Sunday morning found us doing the final load, putting the bikes on the car and hooking the car to the motorhome. At 9:45, we were on the road. Next stop, the Oasis RV Resort in Las Vegas. After a six hour or so drive, we checked in and got set up. We had six other members of our RV club with us at the Oasis and had a quick mini-reunion. Claudia and I were starved so we headed across the bridge to the other side of the freeway to the Bass Pro Shops store and the Silverton Casino. I got into the BPS store for a quick 30 minutes shopping spree before they closed. We then went next door to the casino for dinner. Claudia had prime rib and I had the surf & turf special…steak and shrimp…both with loaded baked potatoes and vegetables. Claudia was now primed and rejuvenated enough to pull on a few slot machines. Twenty dollars went VERY quickly so she had to get into her “secret stash” and suddenly started to recoup her losses. The night ended with her down about $10…not a tragedy, just an acceptable loss. Back to the rig, a quick romp with Gizmo and off to bed. We will sleep well tonight.
Everyone was up about 8:00 for morning coffee and dog duty. We all started trickling out about 9:00 with rain threatening! We slid through the Las Vegas traffic and settled in at 60 mph, headed for Page, AZ and Lake Powell. About halfway there, the rain hit. Nothing serious, but the wind made driving with both hands a definite necessity. We stopped with two other of our rigs in Kanab for a “Gizmo break” and lunch. There is a great little hole-in-the-wall burger joint there and we had a couple of Outlaw Burgers, known as bacon cheeseburgers to y’all back home. We had an order of real honest-to-goodness sweet potato fries and real honest-to-goodness chocolate malts to go with them. My doctor would not be happy…but I was!
Following lunch, we chugged on down the road, encountering off and on rain as we drove. The wind picked up and I had periods of white-knuckle driving…not fun! The rigs that were following us actually ran into a snowstorm just beyond Fredonia. Amazing! Anyway, we finally got to the turnoff to the Wahweap Marina and were soon parked at our assigned site. It was a beautiful spot at the end of the row with the rig facing the lake and nothing to block our view. Booyah! We got all set up in a moderate wind so we covered just the basics, jacks and slides…no chairs or awnings to rip or blow away. We were scheduled for an evening pot-luck but the wind screwed that up big time. Every time we ventured outside, we were immediately sandblasted with sand and dirt. Grit was everywhere…eyes, nose, mouth and other body parts that haven’t seen sunshine in a long time. I retracted the big slide to prevent ripping the leaf shield on top. It started to rain, lightly at first, but the hard for just a few minutes. The sun was out to the west and we had a full double-rainbow.
What a welcome to Wahweap! We then adjourned to one of the club rigs for a pot-luck munchy party. We then returned to our rig where Frank, Vivian and “Sonora” joined us.
Sonora is their miniature female schnauzer. Gizmo met her at the door and escorted her to the middle of the room where he promptly let her know that this was HIS house by marking his territory on the rug. GREAT! Thanks Giz…jerk! After cleaning up his “mark”, we all had a great reunion. Sleep came very easy that night.
The next morning, we all met at the group meeting area for coffee and conversation. Vivian had scammed a bunch of great door prizes and held a raffle after breakfast.
Al & Phyl Runzel won the big prize, a dinner cruise on the Canyon Princess, worth a cool $200.
Other club winners were Byron & Sandy Miller
(Byron drew his own ticket) who took home a $20 gift certificate for gourmet pizza and a year’s membership to the Lake Powell Yacht Club. John Taylor won a chart of Lake Powell. We then retired to our rigs to get ready for a trip to Antelope Canyon, a dry wash that ends at Slot Canyon, a narrow walk-through sandstone formation that is a photographers dream.
The sandstone walls have been eroded into spectacular formations by wind and water over many years. I burned a lot of pixels!
After the walk through Slot Canyon, we all returned and, again, washed sand from teeney-tiny dark locations on and in our bodies and got ready for a cocktail cruise through “The Cut”
to Warm Creek Bay. The cruise was relaxing and fun, but the drinks were quite spendy.
We then returned to Wahweap for a pulled pork dinner at our President’s rig. He had just finished a new project and showed it off to us. It was a food prep station built into a bay slide. It had a Coleman stove, convection oven, a flat fryer (sort of like a George Foreman grill) and a sink with running hot and cold water. It was NICE!
After dinner, we adjourned to the group meeting area for a slide presentation on “The Critters of Lake Powell” and a mystery dessert, which turned out to be a copy of our “barbecued slugs” that we do for our caravans. It has been a L O N G day! Again, we will sleep well tonight.
Wednesday was a sleep-in day…NOT! We have been leaving Gizmo’s new portable home open for him to go in and out as he wishes. Monday night, he stayed in it all night. Last night, however, we had a “visitor” about 3:00 am. He looked at me, eyes drooped, ears drooped and tail hanging. How could I say “No”? I lifted the covers and he hopped in, scurried down to the foot of the bed and curled up in a tight ball with an (assumed) smile on his face. At 7:00, he started crawling slowly up toward the top of the bed. A fuzzy face appeared between our heads with a “Good Morning” look. I reluctantly got out of bed and took him for a romp. The day has started! …and it started with MORE food…omelets-in-a-bag to be exact, and delicious as always. At 10:00 o’clock, after slathering up profusely with Udder Cream to avoid the infamous Arizona “lizard skin”, we carpooled for a hike to the Horseshoe Bend overlook on the Colorado River.
After a short drive and a short hike up and over a sandstone hill, called an “erg”, we arrived at Horseshoe Bend. Not surprisingly, it looked just like a horseshoe,
The depth of my knowledge is amazing! Sometimes, I even surprise myself! We then drove to the John Wesley Powell Museum in town and spent an hour or so gawking at the exhibits on display before returning to Wahweap for lunch and a shower. Our dirty clothes bin is filling up fast!
After a well-deserved and much-appreciated-by-others shower, we drove to see the employee RV parking area where we will soon reside. To be charitable, the employee RV park was “primitive” and “rustic”. We met two other workers who helped us pick out the “best” spot for Godzilla. It was covered with twigs, leaves and other debris. The water and power worked but the sewer connection was half-full of leaves. We were assured it should be fine so we went back to the Human Resources office and reserved it for Friday. We are going to leave the motorhome here at Wahweap while we go up in the car with a rake, a shovel and a half dozen large trash bags. Once the site is cleared, we’ll bring the beast up and get it parked for the duration. It isn’t the Ritz, but it’ll do.
As the time was slowly creeping toward Happy Hour, we returned to the rig and got ready for a margarita party. We slimed over to the meeting area at 5:00 where I was promptly given two delicious margaritas. I reluctantly gave one to Claudia and settled into my chair. One hour and five margaritas later (they were small glasses), we lined up for “Walking Tacos”. What, you ask, is a “Walking Taco”. OK, take a personal-size bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos, open the bag at one end after slightly crushing the chips. Into the bag, you add condiments like chopped tomatoes, chopped onions, refried beans, pulled pork or beef, shredded cheese, salsa and sour cream. Take your fork, stir it a little and enjoy! They were delicious! We topped the meal off with a hot cup of coffee and wondered how y’all were suffering back at home. We sure weren’t! Sleep?…not a problem!
I was up and dressed before 7:00…a new record for me! Gizmo and I went for a romp. Actually, let me rephrase that. Gizmo romped, I sauntered. We encountered one of the ferocious denizens of the desert during our walk/saunter. A HUGE ferocious meat-eating roadrunner zipped by us looking for some sun and an easy meal. He looked at Giz, who was wagging his tail and wanted to play, and decided that maybe he would pass on the furry rabbit-sized animal and go find a lizard or two for breakfast. Good choice! Anyway, Gizmo did his “duty” and we returned to the rig to get ready for a healthy and wholesome breakfast of biscuits & gravy. YUM! It was then time to get ready for today’s hike to Toadstool Valley.
We, all fifteen of us, left the campground at 10:00 for the 20-mile drive to the trailhead. The walk in
was about a mile or so and we came to areas of beautiful rock toadstools.
We meandered around and took lots of pictures.
Wednesday was a sleep-in day…NOT! We have been leaving Gizmo’s new portable home open for him to go in and out as he wishes. Monday night, he stayed in it all night. Last night, however, we had a “visitor” about 3:00 am. He looked at me, eyes drooped, ears drooped and tail hanging. How could I say “No”? I lifted the covers and he hopped in, scurried down to the foot of the bed and curled up in a tight ball with an (assumed) smile on his face. At 7:00, he started crawling slowly up toward the top of the bed. A fuzzy face appeared between our heads with a “Good Morning” look. I reluctantly got out of bed and took him for a romp. The day has started! …and it started with MORE food…omelets-in-a-bag to be exact, and delicious as always. At 10:00 o’clock, after slathering up profusely with Udder Cream to avoid the infamous Arizona “lizard skin”, we carpooled for a hike to the Horseshoe Bend overlook on the Colorado River.
After a short drive and a short hike up and over a sandstone hill, called an “erg”, we arrived at Horseshoe Bend. Not surprisingly, it looked just like a horseshoe,
except, of course, it was made of water, not iron. Near the overlook, Vivian ran into a friend of hers who just happened to be a paleontologist. He asked if we would like to see a dinosaur track. Absolutely! Well, we were standing right on it and didn’t know it. He pointed it out to us. As it was pretty difficult to see, I reached into my bag of tricks and poured water on the track. It jumped out and was now easy to see.
The depth of my knowledge is amazing! Sometimes, I even surprise myself! We then drove to the John Wesley Powell Museum in town and spent an hour or so gawking at the exhibits on display before returning to Wahweap for lunch and a shower. Our dirty clothes bin is filling up fast!
After a well-deserved and much-appreciated-by-others shower, we drove to see the employee RV parking area where we will soon reside. To be charitable, the employee RV park was “primitive” and “rustic”. We met two other workers who helped us pick out the “best” spot for Godzilla. It was covered with twigs, leaves and other debris. The water and power worked but the sewer connection was half-full of leaves. We were assured it should be fine so we went back to the Human Resources office and reserved it for Friday. We are going to leave the motorhome here at Wahweap while we go up in the car with a rake, a shovel and a half dozen large trash bags. Once the site is cleared, we’ll bring the beast up and get it parked for the duration. It isn’t the Ritz, but it’ll do.
As the time was slowly creeping toward Happy Hour, we returned to the rig and got ready for a margarita party. We slimed over to the meeting area at 5:00 where I was promptly given two delicious margaritas. I reluctantly gave one to Claudia and settled into my chair. One hour and five margaritas later (they were small glasses), we lined up for “Walking Tacos”. What, you ask, is a “Walking Taco”. OK, take a personal-size bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos, open the bag at one end after slightly crushing the chips. Into the bag, you add condiments like chopped tomatoes, chopped onions, refried beans, pulled pork or beef, shredded cheese, salsa and sour cream. Take your fork, stir it a little and enjoy! They were delicious! We topped the meal off with a hot cup of coffee and wondered how y’all were suffering back at home. We sure weren’t! Sleep?…not a problem!
I was up and dressed before 7:00…a new record for me! Gizmo and I went for a romp. Actually, let me rephrase that. Gizmo romped, I sauntered. We encountered one of the ferocious denizens of the desert during our walk/saunter. A HUGE ferocious meat-eating roadrunner zipped by us looking for some sun and an easy meal. He looked at Giz, who was wagging his tail and wanted to play, and decided that maybe he would pass on the furry rabbit-sized animal and go find a lizard or two for breakfast. Good choice! Anyway, Gizmo did his “duty” and we returned to the rig to get ready for a healthy and wholesome breakfast of biscuits & gravy. YUM! It was then time to get ready for today’s hike to Toadstool Valley.
We, all fifteen of us, left the campground at 10:00 for the 20-mile drive to the trailhead. The walk in
was about a mile or so and we came to areas of beautiful rock toadstools.
We meandered around and took lots of pictures.
Claudia insisted that I get in one because I’m always behind the camera and not in front of it. So, here you are, a token photo of a well-equipped hiker, complete with sturdy hiking shoes, an SPF 50 shirt to ward off the sun, a belt pack with water, a unique hiking stick made of diamond willow from Destruction Bay, AK and a good hat to protect me from the sun.
That’s it! Don’t expect another.
After visiting Toadstool Valley, we stopped by the BLM info center on the way back to Page. This center specialized in dinosaur fossils, as many bones have been taken from the area. Several new dinosaurs were discovered in this area.
After visiting Toadstool Valley, we stopped by the BLM info center on the way back to Page. This center specialized in dinosaur fossils, as many bones have been taken from the area. Several new dinosaurs were discovered in this area.
We then returned home, picked up Frank and went down to their houseboat . We then went into Page and washed the 5,143 pounds of dirt off the car. It was now time for a shower, a cocktail and a dinner of “Mystery Stew”, a concoction where every person throws a can of vegetables into a large pot. Meat is then added and the whole concoction is heated for consumption. Tasty it was! A campfire finished the night perfectly. We slept good!
Friday, the last day of the rally and the first day of our summer job. We cleaned up the rig and took the car up to Human Resources where we checked in, signed some forms and got the preliminary niceties taken care of. We were assigned to RV Space 45, the one we wanted. We then returned to the rig to finish packing up, cleaning up, and saying goodbye to our group.
After the aforementioned chores, we pulled out and headed up the hill to the Wahweap RV Park and parked next to our site. After changing into work clothes, we got the site all cleaned up and ready for Godzilla to move in. Gizmo supervised as I backed the rig into position, got leveled and set out the slides.
Friday, the last day of the rally and the first day of our summer job. We cleaned up the rig and took the car up to Human Resources where we checked in, signed some forms and got the preliminary niceties taken care of. We were assigned to RV Space 45, the one we wanted. We then returned to the rig to finish packing up, cleaning up, and saying goodbye to our group.
After the aforementioned chores, we pulled out and headed up the hill to the Wahweap RV Park and parked next to our site. After changing into work clothes, we got the site all cleaned up and ready for Godzilla to move in. Gizmo supervised as I backed the rig into position, got leveled and set out the slides.
Finishing the set-up procedure took a little extra time, as this set-up was for a month and a half, as opposed to a weekend “quickie”.
We are now, finally, settled in and mostly set up. We are going to clean up, go see our boss down the hill and “kick it” for the rest of the day. As of right now, we have no Internet. I have to find out why. I NEED my Internet. Anyway, that’s it for now. See y’all down the road.
We are now, finally, settled in and mostly set up. We are going to clean up, go see our boss down the hill and “kick it” for the rest of the day. As of right now, we have no Internet. I have to find out why. I NEED my Internet. Anyway, that’s it for now. See y’all down the road.
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