North to Navajo Country

Sun-Mon, Oct 22-23…

Sunday morning I was just a bit under the weather. I’d planned on church, but it didn’t happen. Later we did slip out for breakfast at Miz Zip’s, a modest holdover from the glory days on Rte 66. Good pancakes, and even better pie (we took a slice of apple home and shared it after supper). Excellent! Skimmed through the Sunday paper, solved the Jumble puzzle, saved the crossword, and recycled all the rest. Greg took care of MH maintenance while I did some blog work. Took a few campground walks and read another 20 or so pages in Exodus. (I’m also doing a 90-day BofM read.)

Miss Zip's is the brown building just under the lower right edge of the sign.
Not terribly impressive on the outside, but still a grande dame. 

Monday morning we’re off to Glen Canyon Dam in Page, AZ. Lots of sandstone cliffs along the way. The first sight as we neared Page was the coal-powered Navajo Generating Station puffing giant columns of white smoke into the sky - an image very much at odds with the surrounding natural elements. Later we learned the plant is scheduled to close in 2019. (Needless to say, those who voted for Trump based on his "bring back coal" promises are not pleased.) The impact on the region could be devastating. In addition to payments that help fund the Navajo central government and 100+ local entities), the power plant and coal mine employ roughly 725 people, more than 90 percent of them Native American. We're camped at the local Elks, just a block off Lake Powell Blvd.

Miles & miles of rock.

Just about everywhere we drove
near Page, we saw these chimneys.

Once the MH was safely parked, we visited the John Wesley Powell Visitor Center and learned all the local must-dos from the very helpful volunteer. Then we headed out to Horseshoe Bend, an iconic loop in the Colorado River. My photo is only so-so (and I wasn’t terribly impressed with most of the ones online), so I’m adding a professional shot that offers an expanded view.

[airpano.com] 

← My photo. Too many shadows to see the river properly.  We're standing 1,000 feet above the water.

BlogThoughts...  When we turned off the highway into town (Lake Powell Blvd), we drove past Seventh Day Adventist, Episcopal, & Lutheran churches before turning right towards the Elks Lodge. I thought it was unusual that so many churches would be adjacent. After supper, I walked back to the boulevard, turned right, and passed an LDS building, then United Methodist (with Jehovah's Witness directly behind. Crossing a side street, I walked past the United Church of Christ, Church of the Nazarene, and Baptist buildings. Nine churches along the curve of Lake Powell Blvd. Intentional? (How could it not be?)  And where's the Catholic Church (which I thought might be the largest). The next day we discovered it - on the boulevard, but requiring a left turn off the highway.

Starry, Starry Night

Saturday, Oct 21…

Greg left me to walk or read (less than 100 pages left in Exodus – it’s been a long haul but worth the effort) while he took the MH to a nearby dump site. Then we headed north on 17 to Flagstaff. Lots of haze for the first hour or so, and more traffic than expected (but not enough to be an issue). Our home for the next couple nights is Black Bart’s RV Park, Steakhouse, Saloon & Musical Review. While a steak dinner, song & dance sounded great, so was the price - we decided to have our own steak for dinner and then visit Lowell Observatory. I can't remember ever going to an observatory before and was curious.

More on that adventure in a bit. First a couple travel shots...

Limited view at times.

Other times it's on and on and on...

Even with the haze, it's a fantastic view - so many different elevations.

Despite reading all the online info and schedules, we weren’t sure what to expect at Lowell. (And, I realized quickly after arriving, I’d been confusing observatory with planetarium, so what I found was very different from even vague expectations.) First of all, I was surprised at how many folks were there. It’s open ‘til 10pm, and there was a steady stream of people. Our first stop was an outdoor telescope where we could look at Saturn. OK, honestly, I was disappointed (and felt guilty/ungrateful because everyone ahead of us was raving). 

I saw a small white sphere sliced by a thin white wiggly saucer. I expected color and evidence of multiple rings (which probably the wiggle indicated).  We moved into another line to go inside a small observatory (there are 3 or 4 of these) and see a twin star that I can’t remember the name of. From Earth, this just looks like a regular star, but I could clearly see 2 white shimmery dots. In a 3rd observatory we saw a star cluster, which looked like a dandelion puff. That was my fave. And, even with Saturn’s pasty image, I realized I was actually seeing another planet with my own eyes, and that’s pretty darn cool. 

This Saturn chandelier - w/ color & multiple rings - hangs in the Rotunda Museum.

Greg occasionally still uses a traditional slide rule. He was incredibly impressed w/ this 60' version (which apparently either makes it more precise or allows more uses - maybe both). It isn't stretched out, though. I believe each section rotates on a spindle so the calculations can be read. 

It was getting pretty cold outside, so we went into one of the lecture halls and learned all about comets. (The presenter even made a comet out of dry ice, water, mashed potato flakes (amino acid) and fine dirt.) Then we trekked across to the Rotunda Museum (pics below) and listened to another grad student (UNAz –our lecturer was in his 5th year of astrophysics). I honestly only understood only about 20% of his talk, but I did learn stuff and I wasn’t bored (well, once in a while). Overall, it was a great evening - very different than all the historical stuff we usually do, and - even without the telescopes, the sky was amazing. 

Postscript...  The observatory is above Flagstaff, up on Mars Hill. Looking down at the city (while waiting for a turn at one of the telescopes), I realized I was looking at old Route 66. The photo is fuzzy, but still worth including.

The vertical center glow is headlights on Rte 66.

And the final balloon I'd like to share...

Not yet ascended, but always a crowd favorite.

Good Friends, Good Husband

Thurs-Fri, Oct 19-20…

Good food,
good atmosphere--
 good evening!

So the Elks have a very large parking lot... and I can tell you how many steps in just about any direction or around any section. Daytime temp in the 90s here, so I only walk at night. Still mostly managing my 5 miles. Greg texted and phoned his friend (also Greg) yesterday w/ no reply. This morning, literally just as Greg picked up his phone to call again, AZ Greg called. Later in the afternoon we stopped by their condo (her quilting room was fabulous), then headed out to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner, where two conversations (M/F) prevailed throughout the meal. This couple have been retired at least 10 years longer than (my) Greg, but they’re both still incredibly busy. Part of that is living 6 months in Sun City w/ thousands of other retirees and taking advantage of a wide variety of classes, outings (golf & skiing primarily) and other social events. And they’re both “doers” so they have leadership roles as well. Great folks, great to catch up, but we have no desire to emulate their lifestyle.

(smallest parking area)

Friday was even more laid back than yesterday. My morning errand run included laundry, finding a post office (tricky, even w/ an address & directions), and mailing 23 Halloween cards to grandkids. I asked parents to text pics of their kids in costume - my plan is to make a photo collage and give each of them a copy when we get back. Greg’s afternoon errands were all vehicle related. Night temps are dropping into the 30s, so he’s creating insulation for water hoses and such. Huge Elks event in the evening – as I walked the lot I saw license plates from about 15 states (incl several from WA). I also was able to tell late arrivers where parking spaces still existed. 

BlogThought...  I am eternally grateful for Greg's knowledge and hands-on approach to everything mechanical and/or technical. (He is clueless in a couple other areas, but they really aren't important.) We have saved a ton of money, not just b/c he can fix just about anything but also b/c he almost always anticipates problems and responds proactively. 💕 

(Can you find the basket?)

Three balloons today...

In both pics, look at the basket -
that gives you an idea how huge
the balloons are!

We were standing right next to this Wells Fargo entry, and it took forever to inflate it.
It's huge (and cost $1M), but it wasn't the largest balloon at the show.
(The largest in the world is a motorcycle - we saw it at the park but not up in the air.)

Salt River Canyon... Who Knew?

Wednesday, Oct 18…

Last night I heard Greg cursing Magellan (GPS)  because technology favors efficiency and he wanted the scenic route (which, in my mind, was very obvious on the map -- why use GPS?). Anyway, I had no idea how fabulously scenic this route would actually be. (Unfortunately, even though we ooh'd and aah'd most of the way we only made one short stop and I only have a couple so-so photos. I may be forced to add 1 or 2 extras.) 

“The (red) Salt River Canyon Bridge spans one of the most dramatic canyons in Arizona. It was funded by the Public Works Administration... and completed in June 1934... Its Art Deco superstructure... is still one of Arizona’s most visibly striking, engineered structures. Today the bridge carries only pedestrian traffic; a newer, wider version (in front) handles automobile and truck traffic on Highway 60.” [abridged from livingnewdeal.org; It's their pic. We did go over the bridge!]

(Serious canyon walls in the back.)

Almost the entire stretch was switchbacks - so much fun in an RV. (Not!)

This shot is borrowed from another traveler. It may be in the wilderness area.

Again and again, as we maneuvered the switchbacks and marveled at the topography, I found myself thinking "...and they built roads through this." No matter how primitive that first auto road was, the construction must have required both herculean effort and enduring patience.

The canyon took us through two Apache reservations and part of the Tonto Nat'l Forest before finally returning us to civilization in Globe. Globe is a small mining town that started as just a camp when silver was discovered and grew as the silver lode faded and folks discovered serious copper, which is still mined.  Greg commented that it reminded him of a mining town we had visited with his brother back in February, but Monty lives in Tucson and we were parallel to Phoenix at this point. Later, though, as I was researching Globe, some of the history also sounded familiar. I checked my Feb blog entry and - sure enough - this was our second visit. But we missed the biker bar this time. Darn! (It would have been far better than McDonald's.)

Current Mining Complex

Tailings from previous years.

Our destination is the Sun City Elks Club, but we skirt the edges of Phoenix and find ourselves in the kind of traffic we haven't seen since Chicago. Yuk. We're also back in hard core desert (though the city has planted lots of greenery - some of it even in bloom - which helps considerably). Eventually we find the Elks (which is flanked by Paradise Valley, an enormous RV/trailer/tiny home park, on one side and a large RV storage lot on another. We're here to visit friends from Greg's racing days (who actually live in Seattle half the year, yet we haven't managed to connect in the last half dozen years - ridiculous, huh.)

Sunset over Paradise Valley 

RandomConnection… A couple days ago I found a note card w/ jottings I'd made the day we passed through Taos. One phrase, velvet tapestry mountains, is just as appropriate for some of today's views as it was for whatever mountains we saw then. 😃

And today's balloons are...

Have Camera, Will Walk

Tuesday, October 17…

Ice Guardian 
(at camp host site)

Lazy day. Greg went into town for a haircut and reappeared 2+ hours later. I walked all the campground loops, but still had barely 2 miles on the FitBit. In the afternoon Greg suggested a trail that follows about half of the lake shore. An hour later I’d added 3 miles to my FitBit and taken tons of pictures.

Regarding the camp map below... We're parked directly right of the F in Fool (lake name), and I started my long walk in the same area, heading south from the boat launch along the pale gray line. (My turnaround point was the playground on the west side. Not another soul on the path. (The gorge area runs E/W across the top.)

Sky & Pines

Silhouette 1

These ducks are not so happy to see me. 

Anyone seen Moses?

How polite... He left the bench for me.

Once I turn back, sunset has begun in earnest. I want to take gazillions of artsy photos, but... 1) I spend too much time framing each shot (hoping for perfection - ha!), 2) the sun sets fairly quickly, and 3) I probably don't have enough "film" left. (I don't manage storage well.) Anyway, I take what I can and later will crop or delete what doesn't work.

Silhouette 2

Day is done, safely rest - all is well.

BlogThoughts... The kayaks add a nice bit of color to the photo above, but we arrived one day too late to actually enjoy them out on the lake. Sometimes I'm sad, even feeling a bit guilty, because we haven't done any water activities this whole trip. I would have loved a whitewater rafting trip, but either the weather or timing always seemed off. (And I know that's a pathetic excuse - we could have done a trip. It just wasn't a high enough priority.) But there is life after this trip - we'll get that rafting in sometime!

Balloons for today...

Show Low & Fool Hollow (a mouthful of o's)

Monday, October 16…

Travel day, but not far to go. Laundry first – 2 loads washed & dried for $4 total. That’s a positive start to the day! Just an hour’s drive south to Show Low (AZ), where the main thoroughfare is named Deuce of Clubs. After 2 days of wondering about these odd nomenclatures, I finally did the research. Great story:

Apparently the city's name resulted from a marathon poker game between Cory Cooley and Marion Clark, equal partners in a ranch that would eventually become the town site. At some point the partners determined there wasn’t enough room for both of them on the ranch and agreed to settle the issue with a game of "Seven Up". When the game dragged on without a winner, Clark finally said, "If you can show low, you win." In response, Cooley turned up the deuce of clubs (lowest card in the deck) and replied, "Show low it is.”  As a tribute to the legend, Show Low's main street is named "Deuce of Clubs."   (adapted from Wikipedia)

Show Low is a nice little town of about 10,000 with the usual amenities. It’s also home to Fool Hollow State Park (no story on that name), which is fantastic. Four loops of RV sites, probably half of which have views of Fool Hollow Lake. The lake is interesting too. Where we camped it's your typical lake w/ shoreline ranging from level to maybe 30° elevation. As I’m wandering Cinnamon Teal Loop, though, I’m suddenly looking at a deep gorge. Impressive geology!  

but no access here!

First lake view...

Hundreds of ducks on the lake... this one apparently happy to see me.

Tranquil Birdhouse 

Illuminated Pine (mid afternoon)

Sunset from our Campsite (Greg's photo)

BlogThought...  We're parked on a tandem pad (like side-by-side shoe boxes with only half of each box touching the other - still plenty of privacy). Anyway, our pad partners are a real nice (LDS) couple from Gilbert AZ. Third marriage for both, and their backstories had both significant similarities and differences from ours. We joined them for s'mores after supper and determined that giant marshmallows are not nearly as effective as regular ones. Save your money.

And 2 owl balloons...