It was downright cold this morning -- 26 degrees. Our car kept raising a "Warning: Cold Temperature" alert. (We aren't quite sure what our car expects us to do about it...) Gary and Kathy gave us both TEXAS sweatshirts, and those came in handy. Thanks, Gary and Kathy.
We packed up early and headed back to the Grand Canyon Park. What a difference between 2 PM and 7;30 AM. No cars in the parking lot - we were the first one. The Canyon was as gorgeous as yesterday, but more enjoyable without the mass of humanity.
We caught the shuttle to Yaki Point and enjoyed another great view. This is the point they recommend for sunset views. Morning views aren't bad either. The shuttle driver was very enthusiastic about the Park. He said he worked in law enforcement for 50 years and just couldn't take it anymore, so he moved to the Canyon and started working for the Park. He said that he now loves his job and described all the view points on the desert trail that we were taking out of the park. We hadn't seen the Colorado River yet, but he said there were several good views coming up.
So we had to stop at all the view points and at the Indian ruin and museum. We saw the Colorado River. Our final stop was at the "desert view" area. You view the desert and canyon from a 4-story tower built from native stone and decorated inside with Indian art. Spiral stairways lead to a view balcony, and a 360-view area on top. We paid a fortune for a hamburger at the snack bar and headed out of the park at about 1pm. The temperature had elevated to about 65, but seemed much hotter. We just aren't used to all these clear skies and bright sunshine. With a 40+ degree difference between night and day temps -- we discovered that layering is the way to go.
Highway 89 passed through the Navajo Reservation. It reminded be of the Reservation we passed through in Montana -- very desolate and barren land. It was a sandy pink desert with no vegetation. The monotony was only broken by small houses and trailers and the numerous roadside stalls used to sell Indian crafts and jewelry. Most of those were empty now (drat!) but I imagine they are quite active during the summer season.
The land gradually developed more character with multi-colored cliffs in the background. Actually quite pretty by the time we left the reservation and headed to Page and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
The GCNRA includes the Glen Canyon Dam (on the Colorado), Lake Powell and the surrounding area -- located in both Arizona and Utah. The dam is adjacent to a bridge spanning the canyon walls. We went to the Info Center just across the bridge and enjoyed a bird's eye view of the dam holding back the mighty Colorado on its way to the Grand Canyon.
The dam was built in the 1950's and the town of Page was founded so that the workers would have someplace to live. The town is uphill on a mesa with a fantastic view of the river valley, dam, and Lake Powell. Our hotel was right on the edge of the mesa and we could see all this from our window. We thought it would be expensive, and were surprised to get very reasonable off-season rates. I guess the Grand Canyon doesn't know about off-season.
When we got back to our room from our tour, we saw the message light blinking. Not knowing who would know where we were, we checked with the front desk. Turns out that there was a plumbing problem and we had no hot water. The motel offered to give us $20 off the room if we stayed. So we decided we could bathe tomorrow.
There is a lot to do here. Just down from the Dam is a marina and a huge lake to explore with fantastic canyon land scenery (they had pictures hung up in the motel.) There is also horseback riding, fishing, camping and rafting down the Colorado. And it is much less crowded than the Grand Canon. The only language we heard was English. It is not entirely a secret though because we saw several tour buses prowling the area.
We are going to visit Zion National Park tomorrow (and take a bath).
We packed up early and headed back to the Grand Canyon Park. What a difference between 2 PM and 7;30 AM. No cars in the parking lot - we were the first one. The Canyon was as gorgeous as yesterday, but more enjoyable without the mass of humanity.
We caught the shuttle to Yaki Point and enjoyed another great view. This is the point they recommend for sunset views. Morning views aren't bad either. The shuttle driver was very enthusiastic about the Park. He said he worked in law enforcement for 50 years and just couldn't take it anymore, so he moved to the Canyon and started working for the Park. He said that he now loves his job and described all the view points on the desert trail that we were taking out of the park. We hadn't seen the Colorado River yet, but he said there were several good views coming up.
So we had to stop at all the view points and at the Indian ruin and museum. We saw the Colorado River. Our final stop was at the "desert view" area. You view the desert and canyon from a 4-story tower built from native stone and decorated inside with Indian art. Spiral stairways lead to a view balcony, and a 360-view area on top. We paid a fortune for a hamburger at the snack bar and headed out of the park at about 1pm. The temperature had elevated to about 65, but seemed much hotter. We just aren't used to all these clear skies and bright sunshine. With a 40+ degree difference between night and day temps -- we discovered that layering is the way to go.Highway 89 passed through the Navajo Reservation. It reminded be of the Reservation we passed through in Montana -- very desolate and barren land. It was a sandy pink desert with no vegetation. The monotony was only broken by small houses and trailers and the numerous roadside stalls used to sell Indian crafts and jewelry. Most of those were empty now (drat!) but I imagine they are quite active during the summer season.
The land gradually developed more character with multi-colored cliffs in the background. Actually quite pretty by the time we left the reservation and headed to Page and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
The GCNRA includes the Glen Canyon Dam (on the Colorado), Lake Powell and the surrounding area -- located in both Arizona and Utah. The dam is adjacent to a bridge spanning the canyon walls. We went to the Info Center just across the bridge and enjoyed a bird's eye view of the dam holding back the mighty Colorado on its way to the Grand Canyon.The dam was built in the 1950's and the town of Page was founded so that the workers would have someplace to live. The town is uphill on a mesa with a fantastic view of the river valley, dam, and Lake Powell. Our hotel was right on the edge of the mesa and we could see all this from our window. We thought it would be expensive, and were surprised to get very reasonable off-season rates. I guess the Grand Canyon doesn't know about off-season.
When we got back to our room from our tour, we saw the message light blinking. Not knowing who would know where we were, we checked with the front desk. Turns out that there was a plumbing problem and we had no hot water. The motel offered to give us $20 off the room if we stayed. So we decided we could bathe tomorrow.
There is a lot to do here. Just down from the Dam is a marina and a huge lake to explore with fantastic canyon land scenery (they had pictures hung up in the motel.) There is also horseback riding, fishing, camping and rafting down the Colorado. And it is much less crowded than the Grand Canon. The only language we heard was English. It is not entirely a secret though because we saw several tour buses prowling the area.
We are going to visit Zion National Park tomorrow (and take a bath).
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