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Laura and Mike's Southwest Odyssey 2014

Mike S

Senior Curmudgeon
Odyssey, not just the name of an old book. Or, a battery.

Laura and I headed out on Sat morning May 17 to finally go on the vacation we have been talking about doing for years.

First stop was Page AZ, where we stayed for two nights, and did a river trip below Glen Canyon Dam on Sunday, and a photo tour of Antelope Canyon on Monday.

Classic Aviation in Page took good care of us, shuttle to our hotel and back again-------thanks Jeremy :D

Shot of Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell.

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Inside Antelope Canyon------one of 500 or so photos Laura took in the canyon.

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Monday afternoon, we flew to Chinle AZ so we could visit Canyon De Chelly.

Major cross wind at Chinle airport, but the 10 made me look like a good pilot:D. The wind sock tells it all--------wings are parallel to the runway.

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We stayed at the Holiday Inn, and the manager drove out to the airport to shuttle us into town, 8--10 miles or so, and no charge for it. Evalina----thanks so much for the hospitality.

Canyon De Chelly----------simply amazing time, we did a Jeep (actually in a Surburban) tour that was outstanding. The tour picked us up at the hotel. The canyon goes on for miles in 3 or 4 major forks, it would take many days to see it all.

A shot of part of Canyon De Chelly on our way out of Chinle.

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Wednesday morning we flew to Monument Valley.

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Notice the slope of the runway-----this is not an illusion, it is very much up slope when landing. You need to land with a lot flatter glide ------dont ask how I know:eek: --------and you better get it right the first time, as a go around may pose a bit of a problem.

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After Monument Valley, we went back to Page for a couple more nights, on Friday we rented a car and drove to Zion National Park.

Saturday flight home was interrupted by weather, so we put down in Saint George UT for a couple hours, then were able to make it all the way back without any further delays.

You know what Rosie always says...................

No way in the world we could have crammed this much enjoyment into a week if we were confined to driving..........

More photos located here. https://picasaweb.google.com/mikestarkey025/Starkey2014SouthwestOdyssey#

Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed it.
 
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Looks fun

Thanks for the pictures. I have explored all those places so many times in the air and on the ground. Great to see them again. Thanks.
 
Scott, your trip to Gouldings a few years back was part of the inspiration for us to do the trip.

The thanks go to you, not me.
 
Glen Canyon

Mike. I've heard warnings about the lake levels in Glen Canyon. What did you find? Your pics at the dam show more water than we have in all of Texas!
 
Mike,

How far ahead did you need to make hotel/river trip reservations?

Bob

I booked our trip stuff about a month ahead, and it was not soon enough to get everything the way I wanted--------only 1 day at Monument Valley for instance, and twice we had to fly to our new destination in the afternoon, when I would have preferred a morning flight.

If I were to do it again, I would try to book at least 2 months out.
 
Mike. I've heard warnings about the lake levels in Glen Canyon. What did you find? Your pics at the dam show more water than we have in all of Texas!

We did a tour of the dam, and as I recall the guide said the lake is down 120', with only about 45% of total water capacity in storage.

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Thank you for sharing. Great trip and Laura is a wonderful photographer to record it!
You got to see the sunlight beam down Antelope Canyon! Great timing!
 
The pics are great! Flew the RV to Lake Powell ( Page, Arizona) as much as possible, as well as Monument Valley. Since we have to travel the slow car method these days, we at least made it to Zions last month. I miss the plane, and my wife does too!
 
Mike, I loved the story and the pictures! It's big on our bucket list, too. Thanks for the posting, and the motivation. :)
 
Brent, thank you very much---------but the credit is totally my wife's, she designed the paint scheme and picked out the colors, about all I did was write the check and fly the plane to/from the paint shop.

Too bad we were not there when you were, would have loved to meet you, and give you a tour of the inside of the plane.
 
You got to see the sunlight beam down Antelope Canyon! Great timing!

The tour was specifically billed as a photography tour, supposedly limited to "professional" photographers. It was timed to get the sun beams-------and the guide used a scoop to toss sand into the beam to get the sparkles that turned this.......

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into this........

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Wanna guess how we got the shot of the sand pouring off the rock:confused:;)

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Crusty,
First rule of The Magician's Code....never let the audience know how it's done!
(you'll just spoil the illusion)

:D :D
 
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