Lake Powell

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blog 10-19-17 Lake Powell

This morning was a lazy one and much needed. I finished the blog from yesterday and Ginnie took it easy with a leisurely breakfast then a walk for the dogs. It was late til I was done but Watson and I got a good walk in. Watson has been limping on his right front leg since yesterday and it seems worse today so I'll keep him confined for a day or 2 and see if that helps. No thorn in the paw and no heat from his muscles or joints so I hope it's nothing serious.

We booked a boat tour on Lake Powell for 1:15 but we had to be there by 12:45 and it took 20 min to get there so we decided to leave at 12:15 which gave us enough time to relax and enjoy the outdoors. The only problem with that was it kept rain showering all morning. The temp was mild about 65, so we opened the awning and sat out under cover.

We left on time and followed google maps and were there in no time. We went to Antelope Marina and found a great parking place, went to the visitor's center, got our tickets and discovered we had to call for a ride to the boat dock. It was a long way and when we called discovered they couldn't get us because they were busy with house boat rentals going out today. So we walked to the dock and decided we couldn't make it back because it was all up hill and at 4200 ft elevation it takes a toll. We were sure there would be a ride on the way back.

Our ride was a pontoon boat with a top covering the whole boat and seats facing in along the rail. Not my favorite but we went with it. The usual safety speech was given by our captain Marvin, as we were slowly making our way out of the marina no wake zone. He drove south on the lake and shortly we turned into a channel that was marked Antelope Canyon no wake zone. The channel got more and more narrow the further in we went and the stone and colors were amazing. The shadows are very dark and the sun is very bright so taking a picture in a confined area was difficult. We passed a paddle boarder and several kayakers as well as another tour boat but it seemed secluded and the captain played Indian flute music that added to the atmosphere. Except for the 2 toddlers on the boat that kept crying or whining it was a delightful experience.

It was just an hour cruise and when we got back to the dock Ginnie and I went to the restaurant for lunch. It was right at the marina and we had a great view of the water and the mesas and buttes on the other side. On the cruise we learned the difference between the two. A butte has a wider base with a more narrow top. A mesa is flat at the top and can go on to be quite large and is straight down on the sides. Thank goodness that mystery is solved.

We couldn't go home yet because we had stamp to get. Lake Powell is a National Recreation Area and that qualifies it for a stamp in the Nat'l Park book so we had to go to the dam to get the stamp. Another dam trip.... It wasn't hard to find and we went into the visitors center and got our stamp. The mystery here is that it was in the Rocky Mountain section but should be in the southwest section. We had an issue with time too. I was looking up directions for the tour and google maps said our destination was in another time zone. Between UT and AZ we have been back and forth an hour and we were really confused in the morning. I ended up calling the tour company to ask them what time it was there. We are on Pacific Time again so we are 3 hrs behind the east coast again. It's hard enough trying to figure out what day it is, now we have to figure out what time it is too. Life's challenges.

We were back home by 4 and the boys were happy to see us. We sat out for a while, played with the kids then Ginnie had a nap and I organized our maps and books and mapped our next stop and a few after that.

Happy hour was cloudy so we didn't have the great colors as we did last night. Ginnie had her state map ceremony and added 2 more states to the map, Arizona and Nevada. The spaces are filling in quickly.

The evening was warm and we sat out for longer than normal. I had a shower and we retired early because we have a tour of Antelope Canyon in the morning. We have to be at their office by 8 am so we'll have to be up early and get going.

Happy Anniversary Jim.

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