So we took the detour and kept driving...and driving...and driving... there wasn't much to see on the road. We felt lucky to find a gas station that let us pay at the pump even after hours. $50 worth only, but that was a good safety since we still had miles to go before we could sleep.
It was somewhere in this timeframe that we had our UFO sighting. What you have to understand about the region of Arizona where we are driving is that it is DARK. Really, really dark. I was wearing my glasses (for the aforementioned deer sighting) and was viewing the many visible stars. So I didn't just catch sight of something weird out of the corner of my eye, but I fully saw a bright white light fall straight down to the earth. I didn't really believe my own eyes and was still processing as A cried out, "Did you see that?!" We had both seen it and cannot think of any explanation for it. A looked up information on the internet and found no suggestions. I think he's going with secret military operation rather than UFO, but I'm on the fence. In either case, I was looking forward to getting into a town full of witnesses, er, people.
Coming up: Tuba City, AZ. There was no Walmart there, but we figured there must be some quiet neighborhood street that we could go incognito on. We'd be out and on the road early. On the way into Tuba City, we say a few RVs pulled into a lot next to Denny's, so we thought, even better, we'll join this crowd.
We made a quick stop in at McDonalds, where we've been enjoying the $1 beverages, air conditioning and free internet service. And seriously, keep the judgement to yourself - in some places, this and Walmart are lifesavers for us. After cooling down, a little, we headed back to Denny's where we noted a sign we'd missed on our first pass, which read: NO OVERNIGHT PARKING. YOU WILL BE TOWED AT YOUR EXPENSE!
Ok.
A decided to start looking around for a street with other cars so that we could get ourselves bedded down per our original plan, but there were no cars on the streets. As he was driving, he couldn't really see what I was seeing until the next day, but two out of three houses were boarded up and many appeared in poor enough condition to warrent condemning. There were also many dogs roaming about. I called them "wild" dogs, but they could just be unleashed pets. It was still disconcerting to see these very assured dogs wandering the street.
I told A I would not feel safe staying on the street there, but we didn't quite know what to do as it was getting late. There was an Inn and RV park so we pulled in to check the prices and one of the dogs was just waiting in front of the door. Now, a dog is usually a welcome sight to me - I love dogs and have enjoyed seeing dogs on our travels to date, but these dogs just made me feel like we were in a horror movie. They were normal looking dogs, but they gave me the heebie-jeebies.
A decided he would drive through the night and get us to Page. Remembering the advice given by Cathy and Dean, the couple we met at Bryce, who told us, "you can usually do anything you want if you just ask." I told A to stop briefly at the Travel Center so I could check on overnight parking. We hadn't thought to try them, because it's an immaculate brand new center and there wasn't an area for big rigs and there didn't appear to be any other overnight cars there.
The young clerk and his manager were very nice, though and welcomed us to sleep in the back. This was one of the best nights of sleep I've had on the trip so far.
The next morning, we got up and out and on our way to Page. We made a quick stop at the "Elephant Feet" stones, but it was too hot to linger. In Page, we headed once again to an air conditioned haven for a cold one, but after being cooped up in the van for a while, we needed to stretch our legs, so despite the late hour a little past noon, we headed out to Horseshoe Bend. Just a 1/2 mile hike uphill in hot sand gets you to a great overlook to this unique bend in the Colorado River. It was really hot up there on the rocks, but worth the climb and beautiful.
While A was shooting, I had a brainstorm that we would probably be nice and cool in the Glen Canyon Dam. From the fist glimpse of the bridge and dam, I knew I would like this Dam experience. We found a shady spot to park Moby, purchased tour tickets and enjoyed the view of the Dam and Lake Powell in a semi-torperous state until our tour was called. Our guide, Mr. Curtis Slim, was engageing and informative. He gestured a lot with his hands and had a lot of insight to share. At the beginning of the tour, you are informed of the rules which include not using certain words, such as: bomb, terrorist, or sabotage. When someone asked why not, he said that the Glen Canyon Dam as well as dams in general are controversial and that the Glen Canyon Dam when it created Lake Powell, resulted in many historical sites and petroglyphs being destroyed and covered by water.
The Glen Canyon Dam is the third largest in the US - even larger than the Hoover Dam - and was worth a visit.
The ranger at the Dam pointed us to the Glen Canyon National Recreation area, which includes most, if not all, of Lake Powell. With our annual America The Beautiful InterAgency Pass, we got in for free, so we checked out some lookouts as the time was right for good lighting and then went to the beach. The water was cool when I got my shoes off and waded a little, but the beach was a little disappointing as it was littered with dirty diapers. After we got back to Moby, we decided not to go for a full swim, but considered returning the next day.
At this point, it was again time to find a spot for shade and sleep. It's so hot, though, that A considered a hotel with a pool. I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but we bought the van to avoid those kinds of expenses. Walmart's parking lot held little appeal though. Enter Page Lake Powell Campground. The reviews were not great on Yelp, but when I read the criticisms, such as "few trees," and "tent sites are on gravel/rock," balanced with comments such as "clean" and amenities such as "hook ups," "pool" and "free internet," we decided it was worth checking out. We got into the office just before they closed and secured a space for the next two nights. A's comment, "you sold me on RV parks," was a good reward for my research, but the hour we got in the pool at the end of the night and the showers were even better.
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