn't the one muttering "shut up". One of my neighbors was YELLING it and I think there was some sort of confrontation that occurred. The music quieted down, but the partying continued until very late into the night. While I didn't hear any coyotes (like I did at Zion), I did have that almost all night. It was another hard night to sleep.

Friday, June 23rd

The sun was up bright and early and since it started heating up pretty quickly I was already up and packing things up by about 6:30 (along with most of my neighbors). The smoke had indeed cleared out and it was looking very beautiful. My phone rang (which surprised me because I didn't know I had service and it was pretty early). It was one of my tour providers for the day worried about the heat and trying to shuffle my tour to a different time. I couldn't come when they wanted me to, so I was more convinced that my choice to duck out of town was the right one. This time, while putting away my tent I was smarter! I decided to wear the same dirty clothes I had worn the day before to pack up! SMART ME! :) I did one thing right. I got everything cleared up and then went to shower. Ugh, this was a pay shower! For 10 minutes I could pay $2.00. Really? I knew I was staying in a hotel that night and I would be in the flying sand/dust all morning, so . . . . I took a wet-wipe shower, got dressed, and headded out for the day.

My first stop of the day was a "Photography Tour" of Upper Antelope Canyon. Um, I knew there were requirements: I had to have a special kind of camera, I had to have a tripod, and we would get special treatment in the canyon. I have a newer to me camera; I have never taken a photography class, AND I haven't even read the whole instruction manual for the camera. I spent 10 minutes before the tour trying to figure out how a tripod works. Oh no. . . I was the special needs student in the tour! Everyone was talking "F-stops" and "exposure" and . . .other stuff that I knew nothing about. I had a tripod without a screw (apparently I don't have one of the screws to keep the camera safely mounted on the tripod - - must have left that in Fergus Falls or Silver Bay) and I didn't have a clue what all these people were saying. I had one girl set my camera to what she felt was the right mode and I pretended I knew what I was doing. They would line us all up according to whether we were "high shooters" or "low shooters" . .. yeah whatever. I just went where the guy told me to do. Then, they would set a timer for 2 mintues and we were supposed to just take the same picture over and over and over again for 2 minutes!!!! Really? Why? I pretended I knew what I was doing and trying to look professional, for the first hour of the tour. Then, I gave up. I admitted defeat with the dumb tripod (since I would trip on it and continually struggle to move it an set it up when we were told to move). I took my cameral off and then switched over to automatic mode and just shot normally. Since I didn't need the 2 - 4 minutes of each shot, I then visited (some) in Japanese with a lady standing next to me. She was carrying some of the big important lenses for her husband. They lead us to the SAME PLACES about 4 times, but lined us up in different angles. What on earth? I am NOT a photographer. I don't even know if I got any good photos because I don't know what I'm doing! By the time we were given the all clear to go - I couldn't wait. Whatever. We saw about 4 chambers in this TINY TINY little canyon. While we would be shooting, they would parade these other tours (hundereds and hundereds of people) through so they wouldn't obstruct our shots. The canyon itself isn't as long as a foot-ball field (probably. I wouldn't know since we really only got to enter the 4 chambers) I just happily went and loaded the truck again.

Oh and that truck ride!!! Our tour guide loaded us all in the back of this truck (kind of like a safari vehicle) and then sped through very very sandy roads. We bounced and spun and tottered and jostled our way into and out of the canyon. I did feel like I was back in Africa on the roads there. I was glad to make it safely back to my car. I was so done that whether the weather cancelled my next tour or not, I knew I was done! I cancelled it myself and set off for the Grand Canyon.

I made it to the Grand Canyon National Park about 4 - 5 PM. I was able to walk around some and take a few pictures, but I was ready to get to my hotel. I decided I will officially be in Grand Canyon National Park when I hike into Supai Village and the campgrounds on Sunday, so I am good with that.

I think the most exciting part of my trip was when I hit Route 66 and was able to drive along that reading the fun signs. About 7 PM I pulled into Grand Canyon Caverns Inn. Oh, no . . .what have I done? It was missing letters on it's sign. There is junk all over the front of the building - excuse me, ART. It looked very run down, but unique. I learned the restaurant closed at 8, so if I wanted food I should go immediately to get that. I decided that for the first time on the trip I would actually eat out - buy a meal. I ordered a cheeseburger and french fries, to go, for my room. :) It was lovely!

My room is very outdated, but clean. It had the the world's most comfortable bed (at least to my liking last night) and no phone, no internet, and no cell service. Oh well. It has a covered courtyard with internet access. While it didn't have a tub for a bath, it did have a clean enough shower to wash the day away! :)

Today, Saturday, June 24th

After a heavenly night of sleep I have embraced the uniqueness of this place. I had a free breakfast that someone else set out for me. I can get free ice for my cup (I will have to pay 5 bucks for a bag of it later tonight, however) AND they had a free laundry! I was the only there. I was able to go wash a small load of laundry for FREE!

Now, I have been sitting here for about 2 hours catching up on this blog. My plan is to go to the swimming pool soon and just relax. I will walk to the restaurant later today for another meal and try to go to bed by about 7 PM - - I will leave at 2 AM for the hike into the canyon!