Tripometer – 11,218 mi
Gas Gauge – 863.560 gal
Location –Wahweap RV & Campground, Page, AZ
Lodging – $30
Cans of OFF – 4
David’s only experience camping with us has been at camping destinations without tremendous natural attractions that we need to visit in the immediate vicinity. Kelly and Paul believe his expectations were in line with what we’ve done in the past, most of the days are relaxing and centered around camp or hiking in the park or very nearby. Needless to say this trip has not been like that at all. We’ve been running at top speed from attraction to attraction since his arrival in Las Vegas over a week ago. Today Dave requested a more relaxed day around camp to be able to say he did some relaxing while on vacation.
We started the morning at a local creperie in Page. (Why don’t we have these on the East Coast???) Not stuffing ourselves right out of the gate, we all left with a nice hot coffee in hand and a warm lump in our bellies. The first and only tourist attraction today was Horseshoe Bend which is a whopping 10 minutes from Page. According to the website for Horseshoe Bend the Bend has received an internet hug in the past few months(?) / years(?) and is now being visited more than ever before. Several travel blogs (maybe in Asia given the number of Asian tourists we saw) have featured Horseshoe Bend recently, driving this level of increased visitation. Looking at Google satellite imagery the parking lot has been expanded by a factor of two to three since the satellite images were taken (how long ago can that be?). There are a whole row of bus parking spaces in the parking lot now and an entire row of pit toilets to handle the ‘flow’ of visitors. When we arrived we found the place bustling. There were easily over two hundred visitors there the entire time we stayed at the Bend (not more than 30 minutes). Not being a National Park, Ranger got to participate in the hike down to the Bend.
Returning to camp we swam Ranger in the lake until he refused to bring his floating toy back to us to be thrown again. We topped off the evening with beers by the campfire and a nice hot meal on the barbie. Relaxation accomplished!
Special Note: There’s a nasty small burr plant that grows all over this area. Paul, with his usual nonchalance towards footwear, put his sandals on less than a minute after we arrived at the Wahweap campground because of these little plants. They are as low and as unnoticeable as grass under foot but each ~6” wide plant is covered in maybe a 100 or so ~1/4” burrs that stick to anything and everything. We think they have some kind of poisonous coating because they hurt way more than a simple thorn or sticker might. Ranger has really struggled over the past few days. If we lived permanently in an area with these plants we would have to find some shoes for the poor dog. On the upside we are sure that Ranger would be fine if he ever lost a limb. He seems to trot along just fine on three feet when the fourth has a burr.