Glen Canyon

TRIP DAY 12
Friday 16th September, 2011

Page, Arizona

During the drive from Grand Canyon to Page we started phoning to secure accommodation and realised it was a grouse mistake to not have prebooked. We needed a 3 night stay but the entire town of 22 hotels was fully booked for the night and we started to get stressed. I was able to get rooms for the weekend nights just not Friday. We eventually drove 15mins north of town, over the Glen Canyon Dam and over the Utah border and picked up a room at The Cowboy Inn. Admittedly it was a nice atmosphere with sensational views over the Escalante NM but the amenities were poor and we had to move back to Page the next day.

TRIP DAY 13
Saturday 17th September, 2011

After an early start to checkout and drive back to Arizona, we headed for the Horseshoe Bend to walk to the cliff edge for amazing views over the Colorado River. The stress of the acommodation drama and the knowledge of the business struggling so much at home seemed to have brought on a particularly bad bout of post-race depression for David and he wasn't enjoying himself and our trip nearly came to an end. We did manage to get ourselves back on track so stuck with our psightseeing plan and did a guided tour (by the Navajo Indians who have a monopoly on this area!) of the Upper Antelope Canyon, and then we checked in at our Page accommodation for the next 2 nights at Bashful Bob's at just $79/ night.

It was early afternoon and we were all hot and tired but David & I spent the next 3 hours on our compter and phone struggling to find available accommodation for the next segment of our trip. David was really taking this hard, as he knew that he had stopped me from doing prebookings as he really didn't believe we needed to and the stress of finding these towns fully booked out and crammed full of tourists was disheartening. But we got it done and went out to do more atouring of the area.

The Glen Canyon Dam was spectacular and we there to do both a tour of the Dam, and to get the kids on the Junior Ranger Program. After completing the required workbook pages by finding information in the visitor centre and doing thr tour, the kids were sworn in and received their second badges - so proud!

Then it was groceries and dinner at a sushi bar called the Blue Buddha. Excellent!

TRIP DAY 14
Sunday 18th September, 2011

Today started with a 7am start at the Colorado River Discovery office to checkon for our half day rafting trip down the Colorado River. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been and the relaxation was just was we needed. The emotional healing of the Colorado River was powerful. Words cannot describe. I hope to upload some of my favourite photos here soon.

For dinner we tried another recommendation of Rick's, Fiesta Mexican and enjoyed the fishbowl sized margharitas, and a massive sizzling platter.

TRIP DAY 15
Monday 19th September, 2011

Time to leave this area but not before we saw a few more scenics spots. All the RVs were crammed along a beach overlooking Lone Rock and I must put up the photos later off my camera.

We then crossed into Utah and stopped in at dinosaur museum at the National Park office in Big Water where they have been uncovering a new dinosaur every month in the Escalante National Monument region. This region is archeologically very new so this is very exciting.

We then drove on to Bryce Canyon via a very scenic drive. Red Rock Canyon provided a spectacular entry to the area and the Bryce Village was so over the top and crammed full of tourists we could hardly believe we were in a remote and hostile environment. Thankfully, this accomodation was great, but unfortunately we only had the one night so had to do some touring today. This meant a stop in at the visitor centre to get the kids Junior Ranger Program. This one was much more intense than the others but it provided a great way for us to get the most out of our visit and kids were addicted to the idea.