getting back to travel mode

Today we got back to my favorite style of travel.  We spent yesterday chasing the miles.  We couldn’t stop for dinner, we couldn’t stop for gas (at $2.47/gallon for DIESEL!!!), we couldn’t stop for anything because we Had To Get The Miles In.  We certainly got the miles in but for me and the kids, it was somewhat miserable.  We left the SF Bay area around 1pm and decided we’d need to leave much earlier if we were going to Get Anywhere, so we left at 11am from Bakersfield and , well, that was Way Too Late to Get Anywhere.  I also get really stressed out trying to keep the family on track and moving forward and towards the end of the mileage for the day.  I’m constantly cracking the whip and trying to motivate and it is something like herding cats.  So we decided to stop doing that and just enjoy the trip, stop where we wanted to, explore what called us and have fun.

We had a lovely hotel room in Flagstaff – honestly, we haven’t hit a bad one yet – the Motel 6 in Bakersfield was very clean and “new” feeling itself.  We had 2 rooms – one with 2 queens and 1 with a king and a sofabed.  There were plush linens and a deluxe breakfast the next morning (giving us enough ham for lunch that same day) but it was COLD.  We left very early the next morning to be able to explore the Grand Canyon and find a place for the next night.  We had a BLAST at the Grand Canyon and wandered and explored to our hearts content.  The boys did excellent jobs of making sure my heart was racing – they loved inching out over the cliffs and even Sissy got into the act once or twice.  Ellen decided then and there that she was scared of heights.  The boys and Sissy have been here once before (we winter camped at Mather point) but they don’t remember a thing.  Well, Sissy was 3 months old.    We really got a good feel from Flagstaff, but damn, that town is cold.

We decided, as we headed out of the GCNP, to head to Page and spend the night.  I’d loaded hotel information on my laptop before leaving Flagstaff and Jamie decided he preferred the Quality Inn for the breakfast, price (same as Motel 6) and internet (Motel 6 only has internet for one computer/room).  I’d hoped we could stay at Bashful Bob’s (a small independent motel) so we headed to Quality Inn, which ended up being much more expensive and full (for pet rooms).  We could pay another $20 for Kilo in a non-pet room.  The rooms are supposed to have spectacular views of Lake Powell and the hotel is situated for that to happen.  We decided to go check out Bashful Bob’s and as such, we ended up in a 950sqft house/apartment run by Bob’s son, at Debbie’s Hideaway.  All the housing which was built for the dam workers (Glen Canyon Dam) has been turned into motels and we lucked into a real find.

Debbie’s Hideway was rated #1 (on Trip Advisor) but with an average price of $99, I didn’t even think to try the place.  Jamie negotiated $62 (including some 13% tax) a night and we were in heaven.  A full and fully stocked kitchen.  A living room.  THREE bedrooms and 4 beds.  A bathroom.  A dining room.  A garden out back with grill and brazier use.  A FREE LAUNDRY ROOM.  Anyone with kids knows that the free laundry room paid for the stay.    We stayed 2 nights and had hoped to stay 3, but Saturday night is a BIG NIGHT in the Lake Power/Glen Canyon area and we had to drive 73 miles to find a motel with room.  But that’s a story for another day.

When Jesse heard about the kitchen at Debbie’s, he remarked, “We could make a real dinner that uses a real pot!” and so the decision was easy to make.  We’ve been making the next day’s dinner with a crockpot while we sleep and try to keep it warm and dirt-free while we drive.  So the kitchen came in very handy and even more handy when we decided to spend Ellen’s birthday there and were able to make her a cake.

The day after we arrived in Page was Ellen’s birthday and she decided she’d like to see the damn dam.  For some reason I can’t just say “dam” without adding an adjective.  The girls especially loved the damn dam and we must have spent 4-5 hours there in the Visitor’s Center, on the damn dam tour and hanging out in the parking lot, under a tree on the grass, playing with Kilo and watching the kids climb trees.  It got a little old at the end and the boys and Jamie and I returned to the car to sit and read and once the girls were ready we headed to Horseshoe Bend.  We got there too late for good photos, but the kids had a BLAST rock climbing and checking my heartrate as they played on the cliffs.  We saw jackrabbit and Ellen got sand in her eye but we all enjoyed the area and decided to stay Another day, but alas, as we found the next morning, that was not to be.