Page/Lake Powell, AZ: Antelope Canyon & Horseshoe Bend

After months and months of planning for our 3,718-mile Summer 2014 Adventure Tour, the departure day finally arrived!  Packing an RV for a six-week trip is no easy task.  Here is the fridge/freezer -- not a square inch to spare!

Individually portioned/pre-marinated meats in the freezer make cooking easy.

Our first two days were spent in Page, AZ, 270 miles north of Phoenix, right on the Utah border, where the beauty of Lake Powell resides.  The huge Wahweap Marina RV Park overlooks the lake. We did not go far enough north, however, as it is still quite hot here, but you know what THAT means ... yay for daytime naps in the Lucky Charm!  

This time of year (or maybe always, I don't know), Page is full of boats, rental RV's, and foreigners.  English is spoken in Page by probably only 10% of the visitors -- everyone else seems to be from France, or Spain, or Japan, or wherever.  The campground store has U.S. coins taped to the countertop with their amounts labeled to help all the foreigners who are trying to figure out how to make change for their purchases.  

Many of them come to see Glen Canyon Dam, but to us, it seemed like Hoover Dam's bothersome little red-headed stepbrother ... bound to be a disappointment ... so we passed on the tour and opted for Mother Nature's grandeur instead.

Our first "must-see" was the oft-photographed beauty of Upper Antelope Canyon, a series of gorgeous slot canyons on the Navajo Indian Reservation.  These twisting tunnels of swirling sandstone benefit from the light above often spilling down into the canyons, which can be up to 130 feet deep, making for some unbelievable beauty.  The other unbelievable thing is how many people are jammed in there at any given time.  So much for serenity and spirituality in the face of God's handiwork ... hard to appreciate when you are being constantly elbowed by hordes of obnoxious Europeans!  But the sights were truly spectacular ... indescribably beautiful ... and (cheesy but true) our pictures do not do it justice!  Can you find the heart? (Of course it's our favorite!)

The company that took us into the slot canyons (for you are required to have an Indian tour guide, and take a bumpy 20-minute four-wheel drive ride through fine, deep sand to get there), had the added benefit of a Navajo dancer perform a traditional hoop dance.  It was deeply conflicting to try and enjoy the beauty and tradition of the dance, when the young man was wearing Adidas shorts and Air Jordans under his costume, and when it was performed under the cover an abandoned gas station.  But, it was crazy how he could get all those hoops going every which way and we were truly awestruck at his talent.

Our other "must-see" was Horseshoe Bend, where the Colorado river makes a sharp 180-degree turn, creating a huge protruding monolith in the middle of the curve.  We took a picnic dinner at sunset, hiked a sandy 3/4 mile trail, and were shocked that you could walk right up to the edge, with no guardrails, warning signs, security guards ... nothing!  How is it possible that lawyers and overreaching federal officials have not gotten involved in this yet?  We were more than 1000 feet above the river, just dangling our legs over the edge.  Crazy!  If you can spot a tiny blue tent on the shore in the picture below, that will give you some idea of the huge scale of Horseshoe Bend.

Everyone wants to see Horseshoe Bend ... even the "Sister Wives" of nearby polygamist Colorado City!

On the edge of Horseshoe Bend, Sprinkles "saw the light" but decided to return to us!

A few interesting footnotes on RV living.  One is that when we are in our 4 bedroom house, both Philip and I just get up and get whatever we need.  But for some reason, in 275 square feet, it is suddenly too far to go get something.  "Can you hand me my coffee?" -- which is 2 feet away.  "While you're up, would you turn on the light?" -- which could be done by literally standing straight up, raising an arm to the ceiling, and then sitting straight back down.  It is very curious, seriously funny, and will require some "spousal recalibration" ASAP.

We were sad to leave the red-sand beauty of Page, but excited for our next destination ... Zion National Park in Utah!

Flagstaff, AZ: Getting Extreme!

Our latest adventure in the Lucky Charm was to Flagstaff in Northern Arizona for the celebration of son Max's 15th birthday. Our family rocked the Flagstaff Extreme Adventure Course!

FlagX, as it is affectionately referred to by all the cool kids, is a series of aerial obstacles that is set in tall Ponderosa Pine trees at 15-60 feet off the ground!  Some of the features are suspended bridges, swings, nets, slides, rockwalls, ziplines, and even an aerial surfboard.  It was tons of fun!

We stayed at Fort Tuthill County Campground for it's perfect location ... right next to FlagX!  It was cheap and nice, although there was no electric service so we had to rely on our generator as needed.

Wildfire crews were at that time battling the so-called "Slide Fire" which originated in Sedona, just south of Flagstaff, and because of the wildfires, open fires were not permitted (even in the campground firepits), but we had brought along a propane-fueled firepit that WAS allowed, so we were the only campers able to roast marshmallows ... obviously the most important part of camping!  It also helped keep us warm during some surprisingly chilly evenings!

The birthday party was mostly for Max, because he will turn 15 while he is at summer camp in Indiana this summer.  We celebrated THREE important family birthdays all at once, however ... Sprinkles the Dog on July 7, Max on July 8, and Sarah's boyfriend Sean on July 9!

They each got their own themed cake!

Sean loves Star Wars ....

Max is into baseball, football, and the military ...

and Sprinkles is a dalmation-y looking mutt!

Our "FFF" (Flagstaff Family Fun) had all the elements of a great time ............. 

Football !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Food !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fido !!!!!!!!!!!!  (begging)

 And most importantly ............... FAMILY!

The Lucky Charm gets a short rest period before the most important journey of her young life so far -- our next trip will be for six weeks throughout the west, including Zion National Park, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, the coast of Oregon, Redwoods, Lake Shasta, and so much more, starting June 21!  More charming adventures await during the summer of 2014!

Tombstone & Picacho Peak, AZ: Miners and Cowboys and Soldiers, Oh My!!! (Part 2 of 2)

We left Bisbee (if you missed the first half of this trip, you can catch up here) and headed up the road 30 minutes to Tombstone, which is the site of the famous "Gunfight At The OK Corral."  I imagined a kind of tourists' hell, with every stupid, overpriced, cornball experience imaginable, and carnival-style hawkers accosting us from every doorway and street corner to come visit their t-shirt shop or watch their stagecoach robbery or drink their sasparilla.  Imagine my surprise when the truth was:  I loved Tombstone!

Don't get me wrong ... it is definitely touristy.  But it's a kind of amusing, kitschy, enjoyable touristy that was a lot of fun. It feels both authentic and designed-to-delight, at the same time. 

Before the trip, Philip insisted that we should know our history by watching not just one but two movies: "Tombstone" (Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer) (RUNNING TIME 134 MINUTES) --- and also "Wyatt Earp" (Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid) --- (RUNNING TIME 291 MINUTES) --- eeeek!  Both of these movies take significant cinematic liberties, but I do have to admit they definitely enhanced our enjoyment of the town.

We loved our historical walking tour with "Dr. Jay," a retired dentist who now works as an actor and definitely knows his Tombstone history, which is presented in a very entertaining way.

We watched a re-enactment of the famous Battle of the
O.K. Corral and cheered and booed along with the crowd. 

We were particularly interested in the fact that Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday were not necessarily the "good guys" and the Clanton & Co. cowboys were not necessarily the "bad guys," but rather they were all a bunch of hooligans and ruffians and schoolyard bullies who really just wanted to avenge a bunch of town gossip and badmouthing of each other.  Who knew that the Battle of the OK Corral is basically repeated in every South L.A. high school pretty much every day of the year?

There are lots of fun things to do in Tombstone, including trolley tours, visiting the Boothill Graveyard, mine tours, ghost tours, stagecoach tours, and the Rose Tree Museum, home to the world's largest rose tree, which is over 120 years old, still flowering and which covers 8,600 square feet. 

BUT if you only do one thing in Tombstone, it should be to visit the Birdcage Theatre, a frequently overlooked and fascinating place. This combination theatre, saloon, gambling hall and brothel was closed up, fully furnished, in 1889 and was not opened again until 1934, when the new owners were thrilled to find everything left "as is" and undisturbed, as it remains today, with wineglasses tipped on their sides and jackets hanging on the back of chairs. You can wander through at your own pace and stay as long as you like, imagining what it would have been like to be there during those crazy days of the late 1800's Wild Wild West. It is supposedly haunted and certainly feels incredibly eerie and mysterious to step back in time.  DO NOT MISS IT if you go to Tombstone!

Western skies loom over a lonely cowboy as he patrols the streets of Tombstone looking for outlaws.

Alas, we only had one afternoon to spend in Tombstone, and the Lucky Charm was back on the road, heading to Picacho Peak, two hours north and about 1-1/2 hours south of Phoenix. Destination:  Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch.  Really?  An ostrich ranch?  YES.  An ostrich ranch.  Where we had the BEST time -- our favorite event of a really fun trip.

We had a blast riding in their mega-monster truck as it ripped through the desert.

We learned a million fascinating things about ostriches (for example:  you CAN eat ostrich egg, but 

one egg is the equivalent of two dozen chicken eggs -- so you better invite a lot of friends to join you!).

We went ostrich-fishin' - feeding them fruit on the end of a long pole as they fought each other for the goods.

We got to feed lots of different kinds of animals -- 

donkeys, deer, goats, prairie dogs, ducks and more -- 

some via very clever delivery methods!

And our favorites -- the lorikeets!  They were NOT shy!

The following morning, we went to a Civil War in the Southwest  Re-Enactment  at Picacho Peak State Park.  Did you know that Picacho Peak was the site of the western-most battle of the entire U.S. during the Civil War?  Every year at this festival, three historic battles are re-enacted, and it was cool to see their authentic costumes, artillery and Civil War camps up close.  Besides the re-enactments, a variety of exhibits and demonstrations really bring the Civil War to life! 

 

Spectators in the natural ampitheater of Picacho Peak!
 (Smart people brought chairs.  Those rocks are way-hard.)
 You could also go right up to the edge of the battlefield as evidenced below.

  

Pre-Bob Hope USO-style entertainment.
These types of theatrical troupes were sent into Civil War camps to boost morale.
They sang, acted out short plays, did comedy routines, played musical instruments and more.

Alas, our trip back in time came to a close and the Lucky Charm returned back to home base.  We loved this trip and exploring more about Arizona and our history of miners, cowboys and soldiers!