October 9th, 2025
GAS: in Arizona ranged from $3.15 up; in UT $3.25 and NV $3.53
We left our camp spot passing Mexican Hat: (which we could actually see from our campsite in the distance last night)
and crossed the state line back into Arizona (we left Arizona last September 12th) passing by Monument Valley. Views were obscured by the low clouds but we still took some photos:
We arrived in Kayenta for cheap petrol and parked behind the McDonald’s for some Wi-Fi. Fran’s Verizon has been working the past couple of days but Doug has had no T-Mobile – we’re pretty glad we thought to have one of us switch.
We pushed on to Page and went to the Visitor’s Centre. It was raining pretty hard and we waited in the truck until it calmed down to a drizzle. We’ve been in this area a couple of times before and remember getting a really nice information brochure for the area back then but the only tourist information was pretty commercial and not what we wanted. We drove over to the Walmart to park for the rest of the day/night as it was too wet to do much anyway. Fran went into the store to get some fruit and we had a pretty decent night. It rained on and off the rest of the day/night and was still very overcast next morning. The forecast did not look good for the weekend so we decided to leave and also opted not to do the Toadstool hike we had hoped to do either as it was drizzling again – it’s a hike through and around hills so there’d likely be pooled water and hiking in the rain is not our cup of tea!
We did however, pull in to the Glen Canyon Recreation Area to go to the campground to use the dump and water station. As you know, we have the National Parks pass but there was noone manning the booth anyway so facilities were free and easy to access regardless.
We did enjoy the drive along the lake shore enroute to the park:
Lake Powell is the lake that was created by the building of the Glen Canyon Dam and it seems to keep getting lower and lower. The “bathtub” ring is very evident but there are still a couple of marinas here and we did see some houseboats on the lake.
We continued to Kanab and parked at the reservoir on the south side of town. There was a couple from France in a van – Fran spoke with them a bit and a trailer from Colorado that was unoccupied till the evening.
We had the use of a port a-potty at the pullout we camped on as well as a rubbish bin on the trail and the cell reception was very good.
There was a nice paved walking trail around the reservoir and we managed to get out steps. The trail is nice with signage about local history, Frisbee golf, views of birds – Fran saw pelicans and some sort of hawk and there is a nice playground and picnic area around the boat ramp.
The rest of the day was dull and overcast threatening to rain and it must have rained overnight as the ground was wet once again.
We decided we would treat ourselves to a hotel this weekend so Doug booked one in St. George for tomorrow night.
Next morning was still cloudy but it began to clear after we left our camp spot shortly after nine and headed towards St. George. We stopped in Hurricane to go to the library for Wi-Fi and Fran got a haircut. The temps are around 22C / 74F and we are lower down now so it won’t cool off as much at night.
We arrived at our hotel around one and were able to check in early. We parked the truck in the gravel truck parking lot behind the hotel and got settled. It’s much warmer here, highs around 26C / 79F and a bit windy. They’d also had rain here recently and there were some red sand puddles around.
Doug worked on KEGS stuff while Fran went for a walk followed by a read in the shade by the pool.
We decided to go out for dinner after a soak in the outdoor hot tub. Fran had seen an Italian place nearby on her walk and we went over there. It was 5:40 pm – we thought we were behind the “seniors” but ahead of the main rush. Wrong! We were told a ten minute wait that turned into 15 and service took forever. Luckily, we had the foresight to order our drinks, appies and main mail all at the same time. Each course took a while but was very good. Turns out the Huntsman World Senior Games were in town, hence the number of people (especially seniors) in the restaurant. We left the restaurant around 7:30 satisfied and full.
The World Senior Games (since 1989 Huntsman World Senior Games for sponsorship reasons) is the largest annual multi-sport senior competition in the world. Most participants are US citizens, but athletes from Canada, Australia, Russia, Japan, Barbados and several other countries also participate. The Games were founded in 1987 as a not-for-profit, “with the mission to foster worldwide peace, health and friendship and lead the world in active aging”. All athletes aged 50 and over, of all skill levels, are eligible to compete. No pre-qualification is necessary.
In 2018, 11,033 athletes from around the world participated, including 349 softball teams and 213 volleyball teams. In total, there are 34 different sports competitions from archery to walking races. Following the tradition of the Olympics, opening ceremonies are held at Greater Zion Stadium in St. George and feature a parade of athletes and a fireworks display.
In 1989 Jon Huntsman, Sr. of the Huntsman Corporation become the Games’ title sponsor. The 2016 games had competitors from 34 countries in 29 sports, the oldest Daniel Bulkley, aged 99.
Sunday brought clear skies and continued warm weather – so nice to be back in shorts and no jackets again! Doug went for his long run, and after our morning tea/coffee we spent some more time online before leaving around 11 am and making out way direction to Las Vegas. We got ourselves camped at Kings Row Campground shortly after twelve for a few weeks while we look for a “home base” in Henderson.
Mileage since we picked up the trailer in late August: 7,192 km / 4469 mi.
The search for apartments will begin tomorrow, once we get a move in date, we’ll head up to Reno to see Serena and Kurt for a couple of days before renting a truck to empty our storage unit to bring to our new “home”.
