The Grand Circle: Part 3

Leaving Monument Valley and heading into Arizona, our first destination of the day was Page. Or, more specifically, Lake Powell. The lake was created by damming the Colorado River roughly 40 years ago, which flooded Glen Canyon.

We've never boated before, so this was a bit of an experiment. We packed a cooler full of food and drinks, rented a motorboat for the day from the Wahweap marina, got a lesson in its use, then headed out onto the water.

The lake is known for being very scenic, with red rocks meeting the blue-green water. This year the water level in the lake is really low, since there was not a lot of snow last winter. This picture isn't mine and probably isn't even from this year, but the white line showing the high-water level looks pretty similar to what we saw.

Being August in Arizona, the lake water was also very warm - 83 degrees - wonderful for swimming in. Hard to believe it can be that warm when the lake is roughly 600 feet deep!

We alternated between cruising around the lake and docking in place to do some jumps and swimming from the boat. Thankfully, we were able to return the boat to the marina in one piece. We survived our first boating trip!

After spending the night in Page, we hit the road early the next morning for the last destination of the trip: The Grand Canyon. We chose to visit the North Rim, which is a lot more remote and has fewer amenities than the South Rim. They say 90% of people go South and only 10% go North. The North Rim also closes for the winter because it's 1000 feet higher and typically gets snowed in.

The drive up to the North Rim followed a lot of twisty, turny roads and gained a lot of elevation. Once again, Liam was not feeling well. (Note to self: build in a few extra acclimatization days the next time we take Liam to the mountains.) We were 1/4 mile away from the pit stop we'd planned in Jacob Lake when Liam started puking more puke than I ever would have thought could fit in one little boy's stomach. We pulled over and decontaminated the car the best we could with a bottle of Wet Wipes, then continued on.

The North Rim is densely forested. Here we are almost on the brink of the canyon, and you'd never know it was there.

On the North Rim, you only get peeps at the canyon at lookouts between the trees, and on the back patio of the Lodge, which is amazing. It's pretty much the whole reason why I wanted to visit North Rim versus South Rim. 

Sitting there in one of those Adirondack chairs is just about all the entertainment you could ever want.

But we still decided to do a few short hikes, ones Liam felt up to. The trail was 2-3 feet wide, paved, and in sections it had this short rock wall alongside it. But I was a nervous wreck. Chad was holding onto Mallory and I was holding onto Liam, but my palms were sweaty and so were the soles of my feet. It was several hundred feet down on either side of this fin of rock - and that's only until you hit the first ledge. Many more hundred feet to go until the bottom of the canyon!

I felt somewhat better in the spots that had railings, but my knees were still weak.

Back on the patio as the sun went down, with drinks in hand - a North Rim Sunset for me, a North Rim Lager for Chad, and Shirley Temples (and Leappads - groan!) for the kids.

In our cabin for the night. The cabin was nearly identical to the one we'd rented at Bryce Canyon, which makes sense since they are both National Parks lodges, both built in the 1930s and both currently run by the same company. One difference though - in this one, we had an overnight visitor - a chipmunk, who must have smelled the peanut butter cookies we picked up at the Jacob Lake Inn!

The next morning, after seeing a few more sights at the North Rim, it was time to start thinking about going home. We drove back to Las Vegas. En route we passed through Colorado City in Utah, (former) home to Warren Jeffs. The town was established just a short time ago in the middle of nowhere so that the polygamists would presumably be left alone. Unfortunately for them, it's right on the highway between the North Rim and Las Vegas, so I imagine they get a large number of tourists stopping in. We ate lunch at the Merry Wives Cafe: 

Yes, the cafe is owned and operated by several sister wives, and it's decorated with family photos... photos of very, very large families. I was wearing shorts and a tank top and felt quite out of place. Every other woman there had sleeves past their elbows and a dress to the floor. Plus bouffant hair. I hope I did not look disrespectful.

Anyway... back to Las Vegas! We stayed at the Mirage this time, enjoyed the pool, then went out to see a few sights:

Showgirls (this is one of my favourite pictures of the whole trip! Mallory really enjoyed Las Vegas due to the larger-than-average number of people dressed in sequins.)

Chad and his twin.

Liam striking a pose in the Seigfried and Roy gift store. Everything there had a white tiger on it. We stayed out past dark on the Strip to see the Bellagio fountains, the Mirage volcano (which Mallory was absolutely terrified of - I should have seen that one coming) and the pirate show at Treasure Island, which is a lot less family-friendly than it used to be, thanks to the addition of some scantily clad female pirates. Liam loved it nonetheless.

And the next day after lunch, we were off, climbing over the Strip...

...and also getting one last view of the Grand Canyon on the way home. So long to the Wild West!