Old Timer Garage

Today, still the same type of weather, sunny, cloudless, the day promise to be very nice once again and we are not complaining.

The day will also be quieter than the previous ones which will be welcome by everybody. The pace of this trip is quite high but we are young and there are so many things to see that it would be a shame not to enjoy it to the fullest. Plus what are holidays for if you don’t go back to work tired after then right? 
Tomorrow, we are supposed to arrive to Las Vegas and get back to a little more of civilisation after all those days spent in desert and small towns. I have always had a preference for the countryside and desert scenery but I am curious to see Las Vegas… but this will be tomorrow. For now, we have to get ready to get on a boat.

Lake Powell spreads over 300 miles and has arms that go pretty much in every direction.
We are a little early so we are going for a walk on the shore of the lake while we wait for the time to get to board. We look local people putting their boats into the water with their big pickup trucks. The water is not cold and we learn that it can get up to 28 degrees in summer.

 

When it is time to get on the boat, we get back in the car for the 5 minute drive there and after validating our tickets, we board the small boat waiting for us.

Our boat is piloted by a 60 odd year old guy with a strong accent who is accompanied by a guide of roughly the same age. The pair of them move tourists on the lake every day and have been doing that for the past 27 years according to what they explain us and despite the number of different nationalities and cultures on this boat, these two guys are straight away making everybody laugh with their sense of humour and their accent.

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The first part of the boat trip is done on the lake itself and at good speed before slowing down and turning left into one of the arms of the lake making a small narrow canyon. We are told about the geological characteristics of the place and the surrounding area while we enjoy the quietness of the trip. The weather and the temperature are perfect.
After about 45 minutes, we get to the end of the part of the canyon that can be accessed with our boat and we have to turn around. The way back is covered in the same way with less comments from our guides which allows us to discuss with the other tourists and meet a couple of Americans and their son who are doing pretty much the same trip as we are but in the other way around with their RV. They are from Atlanta and for me who has been living in the UK for over six years, I am surprised by their open-mindedness and the warmth of these English speaking people… there is more than just an ocean that puts the British and the American apart.

Once we get back to the car, we drive away from the lake and head toward Horseshoe bend. It is a place that I discovered almost by mistake a few days earlier online and it is only a few miles away from Page. The sun is now high in the sky when we get on the car park and we quickly cover the 10 minute walk to the edge of the cliff over Horseshoe bend.
There is no risk to get lost there considering the constant flow of tourists that coaches keep bringing to this place.
This place is very well known, the river that comes out at the bottom of Lake Powell makes a big turn that looks like a horseshoe hence its name. When we get at the edge of the cliff we are about 600 ft above the river. It is very impressive to see and I don’t get too close but some people don’t hesitate to even dangle their feet while sitting on the edge… too risky for me. The view is gorgeous though and we stay there a good while enjoying the surroundings.

 

The way back to the car is walked as quickly as we came here and we take out of the trunk the leftovers from our Mexican restaurant from yesterday evening.

Our next stop is Hurricane but we stop just a few miles after having departed from Page to take a look at the dam at the bottom of Lake Powell. We are at the very north of Arizona and most of the time, we don’t have any mobile phone coverage. Straight line after straight line during sometimes over 30 minutes without having to steer the car left or right.
It is not the first time that this happens during this trip but we notice that the surroundings are so huge that our perception of distances is completely altered. Sometimes the GPS will say that our destination is 30 minutes away at what seems to be only 10 minutes at the end of the straight line we are driving on… and actually we only arrive there 30 minutes later.

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When I started to organize this trip, I had planned to stop for the night in Colorado city but when I saw the price of hotels there, I ended up opting for Hurrican a few miles down the road. And actually we did well in doing that because when we stopped in Colorado city for a quick pit stop, we realized that although the scenery is very nice there, there is not much to do or see.

So we get back in the car and carry on towards Hurricane where we arrive while the daylight is completely disappearing on the horizon. We don’t have anything special to do here except finding a place to have dinner so we go in to a Chinese restaurant close to the hotel and enjoy an “all you can eat” meal.

We are only 2 hours away from Las Vegas so tomorrow morning we will quickly cover that and enjoy the rest of the day in Sin City.

To be continued… here: 12- Las Vegas

 

 

 

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