Page, AZ - Lake Powell

Friday, July 9, 2010

We are in Page, AZ , the home of Lake Powell. The town is made up of less than 9000 people and very clean, and neat, and full of Native Americans. We sit on a Navajo Reservation and they have their own laws and rules. They are, for all that we so horribly have done to them, (but don't get me going on that), are nice people. Friendly.

Yesterday we toured Glen Canyon Dam. Damn was it big! We went to Carl Hayden's welcome center and toured a museum, watched a 30 minute film on how the dam was created and how it came to fruition. Very, very interesting. Very, very ingenious. And very, very lucrative. Carl Hayden was an AZ state senator for, I believe 60+ years. He died at the age of 94 and Arizonians loved him.

After the museum we toured the dam itself. We had Duane as our guide. He was almost 80 and had worked for them as an electrical engineer for 45 years. Now he does tours. He was a wealth of knowledge and no question went UN answered. There were 15 in our group. Perfect size. We walked on top of the dam and holy crow is it tall. Then we went down in an elevator 528 feet and walked around on that level. We were still at least 100 feet from the water level. Glen Canyon dam is the 4th largest dam ever made out of cement. The steel arch bridge that crosses the river used to be the largest steel arch bridge in the world but has since been by surpassed.

To watch how the water creates electricity is amazing. We were told in 1956 it cost 5 million dollars to build and today has a revenue of over 500 billion because of the electricity it sells to the surrounding states. It also gives water rights to Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Wyoming. Water is so precious out here, everyone has to buy rights to it. (So shut off your faucet when you brush your teeth.) lol

Next time we pass through here, there is no doubt we will rent a house boat and stay on the lake. It is over 220 miles long and there are so many fingers to explore. Its beautiful. (So Denise, get your butt out here!)

We watched a beautiful sunset from our temporary housing unit last night. Cooked at home and tried and tried and tried to watch a pay per view, but DISH network was not cooperating. We opted for Boston Medical, which was actually okay.

Today, we close up shop here and head down to the south rim. The Grand Canyon, where we were on the North Rim was 11 miles across and yet to get to the other side, you have to drive 250 + miles. There are only 2 places to cross the Colorado river.

Cindy, John and the kids should arrive sometime early evening and I am so excited to see them. We have presents for the kids..yeah!!!

We are supposed to pass the painted desert along the way and I'm anticipating great pictures.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful weekend. (And Lisa, if your reading, have some fish for me at Sailfish Marina tonight...I'm jonesing.)