Wednesday evening — September 2, 2015 (First post of this travelogue)
I am in Page AZ for an NTT assignment at the Navajo Generating Station (info). Trying to get to Page via plane is not easy. We looked at the limited alternatives and it just made sense for me to drive here. I rented a car and left Saturday morning and drove to Moab, Utah. Our son-in-law, Damon, mentioned a picturesque route to get to Moab that follows the Colorado river. The route turns off I 70 at exit 204 in Utah and that is highway 128. At the start of the route, I thought it was not all that great. That quickly turned to an amazing drive though a fairly deep red rock canyon and then out to beautiful rock spires (see pictures).
The photos above are from the drive along Utah 128
The view from the Holiday Inn in Moab of the surrounding rock formations was wonderful.
Before I continue, I need to mention that Pat would normally jump at the chance to make this trip, but it came up fairly quickly and she had already scheduled an event that could not easily be changed. Worse yet, her 91 year old father became very seriously ill and has been in the hospital and rehabilitation center for over two weeks. We can only hope that I get another assignment at this facility and that she can join me for this fantastically beautiful trip.
Now back to my travels. Sunday I drove from Moab to Page. It was a bit over 4 hours and when I arrived at the hotel they would not let me in the rooms until 3:00. I had wanted to visit the Glen Canyon Dam (info), and that seemed like a good time. I was able to get into a tour group fairly quickly. The tours are great! You go into the dam (down two elevators for a total of over 600 feet. There is an observation area in the bottom of the dam where you can observe the eight huge turbines/generators
The photos above are from my tour of the Glen Canyon Dam
Glen Canyon dam construction started in 1956 and was completed ten years later. It is a reclamation dam that controls the flow of the Colorado River and supplies electrical power to a considerable area of the southwestern part of the US. It is only slightly smaller than Hover Dam. The reservoir behind the dam is known as Lake Powell and is a famous recreational lake. The dam is visible from my hotel room and is about three miles from Page. Indeed, Page was built in 1957 as a town to support the building of the dam.
View from my hotel room in Page
The dam is in the left center of the photo
There have been a huge number of Europeans at the two motels I stayed at. It turns out that Moab and Page are in a loop that tour buses take that includes the Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, Arches, and the Canyon Lands. The beauty of that whole area is beyond my ability to find proper descriptive words, so it seems natural of folks from other countries to want to enjoy some of the beauty of our country.
I hope to do some more documentation of this trip, but I am getting tired and need to crash.