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| Lower Antelope Canyon view. |
My partner from China was coming for the last time before his 10 Year visa expires in October 2025 and the US Beijing embassy is taking no new appointments. He wanted to go out with a bang and wanted us to take a road trip. Since his last few visits were basically to care for me after several surgeries I thought that was a great idea. I was feeling good and wanted any excuse to leave the condo and Palm Springs.
Apparently in China a visit to Antelope Canyon in the Navajo Nation is BIG on their bucket list. As we found out, they outnumbered all other tourists there about 3 to 1. That included many Europeans, especially Italians.
With dates firmed up, I started planning (which is really a kind of designing) what we were to do and when. I discovered it's not an easy task and soon found out I mis-calculated distances more than once. On the other hand it showed us a part of America we might never have seen.
And since we were going as far as Page, AZ, why not go to Arches National Park in Utah? I had always wanted him to see the five National Parks in southern Utah. We would be close so I added Arches, Bryce and Zion National Parks to our itinerary for a total of nine days on the road. Since I would most likely do the driving (he has a Chinese drivers license but has never owned a car and his driving in Palm Springs is a white knuckle experience) I limited each day to about 6 hours driving or less.
Since my Mazda CX-5 is 9 years old I took it in for service but with only 47,000 miles on it it only needed some rubber gaskets replaced and they recommended a new battery “just in case.” Since we would often be in the middle of nowhere, good advice.
As a AAA member I have always used their battery services. However, I was shocked that the battery I bought a few years ago for $125.00 was now $225.00. Don’t tell me there’s no inflation. It WAS a good choice though. There were many areas where there was no phone signals and fewer cars!
He arrived September 4th and had a week to get over jet lag and prepare a dumpling and Yangzhou rice feast for my Game Night group. However, a glitch soon arrived with me developing a case of sacroiliac pain in my right lower back and hip, first mis-diagnosed as sciatica. We got my medicine but between pain killers and muscle relaxers I wouldn’t be able to drive if I took them. Sitting, like driving, was okay and the 5% Lidocaine patches made it tolerable. Walking more than a few steps became nearly impossible. Saturday morning, September 13th we loaded up and hit the road by 9:00 am.
DAY 1
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| Heading east on I-10 |
Our goal was Sedona but we ended up 6 plus hours later in Cottonwood, AZ. No, I hadn’t heard of it either and Sedona was still an hour away. We checked in and asked “if” there are any good places to eat. Blink and you might have missed Cottonwood. Our host said there was a good Italian restaurant next door. We unloaded the car, I napped and we went back down to the restaurant. It WAS very good indeed. I would recommend the Lux Verde Hotel. As we drove through Sedona the next day I realized it was just another touristy town like Palm Springs with stunning scenery behind it.
Another lesson was that in trusting Apple Maps, who gives you several options including shortest times, you go places you might never go. We started on I-10 east and were soon on a two lane parallel to the interstate with no one on it. My partner was in awe of the vast empty space that continued with a jaunt on the I-17 then another state highway finally pulling into Cottonwood when it said we would. In fact, despite certain misgivings, Apple Maps got us everywhere and I’m sure we saw areas we might have missed otherwise in the “shortest” possible times!
Day 2 & 3 Antelope Canyon Lower & Upper Tours
We were on the road again at 9:00 after breakfast at the hotel. I thought things would be calm since the kids were in school but it seems that’s when the seniors hit the road! Sedona was packed as we drove through on our way to Page, AZ.
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The famous Horseshoe Bend outside
Page, AZ
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Another Chinese bucket list item is Horseshoe Bend that we discovered just outside Page that is city owned. The $5.00 entrance fee allows you to park and walk to the cliffs edge to peer at a huge bend the Colorado River that was created over millions of years. I could barely walk down or up but made it to find green waters far below that created an amazing bend in the river. A thousand foot drop, we could see tiny objects in the river. Turns out they have kayaking tours there as well.
We headed into Paige and our hotel. We discovered that Page, a town of 7,440, had nine churches all in a row. Most were evangelical but Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist and Baptist were there as well. All looked prosperous.
This was the first of nearly all motels we discovered were operated by East Indian owners or managers. It was a strange room with no table lamps. In fact our room was one of several without bedside lamps. Being two rooms, the A/C was in the back room so the door had been removed so air could blow out front. Jet airplane sounds come to mind.The TV didn’t work despite replacing the remote’s batteries. I guess we expect too much on the road.
Dinner at the corner was Texas BBQ. After a rest we ambled up and ordered a dinner and huge salad we shared. The meat literally fell off the ribs. Very, very good but not cheap.
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Lower and Upper Antelope Canyon
Tours had many ladders |
Since I couldn’t read much from the single overhead light we went to bed early. I was tired anyway. Breakfast the next morning was bagels and yogurt. Then over to our morning tour at the Lower Antelope Canyon Tour at 10:45. You had to show up at 10:00 but we were never sure what the real time was. My watch and phone said one time, the car another, my partner’s another. Leave it to Arizona to buck time zones straddling Pacific and Rocky Mountain time. I love time in China. The entire country, a bit bigger than ours, has one time zone. You never have to worry what time it is anywhere else in China!
You walk to the Lower Canyon’s entrance and they do keep the groups small. A huge tour group from China came out as we went in to an opening you would never guess was there. You were very limited into what you could bring. No bags, backpacks, nothing you couldn’t carry in your pockets. The weather was cool once inside but sandy and at times narrow.
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Formed over millions of years by wind and rain you are immediately submerged in a world of rusts through deep mahogany colors that swirl all around you with light filtered from above. It is almost impossible to describe. It’s like being wrapped in millions of years of creation. You continually look up in awe at the swirls above you. I was so glad I visited, back pain and all.
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Our Indian guide gave us a demonstration of how this formed. It’s a slow, long process but a beautiful temple of nature. When I turned back to look at our exit I wasn’t sure I could even find it!!!
We drove back for lunch and rest before going over to our afternoon tour a few blocks away. This tour takes you to the entrance in a ride of your life. Our Ford van gave us literally a “E“ ticket ride as we bounced through the red sand and dirt. Truly, I would have hit the ceiling if my seat belt wasn’t fastened!
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Entrance to Upper Canyon discovered
in 1934. |
It appears the Upper Canyon was discovered in 1934 by an 8 year-old girl who is still alive. Looking around at the total and complete isolation I wondered what parent would allow that? We quickly descended on a series of ladders and while called the upper canyon it was in fact darker than the mornings tour. Still it was beautiful with light streaming from above creating some interesting formations.
Our guide explained that after a rain, tours stop and they must clear the paths we walked on of debris. At some points the water can be 10 feet high.
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| Shapes were fantastic. Here's a heart. |
Our guides were wonderful, stopping for and taking photos of us as we wound our way through the channels. They used our phones better than we could for spectacular photos.
On our way back to the car, we rode side saddle seats. The bumps weren’t so bad.
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| The intrepid travelers. |
Would I recommend a visit? YES! You need to add this to your bucket list. There’s nothing like it anywhere else.
Dinner that night was at The Mongolian BBQ. Yup, in Page, AZ. And quite good too.
DAY 4
We got a 9:00 am start and my partner decided he would like to drive. We were heading to Monticello, UT where I thought we would be close to Moab, UT itself. WRONG. It was still an hour away.
We got in to town, another blink and you’d miss it, in the early afternoon and found there were three restaurants in town - pizza, Thai and Mexican. The Mexican looked good so after checking in we went there.
But first a stop at the Family General store for some flip flops. I hate going barefoot and medical non-slip stockings don’t cut it. It was closed. Yup, at 3:00 pm. A small sign announced it was closed due to a lack of help. And it never opened, at least when we left two days later.
At the restaurant we asked our waitress, “Where do you buy things here? How do you live?” She said she “Had a love affair with Amazon.” The nearest Walmart was 100 miles away. I guess you could go to Moab but it too was over was 55 miles north.
That evening we drove in to Moab and became tourists visiting a few stores and found some beautiful things. I had an epiphany when the urge to buy something made me pause. I turn 80 in October. At my age I should be giving things away, NOT collecting more. It was both a sad and liberating feeling. Sad because I love beautiful things and happy as there’s that much less to clean and worry about. We both admired things but bought nothing eating dinner instead.
DAY 5
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| Ancient Petroglyphs. |
We hit the road earlier to get to Arches National Park about 15 miles further north from Moab only to find you needed a reservation. Really, I asked flashing my senior National Parks pass. Yup. There may be an opening at 11:00 but we had to go online to make the reservation at a waiting area we passed coming in. We turned around and went back only to find the waiting area had no signal of any kind. There was a group there as we all tried for a signal. People from the UK, Germany, Australia, the East Coast were all trying to get in. Like us, they were on a timetable and couldn’t come back. Calling later we found there were NO reservations available from September 11th to the 24th. The park is huge, why the limits?
We finally drove along the Colorado River to see petroglyphs before having lunch in Moab.
My partner drove back and I realized he had mastered state two-lane highways. He wouldn’t drive a freeway though. Too fast, he said.
Back in Monticello we rested and I napped letting my back rest. Finally around 7:30 we were hungry so decided on pizza. One place was closed and when we entered the second they didn’t want to make a pizza at 7:45 so we left. If I lived in a place like that anyone walking in with money is worth a few extra minutes. Young local people don’t want to work. I say that because the Mexican Restaurant we went back to was bustling! And probably a better meal anyway.
DAY 6
Siri led us to Panguitch, UT which is near the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park. Another bleak and arid drive. My partner mentioned in China they talked about sending people to the moon or Mars for more room. “Why not just send them here? “ he asked. “There’s certainly enough room.” True I noted, but not water. Looking about he agreed.
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| The Bryce Canyon Rim View |
There was no problem entering Bryce though the roads are scary. He handled it like a pro and we were soon walking the canyon’s rim. We had had nothing but clear weather and views were majestic. He had seen nothing like this either and was deeply impressed. it was a glorious day as we drove around the park.
Our motel was about 10 miles out of town but on the road to the Bryce Canyon entrance. We returned that afternoon for me to rest and by 6:00 were ready for dinner. It was either driving back to town or choosing the dicey looking place next door.
We entered a kind of open air shed with a few mismatched chairs and tables. They had several hamburger offerings and a stew. Since we had hamburgers at lunch we decided to try the $19.95 stew special. Asking what we wanted to drink my partner opted for water. I chose the lemonade. She brought him a bottle of bottled water and me a small sized lemonade. The stew took awhile to come and as we waited we gabbed with the waitress who was from Poland. As we gabbed she was busy swatting flies near the ceiling. The stew finally arrived on disposable plates with white rice, a ketchup sauce based topping with a chunk or two of meat and a sliced piece of cucumber, tomato and lettuce leaf. This grand dinner was $52.00. The water was $3.00, my lemonade was $5.00 and stews $19.95 each. We looked at each other in disbelief, laughed and left. We laughed about that dinner for the rest of his visit.
By now the pain was getting worse and if I took the painkillers I wasn’t to drive. The muscle relaxers were no better and I was never to take them together. The lidocaine patches helped but not enough. So I called and canceled the night in Vegas. I’ve heard everything has been marked up to the absurd so not going there was no loss. I cancelled our stay in Hurricane next then reason set in. He asked how far to go home tomorrow. Eight hours. Too long. How long from Hurricane … five plus hours. Then we should go to Hurricane, see Zion then go home the next day. “You paid for the room and won’t get a refund!” He was right.
So, for the next three hours we called Expedia, then the motel going back and forth to reinstate the paid room. Finally the Econo Lodge motel manager said he’d call us the next morning with a decision. We went to bed.
DAY 7
We were up early waiting for the call and preparing for the long drive home. We would
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| One of several tunnels on our trip. |
be in the middle of nowhere for hours probably without phone signals. We didn’t relish the prospect. Finally we ate breakfast and at 8:30 I called and finally the manager agreed to honor the reservation.
My partner drove to Hurricane via a drive through Zion National Park. It was cloudy, cleared a bit but finally we got a downpour during lunch in Hurricane. Zion, as always, was beautiful in the partial gloom and again, worth the trip.
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| On the way to Zion |
While I had never heard of it, Hurricane is a thriving, bustling place that started to boom during Corvid. When people could work from home low prices for bigger homes brought many there. Most chains were there now and a spiffy new Walmart was just outside of town. We relaxed and didn’t do much as walking was too much pain and effort.
We found a local cowboy themed restaurant for lunch and I enjoyed a wonderful local beer and we both had delicious hot sandwiches. We both watched a thorough downpour before heading to the motel. Together it cost less than $52.00 and we were stuffed.
DAY 8
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| My partner driving the moonscape! |
Before setting out on our final driving trip home, I asked Apple Maps for the fastest route home. Siri recommended one nearly an hour faster. There were several options but I chose “fastest” as the plan was to drive directly to Immediate Care when we got to Palm Springs. Well, it may have been the fastest but at times we could have been driving on the moon. My partner started out on a state road that seamlessly ended on the I-15, something I didn’t mention until we were on the freeway. I asked how the driving was? “Fine.” We are on the freeway," I said. “Notice any difference?” “You can drive faster, you can go 80,” he said. Then stomped the pedal to the metal. That, however, didn’t last long.
This route may have been faster but I truly had no idea where we were for hours until
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| Somewhere in California |
we finally arrived in 29 Palms just outside Joshua Tree National Park. For hours there was no phone signal and even fewer cars. I was never so glad to see buildings again. If your car broke down, well, WHAT would you do? My baby just kept on running getting at times 39 mpg, not a bad feat for a 9 year-old SUV. I took over driving after lunch at a Subway and we pulled into Immediate Care around 3:00.
When seen again I was told you don’t have sciatica but sacroiliac pain … by the same doctor who said it was sciatica two weeks ago. Prescriptions were written but the nightmare getting them is another tale. Suffice to say I have plenty to say about CVS.
Then to wrap up our trip I come home to a condo complex with no running water. I nearly lost it!. But by 8:00 pm meds in body and water restored, after a hot shower I finally calmed down rather fragile nerves.
While we were treated well, the fact my partner was Chinese caused a few odd looks and in fact other than Native Americans you rarely saw African Americans or even Latinos anywhere. We were told ICE was not a problem as there were few illegals there. I’m sure my rainbow colored T’s generated more gossip.
It WAS a wonderful trip in so many ways. For me it was an escape of being homebound for a year, a chance to show my partner my country, places many of our own citizens have never seen and, for me, a city slicker, to see how red counties and states live and the issues they face, which are many.
We saw great poverty and very wealthy farmers whose machines probably cost millions to buy and maintain. A middle ground was rare rather than exception. If you ever wondered who buys Jeeps and huge pickup trucks, take our trip. Gas was on average a dollar cheaper a gallon than California. In the middle of nowhere gas could be even cheaper than in towns.
Our trip was 1,874.2 miles and went without a hitch.
It was worth every moment and a memory to cherish in the time I have left.
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