May 31, 2011 Glendale, UT to Seligman, AZ

Today we left our home of the last 5 nights. Glendale, UT. Had we stayed a couple more nights we probably could have voted in future elections. When we pulled out the temperature was 52 degree's. From Glendale we went through Kanab, then on to Page, AZ, and down to Flagstaff. I missed a sign directing us to I-40 and it appeared we might have to go through all of Flagstaff. Betsy grabbed her handy dandy little map and got us out of the mess. I tell people that she's our navi-guesser, but she really is pretty good at getting us from A to B. After finding the interstate we headed west toward Exit 139. Exit 139 is where you get off and find a 17 mile portion of old Route 66. As we drove the old road we thought of all the people who had used it to get from Chicago to Los Angeles. In the 17 miles we met one pick up truck. We both commented on how isolated this part of the road felt. We were thrilled to see a series of the old Burma Shave signs. The first series we flew by, but when we came to the second set I told Betsy I was stopping and would she please hop out and take a picture. She made me promise that I wouldn't leave her out there before actually getting out of the vehicle. In honor of "The Mother Road" I've published that picture in black and white. We arrived at our destination of Seligman, AZ which I've read about and wanted to visit. Seligman was founded in 1895 as a railroad town, but embraced Route 66 when it was constructed in the 1920's. It was a place to get some food, stay the night, fill up the tank the next morning and head out. In the late 1970's the interstate bypassed the little town and the tourist trade dried up. Then in 1985 the Santa Fe RR closed up the local depot. But you know what, the little town has managed to hang in there and caters to Route 66 aficionados. One of the places we stopped was the sundry store where we took a picture of our rig in front. This place still had a lot of old sundry inventory and several advertisement pieces. I think I saw a Sergeants Flea Soap cardboard advertisement that I recognized when I worked for Dad or Uncle Dick. We skipped the biker apparel shop as Betsy says she's lived this long without a pair of chaps so why bother now.
I definitely wanted to stop at the Snow Cap which was started in 1953 by Juan and Angel Delgadillo.
You can get a hamburger, taco and a shake or their speciality of dead chicken. I didn't ask. Angel became something of a legend on Rte. 66 for his humor and pranks. Today his son John got me good when he grabbed a plastic mustard container and squeezed. Out came a stream of mustard, aimed directly at my chest. Talk about shocked!! The mustard was actually yellow yarn. We both had a good laugh. Oh yeah, the coke float that Betsy and I shared was the best ever.

May 30, 2011--Maynard Dixon Living History Museum

As mentioned earlier this is our last day in the Glendale area, but when we first were looking at this area to visit the real reason was Zion and Bryce. As I was looking at a tourism brochure for Kane County, UT I saw that the Maynard Dixon studio was here. Luckily it's only about 7 miles down the road. A few days ago we stopped at the Bingham Gallery which is operated by the Thunderbird Foundation which also owns the Dixon property. When Betsy told the owner that she was an artist he immediately invited her to bring her art kit back to the property and sketch. Now I can't draw a straight line with a ruler, but somehow felt that anyone with as much creative energy as Maynard Dixon must have left some lying about. So today after our trip to the sand dunes we went back. We elected to do the self guided tour. The history of the property is that Dixon and wife, Edith Hamlin purchased the property in 1938 and immediately started planning and building the house. The house was followed by a small garage, a cool house for food storage, a 3 bed bunkhouse, and of course the studio. The plantings around the buildings and in pots are simple and familiar species but are gorgeous. Betsy and I walked over to the property and looked at and went in to all the buildings and took pictures. I love old buildings and especially rural homes and out buildings. When you walked into any of these building you were immediately taken back to the 1930's and 40's. Dixon and Hamlin painted here until Dixon's death in 1946. The studio was completed in 1947. Hamlin continued to paint and invited other artists to visit. Ansel Adams was a frequent visitor.
In 1963 the property was sold to Milford Zornes, another notable artist. In 1999 the foundation purchased the property. Betsy elected to sit on the west patio and sketch the front exterior of the little cool house. I took more pictures and then practiced my Indian flute. What a calm, serene place. Just before doing this blog I reviewed the brochure on the buildings and noted that the studio wasn't completed until a year after Dixon died. I then read that he liked to paint on the west patio of the house. Maybe Betsy didn't choose that spot to sketch. Perhaps someone else guided her there.

May 30, 2011--Coral Pink Sand Dunes SP

Today is our last day in Glendale, but we're keeping with our stated policy of running ourselves ragged seeing whatever there is to see. Our first stop was Kanab for an infrequent restaurant breakfast. I'm not sure what took so long to cook a simple breakfast burrito and an order of egg's. Maybe the cook got deported. We then headed to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. We'd never heard of it, but kept passing the sign and decided to visit. Turned out to be quite interesting, different, and beautiful.
It's primary purpose is for ATV use, but even they didn't detract from the beauty. We found a nature hike among the dunes and even found flowers growing.

May 29, 2011--Cedar Breaks & Kolob Canyon

At this point we've seen the two main attractions, but that didn't stop us from hitting the road again.
Plus today is the running of the 100th Indianapolis 500 race, and we can listen to it as we drive. Hey, once a Hoosier, always a Hoosier. Todays route is a loop across Hwy 14 which is the home of Cedar Breaks Natl. Monument however it doesn't open until sometime in June due to the heavy snow they get. The elevation is over 10,000 ft and sure enough there was still quite a bit of snow and even ice on Navajo Lake. After coming down the mountain you enter Cedar City. From Cedar City we got on the interstate to Kolob Canyon which is another part of Zion. It had equally impressive rock formations and cliffs.
To complete the loop back to Glendale we had to go through the main part of Zion and sometimes we were so deep in the canyons that we lost our satellite radio signal. And then when we entered the mile long tunnel there were only 5 laps to go in the race. We hurried through and just as we came out the race announcer screamed "the race leader has crashed in turn four on the final lap". There were a few minutes of total confusion as we didn't know who crashed or who had actually won. Apparently we weren't alone as the broadcasters didn't seem to know either. Typical 500 drama.

May 28, 2011--Bryce Canyon

From our current campground (Glendale, Ut) we're about 60 miles from Bryce. The road we used to get there runs through Longs Valley and it's very pretty. When we arrived at Bryce I was a little concerned because even though it was early in the day there were signs everywhere that parking lots were full and to use the shuttle bus. That didn't work for us since we had Tipper with us so we plowed on through and headed to the most distant overlook. The closer overlooks were crowded but the further we went the less people we saw. I guess Bryce Canyon needs some explanation. First, Bryce Canyon was named after Ebenezer and Mary Bryce who lived in the area from 1875 to about 1880. Second, the weird shaped, multi colored spires are called hoodoos, which are pinnacles or odd shaped rock shaped by the forces of erosion. I had always assumed that the basic rock structure was sandstone, but while there we learned that most of the hoodoos were limestone. According to the park newspaper approximately 200 days a year this area is subjected to low temperatures where the rain or snow melt freezes during the night and then melts during the day. The pressure from the water freezing and the washing away of small material when rain happens has created this wondrous landscape. It doesn't get much better than this.

May 27, 2011 Zion National Park

We are very excited today since we've both had Zion National Park on our to do list for a long time. A couple of things you need to know about Zion--you don't drive to the observation points as they have an excellent shuttle bus system, and unless you're a cliff climber you don't see Zion from it's heights but rather from the canyon floor. You become part of the park as opposed to looking down into it. We had to leave Tipper back at the trailer since dog's are not allowed most places in the park. We took the Riverside Walk which follows the Virgin River. It's amazing that you look at a cliff face that's a couple miles away and your eyes track up the face and then you get to the upward limit of your eyes and then you have to crane your neck to see the rest of the way to the top. Now that's tall. Along the river
there are cliffs with moisture seeping out of them and growing on bare rock are Columbine flowers and grasses. The second hike we took was to the Lower Emerald Pool. That was neat because you could walk under an overhang where the water spilled into the pool. Quite a place.


Can you see the climbers in the first picture?

May 26, 2011--Travel Day

It's time to move on, but before we leave Jacob Lake I have to mention the Jacob Lake Inn, which is one of three businesses in town--the other two are a gas station and the campground. The Inn has rooms, a gift shop, a restaurant, and a bakery. Now I'm not sure I'd drive up there just for a cinnamon roll or peach pie, but boy if you're going through make sure to stop and have a bite. Today we're headed off the Kaibab Plateau to Fredonia, AZ then on to Kanab, UT and finally to Glendale, UT where our next few days will be spent. We chose Glendale because it's somewhat centrally located between Zion Natl. Park and Bryce Canyon Natl. Park. Also because the RV Park there is small but rated very well, and is next door to the owners cattle ranch. We arrived and immediately liked the place. It's family run and the tree's and grass reminded us of spring in Indiana. There is a big field in back of us that's inhabited by a horse, two miniature donkeys and an alpaca. We've managed to coax the donkeys up to the fence so we can pet them, but the horse and alpaca are not playing with us yet. We unhooked the trailer and decided to head back to Kanab to get a couple of things that we had forgotten. While there we shopped and looked at a couple stores and even found the only antique store in town. On the way back to Glendale we found the foundation that operates an art gallery and the artist cabin of Maynard Dixon (I'll bet you've seen Maynard Dixon art as he was an iconic American West artist. Look him up on the internet) We of course stopped and Betsy and the gallery owner hit it off right away. We told him we would like to tour the cabin, but not that day since we were tired from driving. He said to come back anytime and also invited Betsy to bring her art supplies and she could paint up at the cabin. How exciting is that? The pictures are of our new neighbors.

May 25, 2011--North Rim Day 2 Continued

After our day at Cape Royal and Point Imperial we decided to head back to the Visitor Center area and get a cup of coffee at the North Rim Lodge. The lodge is built of stone and sits right on the edge of the canyon. And like the canyon the lodge gives the impression of being massive. Tipper and I found a couple of chairs on the patio/overlook area and Betsy went to find us coffee. Tipper was quite a hit as several young ladies from a school in Chattanooga, TN hugged and petted him. It got so ridiculous that I finally ask them if they had ever seen a dog before? The picture of Betsy and Tipper is in front of the outdoor fireplace! The dining room certainly gives the impression of a medieval castle. And of course the statue of Brighty (short for Bright Angel) is a tribute to all the mules who have worked in the canyon. What a great place.

May 25, 2011--North Rim Day 2

We were up early this morning because we were eager to get back and see more of the Canyon. As I mentioned earlier it's 45 miles from Jacob Lake to the actual North Rim. The drive is odd in that several miles are spent in area's that have been damaged by fires and it's pretty awful, but the rest is a combination of pine trees and a very long beautiful meadow. Since the elevation is about 8000 feet there is still a little bit of snow here and there. Our goal today is to drive the road to the Cape Royal area, and then the Point Imperial overlook. On the way there are several viewing stops and each one was more spectacular than the one before. At Point Imperial we ate our picnic lunch and Betsy took out her sketch book and did a very nice picture of snow caped Mt. Humphrey off in the distance. Point Imperial is the highest point on the North Rim at 8800 feet.

May 23 and 24, 2011

Well gang, here we go again. Starship Avion is ready to blast off on "The Escape the Heat Tour 2011".
To escape we have to follow rule number 1 which is go north and that means Flagstaff or more accurately Munds Park which is about 20 miles south of Flag. There's a nice RVpark there. So it's up the mountain we go, which seems to get easier each time we do it. I now hyperventilate when we hit the downhill portions only.
Tuesday, May 24--we didn't start to awfully early because we only have a couple hundred miles to go.
The object today is to reach Jacob Lake, AZ and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We've been to the South Rim a couple of times but have always wanted to see the north side of the canyon which is said to be higher in elevation and even more spectacular. There's only one minor problem--while the distance between the rim of the south side and north side is only 10 or 15 miles as the crow flies, the drive from one rim to the other is about 170 miles! As we used to say back in Indiana, "ya cain't get thar from here". About half of this drive we had done before when we visited Monument Valley so it wasn't all new to us. We arrived at Jacob Lake about 1:00 PM and found the RV Park we elected to stay in.
As we were pulling in Betsy and I looked at each other and said "do you see what I see"? The object was to escape the heat but it was now spitting ice pellets! Luckily the little squall didn't last long and there was no accumulation, but it sure got us thinking about the clothing we had packed. We dropped the trailer, hooked up to the water, electric, and sewer and headed for the North Rim which is about 45 miles away. I've read that the Grand Canyon gets about five million visitors annually but only 10 or 15% visit the North Rim. All the guide books we read were correct--it's higher, and more spectacular.
For our first visit we hit the visitor center area which seems to be the hub of activity. And there is one above rim trail where dogs are allowed. There really aren't words to describe what you see here.