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February 28
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Tuesday March 2, 2004
We got up early, just in case the clouds had cleared up overnight, but found that the weatherman was correct for a change. There was a fresh four inches of snow on the ground and more coming down. So, we rolled over and got another hour’s sleep before getting up. We ate a leisurely breakfast, then checked email on the kiosks they had set up in the lobby. Packed up and headed out. They’re good about getting the roads cleared and we had absolutely no problems with the roads. Our destination this day was Page, Arizona. We stopped in Kanab, Utah, for lunch. And we checked out our road for the next day. I knew that the road to Coyote Buttes was an unimproved, gravel road that was not easy to find from the highway, so we wanted to check it out in daylight. We found the turnoff easily enough and marked it on the GPS so we could reference it the next morning. The road wasn’t too bad. Mostly washboard, with some interesting twists. It had rained fairly recently, so the ruts were getting deeper. Some of them were a bit slick. Then there was the mud puddle - the road crossed a small stream with just enough water in it that you’d sit there looking at it wondering if you could get across. I’ve been told that the secret is to just keep going. If you slow down, you’re stuck. So, Carl gave it the gas and we sailed through - mud flew everywhere! There was even mud stuck on the mirror surface of the outside mirrors! That was the only tricky part of the road, so we returned to the highway and resumed our journey to Page. As we waited to turn onto the highway, a silver PT Cruiser turned off. We assumed the driver was checking the road, the same way we did. As we neared the Glen Canyon Dam, we realized it was only about 2:30, so we stopped and looked around. We went into the Visitor’s Center and even wound up taking the free tour. Carl had never been there before and I hadn’t been there in too many years - 1965, in fact. Lake Powell is at its lowest level since they finished filling it in the first place - over 130 feet below normal. Lake Powell just doesn’t look that pretty with that large a “bathtub ring” effect - the canyon walls that used to be covered by lake have a white look to them from the calcium in the water. Nice tour, though. On to our hotel. It was one of the newer ones (Comfort Inn). It took a while to find it as we started at the busy end of Lake Powell Road and it was at the other end. Turns out that road is U shaped and we were just a block off the main highway. We checked in, picked up some supplies next door at Wal Mart, and went looking for dinner. Curiosity lead us to the Dam Bar and Grill. Overpriced, gimmicky, and slow service. Not recommended. |