The first thing we did this morning, was check the weather for Thursday. We are hearing that strong winds are moving into the area, and you don't want to be on the road in eastern AZ, and NM if the winds are bad. Thursday and Friday are to be windy and the rain and winds continue on Saturday. We were able to get a different spot in this campground, so we'll stay until Sunday. We would rather be behind the storms instead of in front of them! We don't mind spending more time in Page, as we really like it here. We traveled quite a distance today by truck on 89A that took us to Lee's Ferry and Vermilion Cliffs, and again we met some very nice people. We did this same trip on 89A with Jim's two sisters in 1996 when we toured southern Utah and northern AZ with Ginny and Barb. It brought back some fun times and pleasant memories. It is a beautiful area, and today we took the time to learn the history it offered. The Colorado River flows through a portion of it. We visited The Lonely Dell Ranch, which was home to several operators of the Lee's Ferry, which was operated on the Colorado to serve the people. It was an oar driven ferry built in 1868 and ran from 1870 to 1890 by the people at Lonely Dell Ranch. After that it was run by other operators until 1929. The Navajo Bridge was built in 1929 and this later took the place of the ferry. When a stronger bridge was needed for automobile travel, a second bridge was built in 1994. The CCC had built a visitor center and look out areas between 1938 and 1941. It still stands today. The other interesting place we visited today were the Vermilion Cliffs, and this is the area where they are working to restore the population of the condor. The locals told us that they see them often, but we didn't see any today. In 1982 there were 22 condors in the southwest, where they predominately preside. Through extensive work to keep the condor from extinction, that number has risen to 400 in 2014. They have a wing span of 9 1/2 feet and can fly 50 miles per hour, and can cover 150 to 200 miles in a day. We had a full day, and went to the Canyon King for a pizza and a beer. They remembered us from our last trip two years ago. We had fun with Sean, the bartender, who even remember what I drank the last time! Gary, the owner, showed us his project for his addition to his living quarters upstairs. He told us that his mother is in a home not far from the restaurant and she has Alzheimer's, so it's very difficult for him. With our extended stay, we have no rush to do anything, but we will find things to do. If not, we can resort to geo-caching.
This shows the two bridges over the Colorado. The one on the right is the old Navajo Bridge, for mostly foot traffic or lighter weight vessels. The one on the left was constructed for automobile traffic.
Balancing rock, or we call them mushroom rocks.
Looking down the lane at Lonely Dell Ranch.
Sign of Vermilion Cliffs with them in the background.
Canyon King Restaurant and paddle boat. Before the dam was built, the Canyon King was a prominent fixture on the Colorado River. Once the dam was built,it was dry docked and turned into a restaurant in Page.
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