Page Lake Powell Campground, Glen Canyon Dam, Upper Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and Lake Powell in Page, AZ.

The drive to Page was interesting, for a few reasons…
1.) The scenery was actually quite nice regardless of being told otherwise.
2.) There were roughly a million tumble weeds on the side of the roads.
3.) I saw a roadrunner for the first time in my life, not including tv, and in my head a voice went “meep meep!”
4.) We drove through a sand storm, for a second I thought we would crash into something before we could see in front of us again…It was wicked and we are still alive, don’t worry.
5.) We stopped in a grocery store parking lot to make lunch in the camper, it is a tradition. Jacob hooks up the generator for the micro and toaster and we have a wonderful warm lunch in the privacy of our little camper. Well in Arizona this we put to a end. While Jacob was hooking up the generator a man walked up asking for money, it scared the Ba-Jeezus out of him!. You’re thinking that happens everywhere, I’m from the city I know this but this was different. There were no random guys anywhere, this guy popped up and then BAM it looked like Home Depot/Lowe’s after Katrina. They were just waiting for us under a tree to say “y’all come on, get in” it was crazy…where the hell did they come from? I think a car dropped them off as soon as we pulled up. Needless to say we got the hell outta Dodge.

While in Page, AZ don’t expect to have service if you have AT&T, p.o.s. actually, if you have them then you already don’t expect much. But really Page has been the worst, something to do with the Indian Reservation. Page is beautiful! We planned to tour the Glen Canyon Dam, hike to horseshoe bend, tour Antelope Canyon, and boat on Lake Powell. Time is so confusing here, different places around town get to choose “Arizona time” or “Utah time.” In “Arizona time” they follow the time on Indian reservations, Mountain time without daylight savings. The confusing part is that you don’t who’s on what and what the time is where you are might not be the same as where you’re going.

Page Lake Powell Campground was really nice for only $21, not including 10% discount for GoodSam. There are no fire rings, but it’s so windy I wouldn’t suggest making a fire. They have a big laundry with at least 8 washers and dryers, I didn’t count. They have an indoor swimming pool and hot tub. They have clean restroom with great water pressure. Then even have a workout room with treadmill, elliptical, bike, and weights. Roux didn’t appreciate the cacti everywhere, he didn’t learn a lesson the first time he sniffed one.

The Glen Canyon Dam tour was $5 per person and 45 minutes. We loved it, I remembered an episode of Modern Marvels that features this dam and I was so happy to see it for myself. Concrete for the dam and power-plant was poured around the clock for over 3 years, that’s crazy! The dam’s crest is 1,560 feet long and is 710 feet above the bedrock and 583 feet above the original river channel. At it’s full pool elevation of 3,700 feet the lake is 560 feet deep at the dam. Today it is only 49% full, you can see the full line where the rock is white. It took the lake 17 years to fill! Lake Powell is a storage reservoir and it is the largest by surface area in the country, yet only comprises 13% of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

Horseshoe Bend hike is rated as a moderate hike of 1.5 miles averaging a minimum of 1 hour. It is a sandy hill changing into uneven rocky ground. Walking up hill in soft sand is exhausting but it’s worth the beautiful view.

Antelope Canyon is located on the Navajo Reservation so you need to book a tour to get access. We thought it was beautiful, and got some great pictures. The best times to schedule a tour is between 10am and 2pm because the angle of the sun shining into the canyon. It is a slot canyon created by water and wind. Upper Antelope is recommended for an easy and more comfortable walking experience, while Lower Antelope is narrower and a more strenuous walk. We chose Upper Antelope because it had better reviews on tripadviser

Boating in Lake Powell was a wonderful experience. The weather was perfect for boating, low 80’s with a light brees. Before hitching up the rental boat I took a hundred pictures of the boat because it had a lot of damage and we wanted to document everything. They charged us $500 as a security deposit and I wanted to make sure we got that back. After everything checked out, we headed for the launch. The launches here are ridiculously long, like a 1 mile slope. We explored the lake from the dam to the 50 mile marker. There were so many beautiful sites, pictures don’t even do it justice. The water was a crystal blue-green, like the Caribbean, and the cliffs above were pinks and oranges. We had a wonderful time.
Until the shade top on the boat ripped from it’s hinges, flapping in the wind. Both of us instinctively tried to grab it. Failing to take hold of it, the metal poles cracked in half swinging wildly in the wind. I hit the deck protecting Roux and my head as a pole hit me in the arm. I arose to discover Jacob’s head bleeding. All of this occurred in about 5 seconds. We couldn’t have a nice day without incident, Jeeze Louise! This happened at the end of the day when we were heading back in anyway. We were pretty worried that we would have to pay for the damages after rereading all the documents we signed with the rental. Thankfully the rental company was understanding that these things break all the time with natural wear and this one was quite old and ratty. They were so sorry that this had happened to us, poor Jacob had a bloody cut above his eye…no stitches required!