That Moment when you ask where are we going?

Page, Arizona

Maddie 9

Kier 6

Cora 3

Sandstone Canyons in Page AZ

Often our trip destinations are not planned by us-- or at least are not the destinations we planned.

Maddie and Kier at the Grand Canyon

When we went to the Grand Canyon we were still naive enough to think you could just waltz into a national park and reasonably expect to find a place to stay. After all, we had a tent and camping gear!

The first night we drove from camp ground to camp ground and were turned away again and again. In the end we managed to snag the last cabin in the park-- a blessing from someone else's last minute cancellation. It was a “no-pets” room so we had to traumatize our 6 month old miniature poodle puppy with a night in the kennel (did you know that many of our national parks have dog kennels? Neither did we!)

The next day was a chilly, windy March day. But the view of the Grand Canyon are beautiful in any weather.

The GRAND Canyon in Spring

By mid-afternoon, we knew that the previous days “lucky lodging” opportunity was not to be repeated. There was no where to stay in the park. We tried the near by, but out of the park, hotels. They were also all full. We even asked at the frightening campground, but it also had no vacancy. The tent camp spots were concrete and practically right on the road-- maybe they were; it was hard to tell the difference!

We thought that maybe we could camp at the airport? The employees at the FBO looked rather dubious when we suggested it. They conferred among themselves and, I guess, decided that we didn't seem to suspect because they did finally give approval.

On second thought, I think they knew there was absolutely no way we could possibly set up camp. For one thing, the wind was picking up;

A big Crack in the earth AKA the Grand Canyon

for another, the hangers were packed tightly together and what space there was was covered in goat-heads and cactus. The sun would be setting soon; it was crunch time-- a decision had to be made.

Joel said if we left right away we could make it as far as Page, Arizona. We packed the plane, left the rental car's keys at the FBO and took off into a strong headwind.

Flying in a small aircraft over the Grand Canyon is a unique feeling. The earth seems to fall away as you fly over the cliff. Actually the airport at Page, Arizona is even more impressive at this effect. The airport at Page literally lies at the top of a cliff over looking the Lake Powell Reservoir, and upon take off it really does feel like someone pulled the rug out from under you. Landing at the Page Airport feels a bit like you might hit the side of a cliff!

Landing in Page AZ

Lake Powell

 

Once we arrived at Page we decided it was well worth spending a couple of days. After all, we wouldn't be staying in the Grand Canyon, like we had planned. We camped for two nights at the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Apparently 'National Recreation Areas' do not share the National Park's “no-spur-of-the-moment visits” quality. 

We spent a day playing at the beach around Lake Powell. We admired the house boats and tried to take a tour of the dam. Unfortunately due to the high winds we could not actually go out on the dam that day. We did however, manage an areal tour of the area after the pilots who fly for the tour company gave us some hints on the best spots to visit. The Glen Canyon, which now makes up the walls of the Lake Powell reservoir, is absolutely stunning. The shear cliffs are composed of smooth, striated layers of red and pale yellow sandstone.

 

Antelope Canyon

"A rugged, safe and comfortable 4 Wheel trip"

On our second day we visited the near by Antelope Canyon which boasts this same beautiful geology. The Canyon is located on Navajo Tribal land. The only access to the canyon is on a guide led tour

offered by the Navajo Tribe. Here is part of the description from the website: “ The tour involves us transporting you to the Upper Antelope Canyon in our 4-wheel drive tour vehicle that is both rugged, safe and yet comfortable.” I think this can be translated into something like: Transportation to the Canyon involves cramming as many people as possible into the back of a standard pickup truck and racing across the desert at 40 miles per hour. No seatbelts or other safety equipment will be provided, so just hold on to your little ones and enjoy the ride!

Kier, Maddie and Cora in Antelope Canyon

The website also refers to the “haunting beauty” and “awe-inspiring stone formations”. No translation is required for those statements. Nothing could be more accurate. Antelope Canyon is other-worldly in it's beauty!  While in Antelope

By the third day we were ready to move on to our next destination, Mesa Verde. That plan was not to be. It appeared that while we were unable to STAY in The Grand Canyon, we were equally unable to LEAVE The Glen Canyon. In the end, this vacation stop, which we never planned to make, ended up lasting for five nights!

But on day three we were unaware that we still had 3 more nights here in Page Arizona, so we packed up our camping gear and returned our rental car. And then we waited for the weather to give us the go ahead. We spent much of day three in the FBO. We flipped through the brochures, played on the luggage scales, turned concrete barriers into balance beams, played fetch with the dog at the near by empty lot and generally made ourselves at home (if perhaps unwelcome guests who wouldn't leave...)

Eternally optimistic, but also tired of sleeping on the ground, we chose to forego the rental car and instead use the funds for a night in a hotel. I believe we hitched a ride with someone from the FBO (at the airport). It was close enough that in the morning we could walk back to the airport.

Hanging out at the airport-- our natural environment.

Camped out under a wing

Unfortunately, the weather was still not favorable the next morning. We did at one point think things had improved enough for us to leave. Once we got into the air, Joel called Air Traffic Control to open his flight plan. The ATC controller started on a whole litany of weather problems. After the first report of Thunderstorms along the way (which involved some mountain flying) Joel had already begun to turn the plane and head back to the airport. But the air traffic controller continued with his long list-- icing  en-route, snowstorms, turbulence... Clearly it was not a good day to be headed into Colorado.

At the end of the day, we dragged our luggage back to the previous night's hotel and were told that there was no vacancy for the night. The only other option was on the other side of town. Page Arizona is a small town and, at least at the time we were there, had no taxi service. So we had to drag our luggage, our puppy, and our three small children across town. It was probably only 2 miles but it seemed infinite!

One of the things we did to pass the time during our extended stay in Page was go see a movie in the cute little 1940s era, small town theater. I don't remember what movie we found to watch that afternoon, but I do remember having the most bizarre conversation with the theater manager.

We were traveling with our 10 pound miniature poodle puppy and since we had checked out of the hotel room in the morning, we had no where to leave the puppy for a few hours. But she's only 10 pounds and she fits nicely in a backpack (made for dogs). A quiet black puppy in a mesh black bag rarely solicits attention beyond the occasional smile when a particularly observant passer-by realizes that the shiny black eyes belong to a living puppy.

Invisibility bag

About half way through the movie I decided I needed to visit the “Lady's”. This presented a bit of a problem. I could choose to leave the puppy in the bag with the family-- but she is very much my dog and there was a high likelihood that this choice would result in some whining. My other choice was to take her with me. Turns out maybe I should have risked the potential whine and left her with Joel...

Anyway, upon exiting the restroom, I was ominously called in to the manager's office where the young, 20s something theater manager informed me that “backpacks are not allowed at the theater” and I would need to leave mine with her until I was prepared to leave. I have no idea what illicit things this young women thought a mom of three young kids might be carrying in her backpack (and what mom of three young kids doesn't carry a huge bag filled with kid gear...) but clearly “puppy” was not on the list!

I, however, knew full well that the bag contained a puppy and that leaving the bag would not go well! So, I suggested that she might want to take a look in the bag BEFORE deciding she wanted to keep it in her office. This idea rather shocked the girl, whose forehead creased and eyes, in turn grew large and then suspiciously narrowed before stammering out that, yes, maybe she should know what was in the bag. When I unzipped the bag a little black ball of curly fluff with a bright pink tongue happily wiggled out.

“Oh!” the girl gasped, her eyes now wide, “I don't think we allow dogs!”

I couldn't help but smile. “Well, no I didn't think you do. That's why I hid her in a bag,” I said as I directing the puppy back into the backpack.

There was now a good thirty seconds of silence where the girl and I sat looking at one another over the big desk.

Finally, I ventured to ask if my puppy and I could go back and finish watching the movie with my kids. Uncertainly, she agreed, but told me that I was not welcome in the theater in the future.

“Got it,” I agreed.

"Little House" set in Tucson AZ

So the next day, when it rained ALL DAY, going to the theater was not an option. Instead we spent a day watching a marathon of old “Little House on the Prairie” episodes. Earlier in the trip, while in Tucson, we visited the studio where many of the episodes had been filmed, so we made the best of the day while we tried to identify the various props and scenes.

Our plan that week had been to spend two or three day exploring the Grand Canyon and two or three days playing in the Cliff Dwelling of Mesa Verde. Reality provide one whirlwind night in the Grand Canyon, no time for Mesa Verde and five nights in Page Arizona. Plus a chance to learn flexibility as we discarded the plan and instead embraced reality!

Monument Valley

Maddie Air-plane Schooling

Piper