Lake Powell Day 3- Part 2

Rafting on Lake Powell

Our Campground with a view of the Lake in the background.

I forgot to mention earlier that in between our 2 tours, we had lunch at the Lake Powell Resort restaurant.  It had a beautiful view overlooking the lake.  We had a lovely waitress by the name of Flower.  Flower was from Bulgaria and said she flew over with 75 other Bulgarian students to spend the summer working at Lake Powell.  Flower had a distinct accent and high pitched voice and was constantly saying "Here you go".  When Megan asked for Root Beer to drink she look horrified that my child was asking for beer as she said "You want beer?".  She was very interesting and we later found out she overcharged us $9 to boot.  We will never forget Flower.  Later in the evening after resting from the tour, we went back to the beach and the kids took their big raft and had fun with that.  Leah took a nap on the beach.  Then it was back to the pool again!  Then it was time for a late dinner and bed.  It was a fun day!

Lake Powell Day 3- 7/8/12

As much as I enjoy the recreational activities on our trips, I love learning about and immersing myself in the history, geography, and way of life in each of our parks we visit. That was what today was about…tour day. We started off with an early morning boat tour of Lake Powell called the Canyons Adventure Tour. It was a 2 ½ hour boat tour leaving from Wahweap marina that took us around Lake Powell. It started off visiting the dam, then went through Antelope Canyon and Navajo Canyon. It was fun to see all of the different water crafts on the water and dream of being on a houseboat one day. We learned a lot about the Lake as well. Did you know Lake Powell is the second largest manmade lake in the US? There is more shoreline on Lake Powell than there is on the entire western coast of the US. Lake Powell used to be a Canyon (named Glen Canyon when explored by John Wesley Powell in 1869) with the Colorado River running through it but was dammed up in 1963. It took 17 years to fill Lake Powell to its full capacity. Lake Powell is like a savings account, it is available to most of the western states as a reserve if there is ever a drought and those states could be sustained for 1 ½ years just from Lake Powell's water. This lake provides water for Phoenix and parts of California. It also provides power from hydroelectric power… which leads to our next tour. We took a tour of the Glen Canyon dam which was really cool! We have been in the visitor's center several times on our way to Zion National Park but this was our first time to take the tour. We had an hour to wait for our tour to begin so the kids did the Jr. Ranger program and got sworn in. Then off we went! We took an elevator down to the top of the dam where we walked around. The tour guide was very informative about how the building of the dam took place. Then we took an elevator down into the dam to the bottom. It was so cool to be down there and we got to see the turbines in the power plant as well. Overall, it was very interesting to learn how we get our water and electricity to maintain the quality of life we have today. The damming of the Colorado River was and still is quite controversial as Glen Canyon is sacred ground to many Native Americans. It is interesting to see how our modern way of life impacts other cultures, animals, and can dramatically change a landscape which is home to many different animals and vegetation. Without Lake Powell, we would not be able to have our quality of life that we have today. And…it is a lot of fun too!

 Photo from Boat Tour

 Tour of the Glen Canyon Dam

Kids sworn in as Jr. Rangers

Lake Powell Day 2- 7/7/12

Noah in the kayak!

Tim and the girls have their own kayak.

Megan doing some cliff jumping...she's the brave one!

Loving this little cove and the crystal blue water!

Tim and I started off the morning taking a run to Utah.  OK...it is only 1/2 mile away so that's not too impresive but it was a nice run along the path with a great view of the lake.  After that it was breakfast and getting ready for our kayak trip.  We decided to stay in Arizona and just go to the beach area by our campground instead of the boat launch in Utah.  That worked out nicely as we headed off in our Kayaks to who knows where.  We took about an hour on the water and came across this beautiful little rock formation that formed a cove with clear water in between.  We decided to stop there and have lunch...and we didn't leave for the next couple of hours!  We spent time swimming there, watching all of the boats and climbling on the big rocks.  Then Tim and the kids decided to be brave and jump 20 feet into the water from the top of one of the rocks.  It was hilariaous to watch them trying to talk each other into doing it.  Who do you think the first one in was?  It wasn't big, strong Daddy but Megan.  Daddy was next and then Noah.  Even Leah jumped but it did not turn out as well for her...she did a belly/face flop and got the wind knocked out of her.  She's fine but was a little scared.  I found out later that Daddy bribed all of them with $1 to jump!  He was so impressed with them, they each got 5.  After that we had an hour long kayak ride back to the beach where we just swam and enjoyed the water more.  Then we were so done!  Back to the trailer for snacks, water, and air conditioning!  Tonight we will go back to the lodge to the pool and spa.  Tomorrow we head out on a boat tour to see more of the lake.  It was a great day on the water!

Lake Powell Day 1- 7/6/12

It was an uneventful drive to Lake Powell. Tim stayed awake, we were safe and had no truck problems...what more could you ask for? Tim did spend the first 2 hours remembering all of the stuff he forgot so that did require a stop at Wal-mart in Flagstaff to pick up a few things. I love the drive through the Painted Desert; the red rocks are so beautiful. Northern Arizona is truly a gem! We arrived at Lake Powell and settled into our campground nicely. Lake Powell is gorgeous with all of the mountains, canyons and huge expanse of water. The campground is nice but it is the low desert so it is mostly dirt. After setup we had a big dinner and then went exploring. Just 1/2 mile walk there is a sandy beach area on the lake. The kids were all the way in the water immediately! Even though it was 7:30 at night the beach was pretty crowded. We noticed that most people were speaking another language and we kind of felt like the foreigners! We even saw a lady change into her bikini on the beach and she did not leave much to the imagination! Next it was off to explore Lake Powell lodge where the kids enjoyed the pool and spa for awhile. We went inside the lodge and looked around and Leah bought a stuffed animal at the gift shop. Then it was back to the campground. We did more in day 1 than I thought we would. I have a feeling our days here will be filled with a lot of time in the lake and then a lot of time in the pool after. Today we spent our day on the Arizona side of Lake Powell and tomorrow we will be taking the kayaks for a spin in Utah, which is only 1/2 of a mile away!

And we're off! Right now we are on the road to Lake Powell. All of the packing and prepping is done and it is time to have fun! I'm watching Tim like a hawk...I had a very vivid dream of him falling asleep while driving and I could not wake him up. The end of the dream just cut away to me viewing the truck and trailer driving away on the us60 onramp and it ended. I'm going to pretend that dream ended well. Reality is that he is tired but excited so we are anxious to arrive and get this drive over with! This 2 week trip will include 4 days at Lake Powell, 4 days in Moab Utah and 6 days in Durango Colorado. And hopefully lots of memories made (please Lord, the good ones! I can't handle another truck break down!)

Flagstaff favorites

This is a list of our favorite things in Flagstaff: Tim: Bearizona and Walnut Canyon Kami: Lake Mary and Sunset Crater hike Noah: Bearizona Megan: Walnut canyon and Deer farm Leah: Deer farm

Flagstaff Day 3- 5/30/12

Today is wildlife day! We have not seen too much wildlife besides the occasional squirrel at our campground so it is going to be exciting to see some animals. We started off our day heading into Williams to visit Bearizona which is a drive through wildlife park. I have been a little bit skeptical of this place but decided to give it a chance. It turned out to be really neat! The first 2 miles you drive around the park which is a very natural setting since it is in the forest. You get to see wolves, bighorn sheep, bison, and Megan's favorite…the black bear. There were some burros that came right up to our window that we had a hard time getting rid of. There were a lot of bears to see but they were mostly napping and lounging around. Most of these animals we have seen in the wild but it was cool to see them so up close. After the drive, they have a walk through place with smaller animals. So, we got out and saw some other animals. The cutest were a group of 9 baby cubs that were only a few months old. They were only 5 or so feet away from us and they were so adorable! There was also a little petting area or farm where you could interact with goats, pigs, and chickens. We also took in a birds of prey show where they had owls and falcons that flew directly over our heads. The owl's wing even hit my hat it was so close! So, Bearizona is a very nice place where they have great exhibits and animals that have been rescued from the wild due to injury or other condition that would not enable them to survive in the wild.

 A burro that wouldn't leave our car!

 A bear in the drive through section of Bearizona.

A cub in the walk through or fort area of Bearizona.

Next place was all about Leah. Her favorite animal is the deer so a must stop was the Grand Canyon deer farm in Williams as well. Right when you walk in, you are barraged with deer waiting to get at the food pellets you have waiting for them. There must be 2 dozen deer there ready to attack it seemed to me. They especially loved eating Leah's shirt which she found delightful and disgusting all at the same time. Leah was in total heaven with a grin on her face the entire time. She named a few of them and gave lots of hugs and kisses to them. They also had some other animals including llamas, bison, burros and horses. The kids got to feed the horses some carrots at the end and really enjoyed that. So, the deer farm lived up to Leah's expectations and she was not at all disappointed to be able to interact with that many deer. It was a lot of fun for her and a joy to her Mommy to see her so happy.

 Leah was so excited just at the entrance of the deer farm!