Category: Fun

By now, I am three weeks into recovery from hip replacement surgery and doing rather well for someone of my advanced age. I have very few complaints and none of the hip pain I experienced before surgery.  To be sure, I have some soreness and feel a bit stiff at times so, during those periods, I take a walk through the neighborhood. I would prefer to go swimming, but my doctor said no pools, no lakes, and absolutely no hot tubs until my incision completely heals.

I did receive the ok to drive last week, and I took advantage of my freedom by paying a visit to Gracey…and to Walmart. Gracey is fine although she misses us.  Walmart managed to survive without me. On Sunday, I took my usual position in the fourth pew at church and gave thanks to the Almighty for the healing touch placed on both Helen (adorable wife) and me.

I’m hopeful that the healing continues and, for that reason, I’ve remained somewhat sedentary and a bit cautious.  A sedentary routine is not quite the same as the active retirement lifestyle I vowed to maintain once I hung up the work boots but, I want no setbacks before our children arrive in mid-August for a week of family fun and before we leave on an extended road trip the following week. Meanwhile, back in the Man Cave, activity remains low key but ongoing nonetheless.

Inactivity, however, is not at all helpful in producing material for Easin’ Along. Throughout most of this week, I found myself wishing that we were on another camping trip, sitting on a seashore somewhere, searching for shark’s teeth and snapping pictures to post for our readers. Along about Wednesday, it occurred to me that if I couldn’t go to the water, I could bring the water to me by digging through the archives to find some of the pictures we captured on previous journeys.

A few weeks ago, I posted a short video composed of a few pictures to accompany Kate Smith’s beautiful rendition of God Bless America.  The process of creating a video took me a while to learn some of the necessary steps and I never really mastered the software. Nevertheless, it was a fun exercise, and I wanted to attempt it again remembering one of my mottos that, in retirement, the learning never stops. Therefore, for this week’s post, I created another video featuring pictures taken primarily along the Eastern and California coastlines but interspersed with a few favorite pictures of lakes, ponds, and streams we encountered along the way. I added a little seashore music for your enjoyment. It plays best when viewed in full screen.

I hope you enjoy the video and I hope your week goes swimmingly while we continue to mend. We’ll return next week to continue Easin’ Along.

Note: As Easin’ Along readers know, I am in the second week of recovery from hip replacement surgery.  All is going well, and I expect to resume normal activity as early as next week. In the meantime, however, there is not much activity to share with readers unless you care to read about what life is like while sitting in a recliner with an ice bag across your lap. I firmly believe you deserve a more interesting topic than that.

In the interim, I reached out to Ingrid, creator of Live, Laugh, RV, to ask if she would share a post from her always interesting blog with you.  Ingrid and her husband Al are full-time RVrs and have spent the last five years traveling primarily through the southwest and sharing their adventures online.  In addition to her writing skills, Ingrid possesses exceptional skills with a camera.  It was her stunning pictures of waterfowl that first drew me to her blog.

The article below details some of her hikes through the canyons around Page, Arizona near the Utah border, accompanied by some outstanding photographs of those hikes. The article is an edited version of an earlier post, and I encourage you to visit Live, Laugh, RV for more on this trip as well as some excellent information regarding hiking and camping in the southwest.  While there, please take the time to look through some of her amazing photographs in posts throughout her blog.

What can I say about the hiking possibilities around northern Arizona and southern Utah? …. Toadstools, slot canyons, mini waves, a rim trail, a hanging garden, and Horseshoe Bend …. and those are just a few of trails we hiked. There’s many more.

When it comes to hiking, the slot canyons around here are the crème de la crème and a photographers delight. Folks from around the world travel here to experience one of these slots – Antelope Canyon is the most popular. Since the majority of these slot canyons are on Navajo Indian land, permits or guides (or both) are required.

We hiked two slot canyons during our stay in Page, Arizona. First was the Waterholes Canyon and second was Wire Pass Canyon. Both canyons had obstacles to negotiate, and this is when teamwork came in handy for me. I could not have hiked either canyon by myself, but I did discover several non–slot canyon hikes that are easily doable solo.

New Wave Trail – The newest trail around Page, Arizona, is what’s called the New Wave and although it doesn’t come close to the real Wave, these mini waves are made up of the same Navajo sandstone with extensive fine detailing and cross-bedding.

 

 

Rimview Trail – This 10-mile scenic Rim Trail loops around the town of Page. Hikers and bikers can access the trail at any number of locations.  I hiked this trail several times during my visit, BUT fear not, I never completed that ten-mile loop. Nope, not me! Instead, I made my own much shorter hike. I parked at a small parking area near the Lake View Primary School, and by hiking this northern section of the trail, I was able to take in the sparkling blue waters of Lake Powell below me.

Horseshoe Bend Overlook – No trip to northern Arizona would be complete without a visit to the Horseshoe Bend overlook. Although this is a crowded tourist attraction that brings in busloads of people from around the world….literally, tour buses filled with tourists.

I was lucky to visit during a lull in tourism. Spring break was over and ‘the season’ hadn’t yet begun. During spring break, I saw the line of traffic stretch dangerously down Highway 89, and there was no way I was going to join those masses. Currently, construction is underway to improve access and parking. The hike to the overlook is about 3/4 of a mile one way in a sometimes sandy trail and is uphill on the return to the parking lot.

Hanging Garden Trail – This is another short and easy hike not far from the Carl Hayden visitor center (Dam). The trail leads to an interesting rock overhang where vegetation grows out of the rock, but the real fun here begins with a little off-trail exploring. Fascinating, perplexing and colorful rock abound with more wave-like action.

Scenic Drives

If hiking isn’t your thing, how about a scenic drive? We enjoyed two back-country 4×4 excursions. Our first outing was to the most amazing scenic overlook known as Alstrom Point, and the second was a drive via Cottonwood Road through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

We didn’t need four-wheel drive on either excursion but found the high clearance on the Toyota Tacoma was helpful, even though not necessary. Also, the weather was very agreeable for both excursions; meaning it hadn’t rained in quite some time and the ground was extremely dry.

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Without the Glen Canyon Dam, there would be no Lake Powell, and Lake Powell is the star of northern Arizona, and the Grand Canyon, of course. The Carl Hayden Visit Center sits on a ledge overlooking the Glen Canyon Dam and the waters of Lake Powell and the Colorado River.

The visitor center is a great place to stop and gather local information, pick up a trail map, take a tour of the dam, or walk the Glen Canyon bridge. Walking across the bridge to take in the view is a must do, but I’ll admit, I wasn’t a fan of the bridge vibrating when semi-trucks crossed The bridge and the dam are an engineering marvel, especially amongst such challenging terrain.

I took the above photograph from a scenic overlook located on Scenic View Road near the Wingate, Baymont Inn and Sleep Inn. The overlook requires a short downhill stroll over sandy and slick rock. For the more adventurous, hike around the ledges and bluffs for impressive views in all directions.

Lodging in Page

There’s no shortage of hotels around Page with more being built to accommodate the influx of tourism. However, there is a shortage of available RV parking (in my opinion) especially on weekends which is why many go boondocking at Lone Rock Beach (top photo) or Wallie-docking at the local Walmart.

If money is no object, consider staying at the exclusive Amangiri Resort. No lookie-loos allowed beyond the gate (sorry, I tried). Perhaps, it’s understandable that if guests are paying upwards of $3,000 a night, that they’d like their privacy. Can’t imagine why they wouldn’t allow this hiking clad RVer into their luxury abode for photo-ops  I don’t think they believed me when I told them my Louboutin’s were back at the RV

Time to move on…

After having more fun in Page – northern Arizona, than we ever imagined, the time has come for us to lift the jacks and move on. It’s what RVers do  It was a memorable visit …. one we hope to repeat!

Bio –  On a whim, this husband and wife duo decided to sell their house and move into an RV full-time and travel the country for a year or two before deciding on a new location to settle down. Five years later, Ingrid and Al are still in their RV full-time meandering around America’s west with no plans to put down roots anytime soon. The travel bug seems to have bitten them pretty hard. Ingrid shares her love of travel via her blog and photographs.

 

Thanks ever so much, Ingrid. Your writing and photographs have inspired Helen and me to plan a trip for early spring in that part of the country.  Thanks for sharing and best wishes to you and Al as you continue Easin’ Along on your adventure together.

 

We returned from a busy and fun-filled week in Louisville, Kentucky the day before two of our grandchildren arrived to spend the week with us. The purpose of this visit was to attend Vacation Bible School at our church and to absorb all the hugs Helen (adorable wife), and I could squeeze out of them. We had a wonderful time.  The highlight of the week was watching them spend several hours composing poetry and reading their work aloud to us—what fun. Although we had plans for the week after their departure, it was sad to see them go.

Easin’ Along readers may remember that we had to leave Gracey (travel trailer) at home rather than take her to Louisville because Bert (truck) was in the shop. Well, Bert received a new set of wheel bearings, so Helen and I were itching to get back on the road once the little ones left for home. The primary reason for another trip so soon is because Helen is scheduled for a second knee replacement next week and I will be receiving a new hip in three weeks. We did not linger long over the decision of where to go for some calm before the cuts, because we both knew we had to go to our favorite campground in North Carolina.

We love this campground near Cherokee, NC and have returned several times since we discovered it two years ago. The campground sits on the banks of SoCo Creek, and we always ask for a campsite that allows us to back our trailer to a spot within feet of the water. Due to a large amount of rain in recent weeks, the creek was running high, and the sound of the flowing water enveloped our campsite in total tranquility. We slept with the windows open and slept very well.

Usually, we look for some activity or place to explore when we are on road trips, but we are familiar with this area, and therefore content with sitting by the creek to give our soon-to-be-replaced joints a bit of a break. We came here to do nothing, and we can do nothing as well as anybody. After an extended conversation over coffee at Creekside, however, we drove the short distance to Bryson City, NC to do some browsing through the charming shops along Everett Street where I found a book to read in the used bookstore I always visit. We also picked up some freshly made dark chocolate from the chocolatier in town. For the final stop on our visit, we strolled over to High Test Deli and ordered two of their fabulous sandwiches to take back to camp for dinner. 

Day two started out much the same.  First, it was pancakes for breakfast, then Helen struck up a conversation with a group of campers from Birmingham, AL attending a Bluegrass Music Festival in the area.  This group was having too much fun, and their laughter was infectious.  I chuckled when I noticed that all of the ladies in the group had matching pajama bottoms to wear around the campfire. I regret that I did not get a picture of them.

Following breakfast and some time spent attending to a few maintenance items around Gracey, we drove to Deep Creek Campground in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Although both of us knew we needed some exercise, we knew that we wouldn’t be able to do much. Nevertheless, we were up for a walk along Deep Creek to the waterfall a short distance down the trail.  The weather was perfect with the temperature in the low 70’s, and the sun was out in full. Deep Creek was full of folks floating along on colorful inner tubes.  The water was probably a little bit cool because everytime a tuber fell in or got splashed you could hear them squeal. Once we made it to the Falls, we were able to take a few pictures of the floating passersby admiring the view.

I was ready to return to the car, but Helen insisted that we walk on a few hundred yards to a bridge over the creek so that we could say we made it. I’m glad we did. The colorful inner tubes and the fun-loving tubers formed a floating parade that we watched for a long time.  I suppose it helped that we were not in a hurry to do much of anything except enjoy the moment.

By Monday most of the campers had moved out, and we had the campground pretty much to ourselves. Taking advantage of the calm and peaceful surroundings, we read our books, took naps, and watched a couple of fishermen cast flies in hopes of catching a trout. This pace was one we could handle, and a great pace for two folks just Easin’ Along.