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Published: June 27th 2009
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Dan and Rebecca packed up from their Lake Havasu campsite and headed north to Las Vegas through 180 miles of very hot desert scrubland. Rebecca found a shockingly inexpensive, super nice room ($22 per night) at Sam’s Town hotel and casino where we enjoyed a couple nights of frittering some cash away in local pubs, eating in buffets and some really excellent people watching. After two nights in the city of sin we hightailed it to Hoover dam for a look-see at one of the largest public works projects in the U.S.
Dan was so excited to see the dam that he left his “Man Bag” with the camera, GPS, iPod, etc. hanging on the tail bag of the bike. This is not a good place to hang a shoulder bag chock full of expensive electronics. We figure Dan’s bag fell off the bike somewhere near the intersection of Tropicana and Nellis streets in Vegas. By the time we missed it and returned, it was, of course, long gone. Scratch three pounds of really expensive gear. Sigh. Police report filed. Adventure continues.
Hoover dam was as impressive as we imagined and we snapped a few photos with our brand
new camera (this is the third camera of this trip thanks to Dan’s continued clumsiness) and then headed for the Grand Canyon. It was a very hot ride through the Arizona desert. We stopped at a roadside bar on Arizona’s N Hwy 93, Marker 28 called Rosie’s Den, which is smack dab in the middle of nowhere. At 11:00 AM Rosie’s outdoor beer garden was already full of locals who were celebrating something and had already indulged themselves with a considerable quantity of suds. We quickly made friends and had to decline the several rounds that were offered up to us. We also declined the invitation to a BBQ and sleepover at a local fruit farm owned by one of Rosie’s celebrants. Very friendly people. Very intoxicated people. Next time you are on Arizona’s Highway 93 make sure to check out Rosie’s Den. You can’t miss it. There is nothing around it for miles and miles.
Enroute to the Grand Canyon we spent a night at a motel 6 in Kingman, Arizona. Had a delicious Masaman curry at the only Thai restaurant in town and brushed up on our Thai with the owners who definitely have not forgotten how
to cook Thai food despite being Arizonians for over twenty years.
We cruised Route 66 on our way to north rim of the Grand Canyon where we set up camp in a campground just a mile or so outside of the park entrance in the town of Tusayan. Jumped on the bike to check out the canyon which was of course magnificent. We spent a couple days here. Highly recommend the IMAX movie featuring the canyon and the peoples who have lived in and around this wonder.
Our second day at the canyon was spent hiking the Kaibob trail (easy going down, not so easy coming up) and exploring the various vantage points on the north rim. Back at the campsite Rebecca kicked Dan’s butt at rummy and we were in our sleeping bags right after sunset.
Onward to Utah where we stayed at a folksy motel in the rather sleepy town of Kanab, aka “Little Hollywood of Utah”. Kanab has been the location for many, many western movies as it has the surrounding desert and all the props necessary (horses, carriages, etc.) to make it the choice for outdoor western locations. We used Kanab as our base
for touring Zion National park. The beauty of Zion almost matches that of the Grand Canyon. Photos hardly do it justice. Stunning views in every direction inside Zion. We lucked out and visited the park on one of the free weekends when we did not have to pay the $25 entrance fee.
Utah and Arizona are just wonderful to drive through. The rugged beauty of the Grand Staircase and Vermilion Cliffs has to be seen to be appreciated.
We spent a night in Page, Arizona, which is the base for most of the water activity on the 200+ mile long man made Lake Powell. Page was originally a federal settlement which was home to the Lake Powell dam workers in the 1950s and now it provides tourist support for all the people who come to enjoy the lake and the many other outdoor activities around Page. We stayed at “Lu Lu’s Sleep Ezze” motel where Lu Lu’s husband Ron has a nightly BBQ for the guests. We met all the other motel guests (most from Europe surprisingly) and had a delicious steak and asparagus BBQ.
The next day, on the advice of our friends Marcel and Joann,
we hired a Navajo guide and toured the popular Antelope Canyon which is a “slot” canyon carved through the Arizona sandstone by flash floods. Fascinating tour of this beautiful narrow sandstone canyon which changes with each flash flood. Antelope Canyon is just a few miles from the location where the “Planet of the Apes” movie series was filmed.
Leaving Page, Arizona we set off though monument valley where huge sandstone monoliths decorated our route to Mexican Hat, Utah, which draws it’s name from the sandstone feature near town that looks very, very much like a man wearing a sombrero. We spent the night in a cozy Yurt at the base of the red South Utah Cliffs. Rebecca whipped Dan again in Rummy and we made it an early night. What a marvelous place to wake! Now it’s off to the Rockies of Colorado.
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Ross
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Beautiful
Hi guys! Long time no hear or see. Your photos are great! We were just in Kanab for the annual "Greyhound Gathering". The Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is five miles out of Kanab and is featured on the National Geographic Channel. Keep having fun!