I didn't think I'd get to the region in time to see any of the spots since it took so long to get my car worked on, but after getting into Page, Arizona, the town all 3 items seem to be centered around, I realize I've got too much time left in the day to not be bored, so I try for them anyway.
The first spot, Horseshoe Bend, is a portion of the Colorado River that happens to look like a Horseshoe. By that definition alone, it's not that interesting, but seeing it, it's pretty amazing.
You have to walk a little ways from the parking area to get to the Horseshoe. When I first arrived, I thought there was a tour bus of kids getting off to see it. Starting into the trailhead, I ran into them though, and found out it was a group of consistently short Asian foreigners. I don't like supporting stereotypes, but it's just what happened: every one of them made me feel like a giant.
After hiking up a hill, about half a mile away still, you get to see this overview of the bend. I don't know what I like about this picture, but something about it made me feel the need to post it.
Getting near the rim, all the rocks start to look like they're from another planet.
And reaching the rim, you finally get to the Bend:
The water is a pretty bluish green. The overall sight is gorgeous, which is why I really, really wanted to get a picture of the whole thing, river, rock, and all. Unfortunately, it was just too big. The view is so massive, and you have to be so close to see it from over the cliff edge, that I couldn't get the whole thing into camera view. This is the closest I got to an all encompassing picture:
There's a neat little platform area that looks like it'd be a perfect place for either a picnic or a Mortal Kombat tournament.
After watching the river for a little while, a toy boat appeared from around the bend:
I thought maybe the tour leader of the foreigners had the boat set up to entertain all their groups. But as the boat kept going, I realized it was going much farther than the range any toy boat could reasonably have.
That's because it wasn't a toy boat, it was a full sized boat, and the bend was so massive, it made it look like a toy boat to me.
Horseshoe Bend was one of my favorite sights so far, but even at that, it only took 30 minutes or so to just look at, so I decide to keep going and try to see Lake Powell before the day is up. Following my GPS, I get to an empty guard gate. It seems this is some sort of park. It's not a National Park, but it's got the National Park Service emblem on it. I question whether or not my park pass gets me in here. It cost 15$ a car to get in and it's self pay without a guard. I'm just trying to get some pictures and leave though, so I'm gonna assume my pass works fine.
When I first got into Page, I couldn't help but notice 2 things.
One was the dam that seemed to be attracting a lot of tourists. It didn't seem like it was an impressive dam, yet many people were looking at it.
The other was this factory looking building which seemed to ruin the scenery. I wondered why they would put that in such a tourist attracting, natural environment. The park had the answers though, starting with the fact that Lake Powell was made because of the dam.
Originally, the Colorado River ran free through here. Once they put the dam up, the river backed up and the lake was created as a byproduct. Without the dam, there wouldn't be Lake Powell, hence all the tourist. The factory looking building is another electric plant. Instead of using running water like the dam though, they heat up coal to evaporate the still water of Lake Powell to create steam energy. Using the lake's water though, it's gotta be right at the lake, hence why it's ruining the scenery.
Getting pictures of the lake, I spot some hares. I seem to keep finding more and more animals as the trip goes on.
Since I know why it's so important now, I decide to go by the dam like all the other tourists. You can see wires leading off of the building at the bottom of the dam...
...which leads to the electric something or others above; they seem to be really fancy power poles.
To take a slight tangent, you would think any city based around a dam wouldn't be so juvenile as to poke fun of the grammatical similarities between that word and a certain homophone of different spelling. You would be damn wrong though. When in Rocky Mountain National Park, I passed a store called, “The Dam Store,” and I thought to myself, “I wonder how many people have made fun of that name,” and then realized the store owner had written on the side of his own building, “Best Store By A Dam Site,” so at least 1. In Page, there were all sorts of Dam stores, ranging from Dam Bars, to Dam Restaurants, to Dam near everything. Anyway...
Antelope Canyon ends up being the only thing I can't do today. I'm not sure if I really wanna stick around a night for it, so I do some research. Seeing the reviews are all really good and the price is only 6$, I decide I might as well.
There's a single Starbucks in town, and it's in a grocery store. I don't care for grocery store Starbucks because I feel awkward walking through a lettuce isle with a laptop, but I've got no other choice. Going in around 6:00p though, they're already closing, so I head to the local Walmart, where I'll be sleeping for the night. Having to go through downtown to get there, I notice a lot of Antelope Canyon Tour shops. I also noticed in one of the reviews, someone said, “They make you take a tour.” Antelope Canyon is on Native American land, so the rules of a National Park don't apply there. It seems that rather than letting you walk around on your own, you have to take a tour, and there are several companies you can tour with. One I saw in particular had a fleet of safari jeeps in the parking lot, but I'm sure that cost more than 7$.
Loitering in the Walmart parking lot, I'm starving for wifi and electricity to pass the time. Then an idea strikes me: McDonald's.
Lemme start with saying, I've hated McDonald's for a while now. Ever since I found something growing in my bun after I'd half eaten through a Big Mac in high school, I gave them up, so I've got to either be desperate or it's got to be a gift for me to eat there. When I went into the McDonald's at Rocky Mountain National Park though (Remember, I had to poop? Desperate.), I noticed something very interesting: they now offer any size of any drink for 1$. That means I don't need to eat their food to loiter, I can buy a large drink for 1$ and get free electricity, wifi, and refills until I leave. It's cheaper than Starbucks, and the employees don't care enough to judge me for using the restaurant for my electronic needs: it's perfect. As much as I hate to say it, I may have found a new spot for leeching wifi and electricity.
The McDonald's in Page ends up being better than I could've imagined. Apparently, they've gotten so used to people using them for wifi, they decided to put in a couch. They're also open 24 hours a day, drive-thru and inside; I may try to set a world record for living in a McDonald's when this trip is done.
So, I end the day having packed in more adventure than I expected, as well as having a new timing belt and water pump. Add on top of that the new front tires, oil change, acceleration pedal sensor, rear brake rotors, and I even bought new wipers before I left, and my car is basically as souped-up as a 98 sedan can be (minus a broken power outlet); I finally have confidence this car will go a while without it breaking down...and I'm gonna hate myself if I merge into somebody with it.
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