Lees Ferry

This picture shows where Glen Canyon and the Grand Canyon meet - at Lees Ferry, AZ. We simply fell upon this little gem of a spot (although I'd remembered reading about it in our Rough Guide a year or two ago) as dark descended and we needed to find a place to camp. Just after crossing Navajo Bridge there is a sign to Lees Ferry National Recreation Area. Our campground host immediately came over to introduce herself, tell us about the California Condors and to invite us to visit the historical sites. She also told me she thought the place should be called Emma's Ferry. Emma was married to John Lee who has a bit of a notorious background. I'm reading a book about Emma right now, but unfortunately, it's pretty poorly written so I can only take it in small chunks. It doesn't sound as if John Lee (Emma's husband) was around too much and Emma basically ran the ranch and the ferry service for a good bit of her life. As a good Mormon woman, she was probably happy to do that. This picture also shows where everyone crossed the river by ferry from 1873 until 1928 when the first Navajo Bridge was built.

International Troubador

This canoe is located in Mexico at Bosquillas Canyon and I'm pretty sure that it belongs to Victor, the Singing Mexican, although I didn't ask him. Our very well-used Rough Guide to the Southwest mentions a fellow who used to take people across to Mexico to spend the day (for a price, of course). With increased border patrol that is no longer quite as lucrative as it might have been in happier times. The day we visited, Victor sang to us in Spanish and he has his "busking jar" out on the American side. I just had to give him some money because after I called out "Hola" to him he asked me "Como estas?" and I was actually able to answer him - my first real conversation in Spanish with a true Mexican! Naturally, I left him a twoonie.

Recuerdos a la Venta

Here's a sample of souvenirs available for sale along the Rio Grande. While visiting Bosquillas Canyon there were several Mexicans on horseback patrolling the donation containers and asking if we'd like to "buy stick". The walking sticks are quite the rage around these parts, I think. I'm not sure how many items they manage to sell, but I know there were some successful sales made the day that we walked to the canyon. Usually, there was a plea to "help children" alongside the donation jar. The park newspaper was pretty adamant about NOT purchasing these items, but I'm sure most ignore it.

The Rio Grande

This is a picture of the Rio Grande at Big Bend National Park so you really can see that it is simply a small wade across the river to get into Mexico (or into the United States). The Chisos Mountains make the backdrop in this photo. We were certainly surprised to see how small the river is at this point and we observed that it was even smaller as we headed further west in Texas, at least in a few spots. The Mexicans tend their souvenir kiosks on horseback (future post) and border patrol isn't really evident in the park at all. We did get stopped leaving the park, but we were about 100 miles out of the area before we were asked to answer a few questions. We did notice a couple of blimps up in the sky in southern TX and southern NM which we figure must have been border control units. As well, we drove over a nearly deserted road in southern NM and saw 3x more border patrol cars than ordinary users.

CA Condors

A thrilling moment for us occurred last Saturday when we visited the Lees Ferry area of AZ. The campground host had told us that we should look for the huge California Condors before we left and to look under the bridge at Navajo Bridge. Before leaving the area, we did just that and discovered 3 birds sitting on a rock ledge. They were birds 70, 73 and a juvenile which couldn't be identified but was tagged. The 3 birds were simply enjoying the sun and we'd have been thrilled to see them fly over the Colorado, but they weren't having any of that. I didn't have the heart to throw something at them. It was still a thrill to see this rare bird. The scene at right is the view of the Colorado from the "old" Navajo Bridge which is now a walkway.

Best of America #4: Roads

I'm always amazed at how much better the US roads are than those we have in Canada. We just spent 1.5 days travelling the I-15 which really ought to be a toll highway so that the Canadians who use it at least pay for some of it! There's construction near Salt Lake City which is a bit of a nightmare - they do ask everyone to slow down to 65 mph through it - but the rest of the road is in great shape. The traffic almost disappears after the junction with the I-84 north of Salt Lake and stays that way until the junction with the I-90 at Butte. Snow and ice did cover one lane of the I-90 on Tuesday so we opted for state highway 200 to get us to Sandpoint. Other than some ice in the shady spots, it was in really good shape. I do think that permitting 70 mph on a two-lane highway with no shoulder is excessive, however. MT was cold with brilliant blue skies as we came north. I'm finding that I can even sleep in the rest areas now on the interstates - had one of my best sleeps "south" just off the I-10 near Las Cruces, NM. All that traffic simply becomes more white noise to lull one to sleep.

America's Best #3: Breakfast

I love to go out for breakfast, especially in the U.S. It's not something that I treat myself to very often, but I did go on Tuesday in Missoula, MT. I chose the Perkins chain because I'd had a pretty good experience in previous years. For the first time ever (likely because it's been my first opportunity), I ordered off the 55 plus menu. I was delighted to be delivered a small omlette with real spinach and real mushrooms that were very lightly and freshly cooked. I also received two smallish pancakes with it and a selection of 3 delicious syrups. It was served on a small plate and was a perfect amount for my appetite. I love the large coffee cups and the fact that a coffee carafe arrives at the table - and it can fill that coffee cup 4 times! My companion for breakfast was Des Kennedy's The Passionate Gardener which I am thoroughly enjoying. The staff were all friendly and polite and my only small complaint would be the lowering of the blinds to keep out that beautiful MT sunshine! Cost of this experience: $7.50 plus tip. Yankee doodle!