Actually, it was only a drive of 370 miles today through some pretty scenery and a lot of not so pretty scenery. The drive down US 89 in Utah was the nice part and then from Page, AZ to Farmington it wasn't so nice. The roads were good for the most part until we got to the New Mexico border on US 160. Then it was so rough I had to slow down to keep the motorhome from shaking to pieces.
We did get some photos along the way, but not as many as in previous days. The deer crossing sign below was amusing in that it has a solar generating device and it blinks on and off. I guess it helps the deer find the crossing spot.
It looks like a historic "rock pecker" was working on this rock many centuries ago. Sorry, but a local fisherman guide in the area was on tv last night and used the term and I liked it.
Interesting rock formation sitting out in the middle of nowhere. It looked like two caves but I think it was two large white rocks on the side.
Lake Powell looks as low as Lake Mead in the photo below. The lake level has risen 14ft recently due to snow runoff, but is still very low.
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| Glen Canyon Dam |
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| Water overflow on left is high and dry. |
Navajo Generating Station is a 2250 megawatt coal-fired power plant located on the Navajo Indian Reservation, near Page, Arizona. This plant provides electrical power to customers in Arizona, Nevada, and California. It also provides the power for pumping Colorado River water for the Central Arizona Project, supplying about 1.5 million acre feet of water annually to central and southern Arizona. As of 2013 permission to operate as a conventional coal-fired plant is anticipated until December 22, 2044. The Navajo Generating Station is the United States of America's third largest emitter of carbon dioxide.
We had intended to stop for the night in Page, AZ at the local Elks Lodge, but missed the turn and then decided to push on to Farmington and stop there.
The mountain shown below is where Shiprock, NM gets it name. From certain angles the formation looks like a sailing ship. It sits by itself on an otherwise level plain.
Shiprock (Navajo: Tsé Bitʼaʼí, "rock with wings" or "winged rock" ) is a monadnock rising nearly 1,583 feet above the high-desert plain of the Navajo Nation in San Juan County, New Mexico. Its peak elevation is 7,177 feet above sea level. It lies about 10.75 miles southwest of the town of Shiprock, which is named for the peak.
We arrived at the Farmington, NM Elks Lodge just in time to enjoy a prime rib dinner and all the fixins. We first stopped in the bar area and had a couple nice cold drinks. The Elks have a custom to buy the 2nd round of drinks to visitors and we think that is a great idea.
We wound up talking to a couple of the Elk members on the board and they filled us in on the lodge. They actually have a small (4 sites) camping area at the lodge and another campground at Navajo Lake east of Farmington. Of course, the lake one fills up with seasonal campers and we couldn't get into that one.
The next morning we drove about 15 miles to Bloomfield, NM and booked three nights at the Desert Rose campground there. It is a nice enough campground for a few days, but the interior roads are dirt/gravel and billowing dust was an unwelcome sight. For our purposes the full hookup site with 50amp was what we needed since it was in the 90s by the time we got there. We took it easy that day and rested up for our big drive the next day. Linda, it's a surprise.......
That was our last couple days, what did you all do?
We are in the process of planning our trip to Fl, then onto Maine. It is way to hot here to stay much longer. 116 degrees on the front patio yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI like the lite deer crossing. Good idea with those very dark nights.
ReplyDeleteIsn't amazing how a big old rock can just be out in the middle of no where. Looks beautiful.
Had to laugh when you said you were going to push on from Page and ended up in Farmington. That's a definite push on. We're working on water repairs at the house. Now ain't that fun.
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