Ah, yes, the temperatures in Flagstaff were what we were looking for. We decided against going to Sedona on this trip since the temps there were at least 20 degrees hotter than Flagstaff. We instead checked out 3 National Monuments that we had never heard of: Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater Volcano and Wutpatki. Wonderful stops! We enjoyed learning how early Native American inhabitants built their cliffside and adobe dwellings and were in such sync with the weather cycles. Asa fell in love with the homes and wanted to move into one.
We then took off for the Grand Canyon. That first view tends to take your breath away. Again, the temperatures determined our plans. We knew ahead that the floor of the canyon would be over 100 degrees so planned not to hike; however, we still wanted to stop since we're not sure when we will return. We are fortunate to be traveling with our bikes so we biked out to Hermit's Rest and took in many beautiful viewpoints along the way. We have gotten used to the late afternoon thunderstorms and actually went biking despite rain. No cars are allowed on this route, only shuttle buses so it was a peaceful ride.
It was a quick visit and we left the next morning at 5:30am to make it to Page, Arizona for a tour of Antelope Canyon. What an amazing day. Before leaving the Grand Canyon, we took in the sunrise at Desert view. Then close to Tuba City we stopped on Navajo land to see dinosaur tracks. Who knew that was possible?! Jackson was thrilled. We just happened to see it on our map. Our native guide did not charge for the tour but strongly suggested that we could buy some jewelry. Poor me! We made it to Page, AZ by 10am and got set up for our tour of Antelope Canyon. A big thank you to some co-workers at PAMC who told me about the canyon. What a treat! But the secret is out and it is getting more and more visitors yearly. It is on Navajo land and you are required to go with a tour group. Five tour groups take up to 1500 people through daily and it is crazy busy! Originally I was going to go by myself due to the cost, but then the rest of the family decided to come along. I was so grateful. Jerry took over taking pictures. We were on a 2 hour "photography" tour but there was no time to set up the tripod properly or adjust the settings. We had to constantly move along and "hurry up." Jerry was so stressed! We hope you enjoy the shots. There are a lot, but we weeded down from over 200!
We had no lodging plans and thought we might spend the night at Walmart but the good people at the visitor center told us about Lone Rock, a campground in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 10 miles out of town. It was a beautiful area on the shores of Lake Powell and only cost $10 per night. Bonus! We enjoyed swimming in the lake and watching the afternoon thunderstorms, sunsets and sunrises from the comfort of George (the motorhome). It was George's maiden beach trip. Page has a nice rim trail on the edge of the mesa which surrounds the town and we tried that out. Two miles into it, Jackson had 2 flats from numerous thorn bushes along the route. Jerry used the opportunity to teach the boys how to change a bike tire. We were able to worship this morning at one of the Page churches, stop at Horseshoe Bend and Glen Canyon Dam, and then sadly left. We recommend a stop in Page if you're ever in the area.
Family life is good and we're all coping well with being on the road together. The boys spent about 3 hours today talking as we drove about an imaginary lego universe. Asa even had a sore throat by the end of the day. Besides all the things they are seeing and learning, we hope that they will take away an even closer relationship from this adventure.
Ah, yes, the temperatures in Flagstaff were what we were looking for. We decided against going to Sedona on this trip since the temps there were at least 20 degrees hotter than Flagstaff. We instead checked out 3 National Monuments that we had never heard of: Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater Volcano and Wutpatki. Wonderful stops! We enjoyed learning how early Native American inhabitants built their cliffside and adobe dwellings and were in such sync with the weather cycles. Asa fell in love with the homes and wanted to move into one.
We then took off for the Grand Canyon. That first view tends to take your breath away. Again, the temperatures determined our plans. We knew ahead that the floor of the canyon would be over 100 degrees so planned not to hike; however, we still wanted to stop since we're not sure when we will return. We are fortunate to be traveling with our bikes so we biked out to Hermit's Rest and took in many beautiful viewpoints along the way. We have gotten used to the late afternoon thunderstorms and actually went biking despite rain. No cars are allowed on this route, only shuttle buses so it was a peaceful ride. 
It was a quick visit and we left the next morning at 5:30am to make it to Page, Arizona for a tour of Antelope Canyon. What an amazing day. Before leaving the Grand Canyon, we took in the sunrise at Desert view. Then close to Tuba City we stopped on Navajo land to see dinosaur tracks. Who knew that was possible?! Jackson was thrilled. We just happened to see it on our map. Our native guide did not charge for the tour but strongly suggested that we could buy some jewelry. Poor me! We made it to Page, AZ by 10am and got set up for our tour of Antelope Canyon. A big thank you to some co-workers at PAMC who told me about the canyon. What a treat! But the secret is out and it is getting more and more visitors yearly. It is on Navajo land and you are required to go with a tour group. Five tour groups take up to 1500 people through daily and it is crazy busy! Originally I was going to go by myself due to the cost, but then the rest of the family decided to come along. I was so grateful. Jerry took over taking pictures. We were on a 2 hour "photography" tour but there was no time to set up the tripod properly or adjust the settings. We had to constantly move along and "hurry up." Jerry was so stressed! We hope you enjoy the shots. There are a lot, but we weeded down from over 200! 
We had no lodging plans and thought we might spend the night at Walmart but the good people at the visitor center told us about Lone Rock, a campground in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area 10 miles out of town. It was a beautiful area on the shores of Lake Powell and only cost $10 per night. Bonus! We enjoyed swimming in the lake and watching the afternoon thunderstorms, sunsets and sunrises from the comfort of George (the motorhome). It was George's maiden beach trip. Page has a nice rim trail on the edge of the mesa which surrounds the town and we tried that out. Two miles into it, Jackson had 2 flats from numerous thorn bushes along the route. Jerry used the opportunity to teach the boys how to change a bike tire. We were able to worship this morning at one of the Page churches, stop at Horseshoe Bend and Glen Canyon Dam, and then sadly left. We recommend a stop in Page if you're ever in the area.
Family life is good and we're all coping well with being on the road together. The boys spent about 3 hours today talking as we drove about an imaginary lego universe. Asa even had a sore throat by the end of the day. Besides all the things they are seeing and learning, we hope that they will take away an even closer relationship from this adventure.
2 comments:
Hi Jackson and Asa,
Thanks for the great postcards you've been sending me. How lucky you are to be seeing this beautiful country. Your postcards remind me the fun I had when I did trips around the country just like your trip. When I was your age I loved to read books about Native Americans, so when I was in Arizona I visited lots of Apache historical sites, hiked trails in Apache country, and went to a basketball game on the White Mountain Apache reservation. I was a river guide at that time I also rafted down lots of the rivers to see the beautiful desert canyons like Antelope canyon and the remains of the Anasazi Indian civilization. If you make it as far as North Carolina and Tennessee, let me know ... I've got some fun activities I could suggest there. Anchorage had 100 mile and hour winds in town last week and lots of people lost their power for 2 or 3 days ... good thing its still summertime. Some of my guitar students joined me to play at the State Fair last week. Hope you're fitting some music into your trip ... singing at least! Have fun. Talk with you later. Kevin
PS You guys must be getting super strong with all that hiking and biking! You probably have to be super careful not break everything you touch. Don't eat all those blueberries you got in Oregon at once. That would give even superman a stomach ache.
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