beluga

beluga

Friday, March 25, 2016

A few left over bits at Wahweap and on to Utah

Here are a few last pictures from Wahweap Campground, our boat trip and the Page area.    I'll add a few pictures as an addendum to the Wright's blog on our day on the water, but John did a stellar job and since we were together what they saw, we saw!   It was a most excellent experience.


We loaded our gear into a UTV shuttle for the ride down the bank to the Antelope Marina far below.    We could have walked down, but Dave and I had checked out the marina a few days before and we knew what kind of a walk we'd have.....



no, we didn't rent one of these lux houseboats.....
we could have, but chose not to

we elected John navigator, but eventually Pam stepped in

after she was finished.....

John enjoyed the ride but kept the
charts close at hand

We were lucky to be able to hire the senior captain from
Mr. David's Professional A-1 River Pilot Serivce
to guide us

preparing to beach our craft in a quiet cove



The remainder of our time in site 24 was spent doing odds and ends and staying out of the high winds that swept through our area.   We could see huge white caps on the Lake from our vantage point at the campground and were very happy we chose a calm and beautiful day for our day on the water.    The now familiar views took on a different feeling with the veil of dust and sand blowing in the air.




interesting cloud over the top of Navajo Mountain at dusk


Thursday we broke camp and drove about 170 miles north and east to our next stop in tiny Bluff, Utah.     On the way we drove through the magnificent and iconic Monument Valley.


This area is in the north east part of Arizona and on Navajo Indian Reservation.
Most of the way was open range, meaning cattle and horses may be present on the road at any time.    Many years ago we drove through the Valley with a young Jesse and Dave's mom after dark.   Not particularly smart, but we were on a time budget and had no choice in getting from point A to point B.      We saw many horses and cattle roaming across the road and sleeping on the shoulder and it was nerve wracking.     This time, thankfully, we only came across three young men sauntering across the highway.

himself taking his sweet time to cross the road






As we approached Bluff the rock formations appeared to have frosting pouring down from the top.    We're constantly amazed by the many types of rocks, sizes, shapes, colors, formations we've seen on our travels.


We're settled into our basic, gravel site at the Cadillac Ranch.   This is a very small (15 pull through sites), full hook up campground in the middle of the town of Bluff, population about 300.   There is a nice little pond full of coots and blackbirds in front of us and views of the bluffs behind.  

windshield view

bluffs behind Beluga


Its early spring here, as you can see by the leafless trees and Dave's winter jacket...we must disconnect our water hoses at night so they don't freeze.


Last night we joined John and Pam at a local restaurant.   I had Indian Fry Bread Pizza and it was fantastic!   The restaurant is modest but serves delicious food, is very close and you can't beat the backdrop!     We'll be back again, I'm sure!

Dave, Pam and John waiting for me at the aptly named Twin Rocks restaurant


7 comments:

  1. That toilet on the boat is a crack up...but nice to have! And I know darn well Pam wasn't the navigator! ;-)

    I can't wait to see what kind of trouble you get into in UT!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Everytime we pass by Mexican Hat I always chuckle...I read the town's people wanted to name it Sombrero, but no one knew how to spell it!

    Have fun...see you soon!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The shuttle was definitely a good call - your toes would have been all smished in your shoes by the time you got down there!! Great pics of John and Pam, and the one of the captain is awesome!! Bummer you had all that dust as well (it's found us again in Flagstaff too), but the Navajo Mtn pic is beautiful. Happy Lewis :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the daffodils with the red rock spire in the background. Cadillac Ranch (AKA Chevy Ranch) is our fav in Bluff, too. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. We are having what you had last week, wind and dust!
    The captain looked so professional and while the navigator looked so relax.
    I can't wait,(Friday) to pass through the monument valley.

    ReplyDelete